Tom Graeff
| Tom Graeff | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Thomas Lockyear Graeff September 12, 1929 Ray, Arizona, US |
| Died | December 19, 1970 (aged 41) La Mesa, California, US |
| Cause of death | Intentional carbon monoxide poisoning |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Tom Lockyear |
| Alma mater | UCLA |
| Occupation | Actor, director, producer, screenwriter, film editor, cinematographer |
| Years active | 1951–1964 |
Thomas Lockyear "Tom" Graeff (September 12, 1929 – December 19, 1970) was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, film editor and cinematographer. He is best known for writing, directing, producing and starring in the 1959 B-movie Teenagers from Outer Space.
Graeff was born in Ray, Arizona, to an engineer father and homemaker mother. When he was a toddler, the family relocated to Los Angeles, where a second son was born. As a teen, Graeff enrolled in the UCLA Theater Arts Program, where he studied film making and theater.
Graeff's first publicly screened film was a 20-minute short about Delta Chi fraternity life entitled Toast to Our Brother, which starred Graeff, a Paramount ingenue named Judith Ames (later Rachel Ames), and guest-starred comedian Joe E. Brown (Some Like It Hot), a UCLA alumnus. The film premiered at the Fox Village Theater in Westwood Village during Graeff's senior year at college.
Graeff's next film was a 16-minute recruiting film for Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California. The Orange Coast College Story was narrated by Vincent Price, who was a friend of the faculty adviser, and starred a young actor named Chuck Roberts (a.k.a. Charles Robert Kaltenthaler). It premiered on campus in spring of 1954.
Graeff began production on his first feature, The Noble Experiment, in the summer of 1954. The comedy, shot in Orange County, took a year to complete and premiered in Newport Beach, California, in August 1955. Graeff played the lead opposite a local beauty queen. The film was not well received by the audience and was only shown once more, years later. Around this time, Graeff also produced a short art film, Island Sunrise, starring Chuck Roberts.
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