Remembering Lon Chaney Sr. on his birthday...

[enyawd72]

The famed Man of a Thousand Faces was born 132 years ago today in 1883

Hard to believe he's been dead for 85 years and is still appearing on toys and merchandise.

His legacy will live forever...

[MIB41]

I often wonder what he would have done for characters like Dracula if he had lived.

[enyawd72]

I often wonder what he would have done for characters like Dracula if he had lived.

That's an interesting question that I too have thought about. Based on how closely he followed the novel's descriptions of the characters when he created his Hunchback and Phantom makeups, I believe his Dracula would have been the mustached, fanged figure with hairy palms from the book, and his Frankenstein to be very patchwork and corpse-like.

[Earth 2 Chris]

There was a thread over at the UMA board with some scans of an old magazine article that tackled this. It showed just what Dwayne mentioned: A photoshopped Chaney with droopy mustache, long hair, fangs and claws. I think audiences in 1931 would have peed their pants after seeing this film.

Of course Chaney was an acclaimed actor of his time, but how many of his peers do we remember? Very few. The same can be said for the next generation of horror stars, including his son. How many other actors from the 30s and 40s are still relevant in pop culture today? Very few.

But Chaney started it all. He was the first genre-film hero, really.

Chris

[Hedji]

Tom Savini cites Chaney as a major influence. It's sort of a shame he didn't do more acting with his own make upper effects. I guess you could argue Rick Baker did since he wore the Kong suit.

Is Andy Serkis the modern Lon Chaney?

[CrimsonGhost]

Is Andy Serkis the modern Lon Chaney?

No way. You would have to include the troop of animators that complete the work.

[Hedji]

Oh I agree completely. Just throwing that out to illustrate the point that there is no one like that anymore. I guess Serkis has earned his fame, but pound for pound, there is no equal to what Chaney was able to achieve. They just don't make 'em like that anymore, and it's sad.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^Chaney Jr. pushed to do his own makeups, but Universal wouldn't let him. If they'd left him alone, who knows? He may have inherited some of the old man's talents.

Chris

[Gorn Captain]

Chaney's Dracula would have been really scary, instead of Lugosi's gentleman vampire.
Chaney Sr is, to me, still the greatest. A highly talented man, who truly became his characters, and a pioneer of his special craft.

[PNGwynne]

Ach, Dwayne, you beat me to a tribute thread .

Chaney's Phantom is my favorite "monster" and I can't praise the actor enough.

TCM often shows other Chaney silent films besides "Phantom" & "Hunchback", which are both, I believe, in the public domain.

[Earth 2 Chris]

These scans are apparently from Mad Monster Party #1, and show what someone thought Chaney's Dracula MAY have looked like:





Of course, Dracula deages as he sups in the book, so a younger Drac would appear later in the film:

http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=21970.0

Chris

[Gorn Captain]

Yes, these photos would make sense. That would probably be the Chaney look.

"Old" Dracula kind of reminds me of someone....

Carpenter.jpg

[Hedji]

^ Hahah! Good one. He does!