Clu Gulager obit

Clu Gulager Dies: Veteran Horror Film Actor In ‘Return Of The Living Dead’ Was 93

 

 He was not on the list.

Clu Gulager, a veteran character actor for nearly 70 years and 165 credits, has died. He was 93 and passed at home of natural causes, according to family posts on social media.

Gulager is best remembered for his portrayal of Burt in the 1985 horror-comedy The Return of the Living Dead, and Mr. Walsh in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge.

Gulager also appeared in The Killers, The Last Picture Show, Mystery in Dracula’s Castle, The Killer Who Wouldn’t Die, The Initiation, From a Whisper to a Scream, The Hidden, Uninvited, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Teen Vamp, Puppet Master 5, the Feast trilogy, Piranha 3DD, Tangerine, Blue Jay, Children of the Corn: Runaway, and finally, in 2019’s Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

He is survived by his sons John Gulager and Tom Gulager. John Gulager directed his father in the horror films Feast 1-3, Piranha 3DD, and Children of the Corn: Runaway.

In 1958 he appeared as Roy Carter in the episode "The Return of Roy Carter" (written by Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek) in the Western television series Have Gun – Will Travel starring Richard Boone.

Gulager stated, "Lew Wasserman saw me on a Playhouse 90 episode where I played an Elvis Presley-type character. I became the first contract player at Universal". In the spring of 1959, he signed with MCA-TV, where he appeared as Tommy Pavlock in the episode "The Immigrant" of NBC's series The Lawless Years, a 1920s crime drama. In the fall of 1959, he appeared in the episode "The Temple of the Swinging Doll" of NBC's short-lived espionage drama Five Fingers, starring David Hedison.

On June 3, 1959, he guest-starred as the unscrupulous photographer Elliott Garrison in "The Andrew Hale Story" on NBC's Wagon Train. On October 11, 1959, Gulager appeared as a U.S. Navy sailor in the "Appointment at Eleven" episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and again as an escaped convict in "Pen Pal" on November 1, 1960. On The Untouchables, he played the role of real-life vicious mob killer Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll. Gulager was hailed for his utterly chilling performance as the psychopathic Coll. Late in 1959, he was cast as Beau Chandler in the episode "Jessie Quinn" of the NBC Western series Riverboat, starring Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds. The episode is a tale of intrigue involving the Texas Revolution. Capt. Holden attempts to send weapons to Sam Houston, but forces of Antonio López de Santa Anna in Mexico threaten to blow up Holden's vessel, the Enterprise.

Gulager as Billy the Kid with Marianna Hill as his sweetheart, Rita, from the television program The Tall Man.

From 1960 to 1962, Gulager played Billy the Kid in The Tall Man, opposite Barry Sullivan as Sheriff Pat Garrett. The episodes portray Billy as a sympathetic character without resorting to the "misunderstood young man" theme used in such films as The Outlaw (1943) and The Left Handed Gun (1958). In 1961, Gulager guest-starred in another NBC Western, Whispering Smith, Audie Murphy's only attempt at series television. Gulager portrayed Deputy Sheriff Emmett Ryker from 1964 to 1968 on The Virginian, the 90-minute Western series in which he starred with James Drury, Doug McClure, Lee J. Cobb, Roberta Shore, Randy Boone, Gary Clarke, and Diane Roter. Gulager appeared more than 60 times in other roles in film and television, including the film Winning (1969) and the CBS series Three for the Road. He also appeared several times on NBC's Bonanza. He starred with Lee Marvin, Ronald Reagan, John Cassavetes, and Angie Dickinson in The Killers (1964), teaming with Marvin as a pair of ruthless hit men. The Killers was intended to be one of the early made-for-TV movies as part of a Project 120 series of films that did not reach the airwaves, but NBC cited it too violent for broadcast; Universal released the film theatrically instead.

In 1971, Gulager appeared in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show. In 1977, long after his role on The Virginian, he appeared in Rod Taylor's unsuccessful NBC Western series, The Oregon Trail, in the episode "The Army Deserter". Gulager also played the boss of Susan Sarandon in a 1977 film drama, The Other Side of Midnight. In 1981, he co-starred as Angela Channing's long-suffering nephew Chase Gioberti, opposite Oscar Award-winner Jane Wyman, Lorenzo Lamas, William R. Moses, and Jamie Rose, in the pilot episode of The Vintage Years, which was later retooled as the primetime soap opera Falcon Crest. When he was not rehired to continue with his role, Robert Foxworth took over the role until his firing in 1987.

In 1985, he was cast as Burt Wilson in Dan O'Bannon's The Return of the Living Dead. He was also a featured player in director John Landis' darkly comedic 1985 film noir satire, Into the Night, a film rife with insider Hollywood cameos, as an FBI agent who is a courier of a cache of clandestine funds, which he grudgingly delivers to secure the safety of the film's two romantic leads (Michelle Pfeiffer and Jeff Goldblum).

