Angus Scrimm

The evil screen villain 'Angus Scrimm' (qv), most famous as "The Tall Man" in 'Don Coscarelli' (qv)'s _Phantasm (1979)_ (qv) 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' (qv) (brother of 'Cecil B. DeMille' (qv)). His film debut came as another "Tall Man" he played 'Abraham Lincoln' (qv) 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 (1975)_ (qv), 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' (qv) 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)_ (qv), Vlad the Vampire King in _Subspecies (1991)_ (qv) and the nefarious Dr. Lyme opposite 'Nicolas Cage' (qv) and 'Charlie Sheen' (qv) in _Deadfall (1993)_ (qv). Scrimm did intriguing double duty as the diabolical Seer and the angelic Systems Operator in _Mindwarp (1991)_ (qv), co-starring 'Bruce Campbell' (qv). He did a shock cameo in the Italian film _Fatal Frames - Okkulte Morde (1996)_ (qv), opposite 'Stefania Stella' (qv) and 'Donald Pleasence' (qv), and managed a gleeful parody of himself as the hulking henchman in _Transylvania Twist (1989)_ (qv). 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' (qv) and 'The Beatles' (qv) to 'Artur Rubinstein' (qv) and 'Itzhak Perlman' (qv). He won a Grammy award for best album liner notes.::Tzvetislav Samardjiev, [email protected]