Gorilla suit
Encyclopedia
Costume
The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
s resembling gorilla
Gorilla
Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
s or other large primates.
Gorilla suits have been used both to represent real gorillas in film and on stage, and also as a source of humour. The gorilla suit is a popular Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
and masquerade party costume.
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
utilized typical gorilla suits, and never a full-bodied gorilla Muppet, in several productions. The person inside the gorilla suit is often uncredited.
History
The early history of the art of gorilla impersonation dates at least to the late 1920s, with the rise of Charles GemoraCharles Gemora
Charles Gemora was a former Hollywood makeup artist renowned as "the King of the Gorilla Men" for his prolific appearances in many Hollywood films while wearing a gorilla suit.-Biography:...
, an early practitioner of the art in such short films as Circus Lady and the Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
entry Bear Shooters
Bear Shooters
Bear Shooters is a 1930 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 98th Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:Spud wants to go camping and shoot lots of bears with Jackie, Chubby, and Farina...
. In later decades, in addition to abounding in B movies such as Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla is a 1952 comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring horror veteran Béla Lugosi and nightclub comedians Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo in roles approximating Martin and Lewis.-Plot:...
, the gorilla suit came to prominence in television, in a wide range of series, from 1960s sitcoms like The Addams Family
The Addams Family (TV series)
The Addams Family is an American television series based on the characters in Charles Addams' New Yorker cartoons. The 30-minute series was shot in black-and-white and aired for two seasons in 64 installments on ABC from September 18, 1964, to April 8, 1966...
and The Beverly Hillbillies, which typically attempted to present their gorillas as "real," to more recent series such as L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
and Scrubs
Scrubs (TV series)
Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
, which have contrived to have regular characters don the primate costume.
In 1869, Noah Brooks' short story , "Mr. Columbus Coriander's Gorilla" appeared in Bret Harte
Bret Harte
Francis Bret Harte was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California.- Life and career :...
's "Overland Monthly Magazine." The story concerned a young man employed at a menagerie dressed in a gorilla suit. It is mistakenly credited to Max Adeler.
In recent decades, the work of performers or designers have altered the mechanics and effect of gorilla suits, often using animatronics, taxidermy eyes, realistic fur, and other aides. Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Jim Henson's Creature Shop is a company founded in 1979 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets, and Frank Oz.It was originally created as a result of the observation that the team that had been put together for The Dark Crystal was extremely hard to recreate for Labyrinth, since the...
has contributed to this development in its own way, through work on Buddy and George of the Jungle
George of the Jungle
George of the Jungle was an American animated series produced by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, who created The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. The character George was inspired by the legend of Tarzan. It ran for 17 episodes on Saturday mornings from September 9 to December 30, 1967, on the American TV...
, and many suit performers of Henson creatures portrayed gorillas in other productions.
National Gorilla Suit Day
In 1963, Don Martin published National Gorilla Suit Day in a collection Don Martin Bounces Back, in which Fester Bestertester mocks the (then fictitious) concept of a National Gorilla Suit Day, and suffers a series of incredible assaults from gorillas and other creatures in gorilla and other suits.Subsequently, Don Martin fans have celebrated National Gorilla Suit Day on January 31 .
Gorillagrams
A gorillagram is a gift message, similar to a singing telegramSinging telegram
A singing telegram is a message that is delivered by an artist in a musical form. Singing telegrams are historically linked to normal telegrams, but tend to be humorous. Sometimes the artist is in costume or formal clothing. Singing telegrams are often given as a gift.Western Union, the American...
, but delivered by a performer dressed in a gorilla suit.
Many entertainment companies worldwide have offered gorillagrams and continue to do so. In Australia, the costumes include a heavy crash helmet, introduced after the recipient of one gorillagram, believing the gorilla to be real, rendered the actor unconscious by use of a typewriter
Typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...
(which was destroyed and the actor hospitalised). A gorillagram company run by Clive Gibbons
Clive Gibbons
Clive Archibald Gibbons is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Geoff Paine. Paine was spotted by the Reg Grundy Organisation and offered the role of Clive. He made his first appearance on 22 January 1986...
has been an important plot element in episodes of Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...
.
Famous gorilla men
- Charles GemoraCharles GemoraCharles Gemora was a former Hollywood makeup artist renowned as "the King of the Gorilla Men" for his prolific appearances in many Hollywood films while wearing a gorilla suit.-Biography:...
- Ray "Crash" Corrigan
- Steve CalvertSteve CalvertSteve Calvert born Steven Stevens 28 June 1916 died 5 March 1991 in Los Angeles was a prolific gorilla suit performer in many Hollywood films and television shows. He took the name Calvert from Calvert Whisky.-Biography:...
- Rick Baker (makeup artist)
- George BarrowsGeorge BarrowsGeorge D. Barrows was an American actor known for playing Ro-Man in the film Robot Monster. He was the son of actor Henry A. Barrows. He often wore a gorilla suit for his film roles...
- Bob Burns IIIBob Burns IIIBob Burns III is an actor, consultant, producer, archivist and historian of props, costumes, and other screen used paraphernalia from some of the greatest science fiction, fantasy, and horror motion pictures. He is best known for his work with and collection of movie props, particularly from...
- The Suns GorillaThe Suns GorillaThe Suns Gorilla is the official mascot of the Phoenix Suns basketball team. He is famous for his entertaining antics and dunks which he performs off of a trampoline between the 3rd and 4th quarters. He appeared as a secret character in the video game NBA Jam Tournament Edition...