In 2005, Gulager appeared as a shotgun-toting bartender in Feast, followed by the film's two sequels, Feast II: Sloppy Seconds (2008), and Feast III: The Happy Finish (2009), all of which were directed by his son, John. He also had a minor role in the critically acclaimed independent film Tangerine (2015). He had a role in the 2012 film Piranha 3DD. Gulager's final screen performance was as an unnamed book store owner in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 2019.

 

Gulager was born in Holdenville, Oklahoma, on November 16, 1928, the son of John Delancy Gulager, who had been an actor before settling down to practice law in nearby Muskogee. One source described John Gulager as a cowboy entertainer.[citation needed] His paternal grandmother, Martha Schrimsher Gulager, was a sister of Mary Schrimsher, the mother of Will Rogers, making Gulager and Rogers first cousins, once removed. He was Cherokee, having been an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

His Cherokee nickname was given to him by his father for the clu-clu birds (known in English as martins, like his middle name) that were nesting at the Gulager home at the time of his birth. From 1946 to 1948, Gulager served in the United States Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton. After attending Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Gulager transferred to the Baptist-affiliated Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he graduated. He won a one-year scholarship to study abroad in Paris, where he worked under Jean-Louis Barrault, a French actor and director. In 1952, he returned to Baylor. On June 19, 1952, he married fellow actor Miriam Byrd-Nethery. The couple had two sons, John and Tom, and remained married until her death in 2003.

Filmography

Film

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1964      The Killers           Lee        

1966      And Now Miguel               Johnny

1967      Sullivan's Empire              Juan Clemente TV movie

1969      Winning               Larry     

1969      A Day with the Boys        —           Director

1971      The Last Picture Show    Abilene                

1972      Molly and Lawless John Deputy Tom Clements  

1972      The Glass House               Officer Cortland                TV movie

1972      Footsteps            Jonas Kane          TV movie

1973      Call to Danger    Emmet Jergens TV movie

1974      McQ      Toms    

1974      Hit Lady                Roarke

1974      Gangsterfilmen Glenn Mortenson           

1974      Smile Jenny, You're Dead              Detective Milt Bosworth               TV movie

1974      Houston, We've Got a Problem Lou Matthews   TV movie

1977      The Other Side of Midnight          Bill Fraser           

1978      A Question of Love          Mike Guettner TV movie

1979      A Force of One Dunne  

1979      Willa      Joe Welch            TV movie

1980      Kenny Rogers as The Gambler     Rufe Bennett     TV movie

1980      Skyward               Steve Ward         TV movie

1983      Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story                J.R. Smith             TV movie

1983      Lies        Doctor Bartlett

1984      Chattanooga Choo Choo               Sam      

1984      The Initiation     Dwight Fairchild               

1985      Into the Night    Federal Agent   

1985      Prime Risk           Paul Minsky       

1985      The Return of the Living Dead     Burt Wilson       

1985      A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge Mr. Walsh          

1985      Bridge Across Time          Peter Dawson    Also known as: Terror at London Bridge

1986      Hunter's Blood Mason Rand      

1987      From a Whisper to a Scream        Stanley Burnside               Original title: The Offspring

1987      The Hidden         Lieutenant Ed Flynn        

1987      Summer Heat     Will       

1988      Tapeheads          Norman Mart    

1988      I'm Gonna Git You Sucka               Lieutenant Baker             

1988      Teen Vamp         The Reverend   

1988      Uninvited            Albert   

1990      Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective             Desk Sergeant  

1990      The Willies          Greeley Principal             

1991      My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys Dark Glasses      

1992      Eddie Presley     Sid         

1993      Killing Device      Smitty  

1993      In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco       McLennan County Sheriff             TV movie

1994      Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter         Man #1                

1999      Gunfighter          Uncle Buck Peters           

1999      Palmer's Pick-Up              Jeb        

2005      Feast     Bartender           

2006      Vic          Vic Reeves          Short film

2008      Feast II: Sloppy Seconds                Bartender           

2009      Feast III: The Happy Finish            Bartender           

2012      Piranha 3DD       Mo        

2015      Tangerine            The Cherokee   

2015      Director's Commentary: Terror of Frankenstein Gavin Merrill     

2016      Blue Jay                Waynie                

2018      Children of the Corn: Runaway   Crusty  

2018      Give Til It Hurts Mr. Lawson        

2019      Once Upon a Time in Hollywood                Book Store Owner          

2019      Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street      Himself                 Documentary film

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1956      The United States Steel Hour      Danny   Episode: "Bang the Drum Slowly"

