Hot rodding icon Norm Grabowski dies
He was not on the list.
Grabowski was an American hot rod builder and actor. The
heavy set crew cut-wearing Grabowski appeared in minor roles in many films
produced by Albert Zugsmith and Walt Disney. He was Polish-American.
In 1952, after leaving military service, Grabowski built a hot
rod based on a shortened 1922 Ford Model T touring car mated to a similarly
extremely shortened Model A pickup truck bed. With a powerful Cadillac overhead
valve engine that came from his parents' sedan, the vehicle that resulted had a
unique appearance and stance, which inspired many hot rods created afterward.
The car was first featured on the cover of the October, 1955 issue of Hot Rod
and then underwent further modifications, including a greater rake, tilted
windshield and blue paint with flames when it famously appeared in color on the
cover of the April, 1957 issue of Car Craft magazine, as well as in the April
29, 1957 issue of LIFE.
Grabowski's hugely influential T-bucket hot rod, which
became known as the Kookie Kar, was used in the television show 77 Sunset
Strip. The car was owned and driven in the show by the character Kookie, who
was played by Edd Byrnes.
As a consequence of the magazine exposure, Grabowski was
approached about renting the car out to appear in movies and television shows.
The contacts he made in this way led to an acting career for Grabowski. He
appeared in television shows, including The Monkees, Batman (episodes 39 and 40
in 1966) and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, and films such as High School
Confidential (1958), The Beat Generation (1959), The Big Operator (1959), Girls
Town (1959), College Confidential (1960), Sex Kittens Go to College (1960), The
Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964), Roustabout (1964), Girl Happy (1965), The
Monkey's Uncle (1965), Out of Sight (1966), Blackbeard's Ghost (1968), The
Towering Inferno (1974), Hooper (1978) and The Cannonball Run (1981).
Grabowski was known as a wood carver, and many hot rods and
custom cars feature his unique hand-carved skull gearshift knobs. He retired
from acting in the 1980s after The Cannonball Run.
Grabowski died the morning of October 12, 2012, at the age
of 79.
Partial filmography
Darby's Rangers
(1958) — Squad Member (uncredited)
The Young Lions
(1958) — Barracks Inspection Private (uncredited)
High School
Confidential (1958) — Flat Top (uncredited)
The Naked and the
Dead (1958) — Shipboard Soldier (uncredited)
The Perfect
Furlough (1958) — Soldier in Hospital (uncredited)
Torpedo Run (1958)
— Sub Crewman (uncredited)
Night of the
Quarter Moon (1959) — Tough Punk (uncredited)
The Beat
Generation (1959) — The Beat Beatnik
The Big Operator
(1959) — Lou Green
Girls Town (1959)
— Skin
College
Confidential (1960) — Skippy
Sex Kittens Go to
College (1960) — Woo Woo Grabowski
The Honeymoon
Machine (1961) — Max's Operator (uncredited)
The Chapman Report
(1962) — Beach Football Player (uncredited)
Son of Flubber
(1963) — Rutland Football Player #33 (uncredited)
The Wheeler
Dealers (1963) — Delivery Boy (uncredited)
The Misadventures
of Merlin Jones (1964) — Norman, Midvale Football Player
Roustabout (1964)
— Sam
Girl Happy (1965)
— 'Wolf Call' O'Brien (uncredited)
The Monkey's Uncle
(1965) — Norman
Sergeant Deadhead
(1965) — Air Policeman
Out of Sight
(1966) — Huh!
Texas Across the
River (1966) — Cavalryman (uncredited)
The Gnome-Mobile
(1967) — Male Nurse
The Happiest
Millionaire (1967) — Joe Turner (uncredited)
Blackbeard's Ghost
(1968) — Virgil
The Horse in the
Gray Flannel Suit (1968) — Truck Driver
Zabriskie Point
(1970) — Man in Deli (uncredited)
Another Nice Mess
(1972) — Agent Jablonski
The Naked Ape
(1973) — Sargent
Herbie Rides Again
(1974) — Security Guard #2
Win, Place or
Steal (1974) — Officer Sprivten
The Towering
Inferno (1974) — Flaker
W.W. and the Dixie
Dancekings (1975) — Redneck (uncredited)
Hooper (1978) —
Hammerhead
The Cannonball Run
(1981) — Petoski (final film role)
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