Ben Chapman (actor)
| Ben Chapman | |
|---|---|
Ben Chapman as the Gill-man
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| Born |
Benjamin F. Chapman, Jr. October 29, 1928 Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Died | February 21, 2008 (aged 79) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Years active | 1949–2006 |
| Spouse(s) | Merrilee Kazarian |
| Children | Ben Chapman III, Grant Chapman |
| Website | http://www.the-reelgillman.com |
Benjamin F. Chapman, Jr. (October 29, 1928 – February 21, 2008) was an American actor best known as playing the Gill-man on land in the 1954 horror film Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Born in Oakland, California, he spent much of his childhood in Tahiti and moved to San Francisco at age 12 or 13. A Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War, he was believed to have earned a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts for battle injuries.
However, after his death, the Marine Corps Times began an investigation of these claims based on the improbability of the claim of receiving Purple Hearts in the Chosin Reservoir campaign. Information from Marine Corps records, which were received a month after obituaries with the claims awards of valor and of serving at the Chosin Reservoir, reveal that Chapman did serve in Korea.
The Marine Corps Times reports that, "according to Marine Corps officials and a copy of Chapman’s military Report of Separation," Chapman never received the Silver Star, Bronze Star or Purple Hearts.
Before he became the Creature he worked as a real estate executive.
Chapman was selected as the Gill Man due to his large size at 6'5". His famous suit was made out of a foam-rubber body suit and a large-lipped headpiece. He cited horror film predecessors Lon Chaney Sr. in The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame in the 1920s, Bela Lugosi in Dracula and Boris Karloff in Frankenstein and The Mummy in the 1930s, and Lon Chaney Jr. in The Wolf Man in the 1940s as inspirations to his character.
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