1956      Goodyear Playhouse      Terrible                Episode: "Stardust II"

1957      Studio One in Hollywood              Lloyd Carpenter                Episode: "Walk Down the Hill"

1957      The Alcoa Hour James Wesley    Episode: "15 October 1864"

1959      Black Saddle       Andy Meade      Episode: "Client: Meade"

1959      Playhouse 90     Zach       Episode: "The Day Before Atlanta"

1959      Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse                Young Vix            Episode: "The Day the Town Stood Up"

1959      Laramie                Private Gil Brady               Episode: "Fugitive Road"

1959      The Untouchables           Vincent "Mad Sog" Coll Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll

1959      The Lawless Years            Tommy Pavolock              Episode: "The Immigrant"

1959      Have Gun – Will Travel   Roy Carter           Episode: "Return of Roy Carter"

1959      Wanted Dead or Alive    Joe Collins           Episode: "Crossroads"

1959–64               Wagon Train      Various                 5 episodes

1960      The Rebel            Virgil Taber         Episode: "Paint a House with Scarlet"

1959–60               Alfred Hitchcock Presents             Rod Collins / Sailor           2 episodes

1960–62               The Tall Man      Billy the Kid        75 episodes

1962      The Alfred Hitchcock Hour            Jimmy K. Bresson             Episode: "Final Vow"

1963      The Virginian      Jake Carewe       Episode: "The Judgement"

1963      The Virginian      Jud         Episode: "Run Quiet"

1963–68               The Virginian      Emmet Ryker     102 episodes, 44 credit only

1964      Kraft Suspense Theatre Dan Walsh           Episode: "The Deep End"

1964      Dr. Kildare           Dr. Norman Gage             2 episodes

1968–73               Ironside                Frank Clinton / D.W. Donnelly / Jack Brody            3 episodes

1969      The Survivors     Senator Mark Jennings Episode: "Chapter Twelve"

1970      San Francisco International Airport           Bob Hatten         3 episodes

1971      The F.B.I.             Lyle Chernik        2 episodes

1971–75               Cannon                 B.J. Long / Burdick / Jonathan Quill           3 episodes

1972      Bonanza               Billy Brenner      Episode: "Stallion"

1972      The Mod Squad                 Dustin Ellis          Episode: "Another Final Game"

1972      Medical Center Jack        Episode: "The Choice"

1972–76               Hawaii Five-O    Arthur Lambert / Jack Gulley       2 episodes

1973      Mannix                 Kyle Foster          Episode: The Man Who Wasn't There

1973      Kung Fu                Sheriff Rutledge                Episode: "Blood Brother"

1973      Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color                Keith Raynor      The Mystery In Dracula's Castle (Part 1–2)

1973–76               Barnaby Jones   Sheriff Mack Hollister / Mark Landy          2 episodes

1974      Shaft      Richard Quayle Episode: "The Murder Machine"

1974      Get Christie Love!            Sheriff Burl Taggert         Episode: "Highway to Murder"

1974–75               Police Story        Officer Williams / Tim Keegan     2 episodes

1975      McCloud              Johnny Monahan             Episode: "Lady on the Run"

1975      The Streets of San Francisco        Inspector George Turner               Episode: "Poison Snow"

1976      Ellery Queen      Father Terrence Devlin / Captain Thomas G. Horton          2 episodes

1979      The MacKenzies of Paradise Cove             Cuda Weber       6 episodes

1981      Falcon Crest        Chase Gioberti   Episode: "Unaired Pilot"

1982      Quincy, M.E.       Larry Krushevitz                Episode: "For Love of Joshua"

1982      CHiPs     Stoler    Episode: "The Game of War"

1982–86               The Fall Guy        Col. Halston / Osborne / Marv Jackson    3 episodes

1983      Automan             Rudolph Brock   Episode: "The Great Pretender"

1984      The Master         Mr. Christensen                Episode: "Max"

1985      Street Hawk        Will Gassner       Episode: "Fire on the Wing"

1985      Knight Rider       Eugene Hanson Episode: "Buy Out"

1986      Airwolf Cullen Dixon       Episode: "Day of Jeopardy"

1986      Magnum, P.I.     Theo Wolf           Episode: "Way of the Stalking Horse"

1986      Simon & Simon Nathan Sloan     Episode: "The Manual"

1986      North and South, Book II               Gen. Philip Henry Sheridan           Miniseries

1985–87               Murder, She Wrote         Ray Carter / Mike Gann / Carl Mestin      3 episodes

1988      MacGyver           Walt Kirby           Episode: "Thin Ice"

1995      Kung Fu: The Legend Continues Deputy Clay Hardin          Episode: "Gunfighters"

1995      Beavis and Butt-Head     Anderson's War Buddy (voice)    Episode: "What's the Deal?"

1995      Walker, Texas Ranger     Duke Jamison     Episode: "Final Justice"

1996      Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman       Art McKendrick Episode: "Medicine Man"