Angus Scrimm

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Birthday:

19 August 1926, Kansas City, Kansas, USA

Birth Name:

Lawrence Rory Guy

Height:

193 cm

The evil screen villain Angus Scrimm, most famous as "The Tall Man" in Don Coscarelli's Phantasm (1979) and its sequels, grew up in Kansas City, but in his teens moved to California and studied drama at USC under William C. de Mille (brother of Cecil B. DeMille). His film debut came as another "Tall Man" he played Abraham Lincoln in an educational film made by Encyclopaedia Brittanica, which led him to a steady career in theater, television and film. His big-screen debut was in Jim, the World's Greatest (1976), directed by then 18-year-old Coscarelli. During this time he was using his birth name, Lawrence Rory Guy. He adopted the stage name Angus Scrimm three years later for his performance in Coscarelli's horror/sci-fi opus "Phantasm", which would mark Scrimm's permanent impression upon modern cinema. His role as the infamous Tall Man has earned him the praise of critics worldwide, as well as a large following of fans. His success in the "Phantasm" films has been parlayed into numerous other malevolent roles including the evil Dr. Sin Do in The Lost Empire (1984), Vlad the Vampire King in Subspecies (1991) and the nefarious Dr. Lyme opposite Nicolas Cage and Charlie Sheen in Deadfall (1993). Scrimm did intriguing double duty as the diabolical Seer and the angelic Systems Operator in Mindwarp (1992), co-starring Bruce Campbell. He did a shock cameo in the Italian film Fatal Frames - Fotogrammi mortali (1996), opposite Stefania Stella and Donald Pleasence, and managed a gleeful parody of himself as the hulking henchman in Transylvania Twist (1989). Scrimm has not limited his career efforts to simply acting, however. As a journalist he has written and edited for "TV Guide", "Cinema Magazine", the now-defunct "Los Angeles Herald-Examiner" and other publications. He has also written liner notes for thousands of LPs and CDs, for just about every genre from classical music to jazz, from Frank Sinatra and The Beatles to Artur Rubinstein and Itzhak Perlman. He won a Grammy award for best album liner notes. Show less «

I still want to do that drawing room comedy. If they ever revive that.

I probably shouldn't confess to this, but I groove on being recognized. But it seldom happens, possibly because I rarely go anywhere dressed...Show more »

I probably shouldn't confess to this, but I groove on being recognized. But it seldom happens, possibly because I rarely go anywhere dressed in a tight-fitting black suit and boots with two-inch lifts in them. Show less «

The MPAA has cracked down pretty badly on the Phantasm pictures. Censorship obviously is necessary, and I'm all for it. I just don't like it...Show more »

The MPAA has cracked down pretty badly on the Phantasm pictures. Censorship obviously is necessary, and I'm all for it. I just don't like it when they cut my pictures. Show less «

If I did the Tall Man once more, I think I'd like to make him darker and scarier again. Seems to me he softened up a bit in the last episode...Show more »

If I did the Tall Man once more, I think I'd like to make him darker and scarier again. Seems to me he softened up a bit in the last episode. I'm quite happy though with the existing quartet of films as a complete and final entity. Show less «

[on reprising his role as The Tall Man] I'd jump at it. I'm a little protective of the Tall Man. I'd be reluctant to make a "Phantasm" that ...Show more »

[on reprising his role as The Tall Man] I'd jump at it. I'm a little protective of the Tall Man. I'd be reluctant to make a "Phantasm" that wasn't up to the other four. I think it's a very good quartet of motion pictures. If we did another picture it would need to be just as original and just as sparkling in its ideas and freshness as the first and as the subsequent ones. That would be the deterrent and then of course getting it financed in today's film industry would be a challenge. Show less «

At a 30th Anniversary screening of the original Phantasm (1979), one fan approached me and said, "You did such a fine job on this movie, you...Show more »

At a 30th Anniversary screening of the original Phantasm (1979), one fan approached me and said, "You did such a fine job on this movie, you should have played 'Emperor Palpatine' in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)." For me, that was a deep honor. Show less «

Playing the Tall Man is definitely an acting challenge. On the one hand, he's a character that must be played with consistency. But I've als...Show more »

Playing the Tall Man is definitely an acting challenge. On the one hand, he's a character that must be played with consistency. But I've also had to take great pains to giving shading to his sinister qualities. It would be very easy to fall into the trap of playing him in a one-dimensional manner. Show less «

[on playing the Tall Man] I like the idea that people think that I give myself so totally to the character. The horror side of this characte...Show more »

[on playing the Tall Man] I like the idea that people think that I give myself so totally to the character. The horror side of this character is a fascinating one to explore. It's so totally unlike my true nature that it's fun to submerge myself in the Tall Man and see what develops. Show less «

The Tall Man has an ironic glint of humor hidden beneath that horrifying exterior. There's also an extreme sense of drama to the things he d...Show more »

The Tall Man has an ironic glint of humor hidden beneath that horrifying exterior. There's also an extreme sense of drama to the things he does. There's much to like about the Tall Man that goes beyond his ability to scare people. Show less «

The Tall Man is a much deeper role than most people realize. There are many ironic bits of humor that lay in the character's subtext. There'...Show more »

The Tall Man is a much deeper role than most people realize. There are many ironic bits of humor that lay in the character's subtext. There's also extreme drama. It's a role many people would give their right arm to play. Show less «

[from an interview in 1988] In real life, I've never had the opportunity to be very sinister. When I was growing up, I was usually the kid e...Show more »

[from an interview in 1988] In real life, I've never had the opportunity to be very sinister. When I was growing up, I was usually the kid everybody beat up. It looks like I'm finally getting a chance to get even. Show less «

[Describing the making of the Phantasm trilogy] In the end, it was all great fun.