Paul Marco
Encyclopedia
Paul Marco was an American actor
who often appeared in movies made by Ed Wood, including the "Kelton Trilogy" of Bride of the Monster
, Night of the Ghouls
and Plan 9 from Outer Space
, in which he played a bumbling, fearful policeman named Kelton.
, Marco started taking lessons in drama, singing and dancing at an early age. After graduating from Hollywood High School
, he served in the Navy
during World War II
. His first known movie role was a small part in the 1944
film Sweet and Low-Down with Benny Goodman
, Jo Stafford
, and The Pied Pipers
. In the early 1950s, The Amazing Criswell
predicted on national television that Paul Marco would go far in the motion picture business. Criswell introduced Marco to Ed Wood shortly thereafter. In turn, Marco introduced Ed Wood to Bunny Breckinridge
, a flamboyantly gay
Shakespearean actor who lived with Marco for a time and co-starred in Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Marco depended on Wood for parts, and he more or less retired as an actor as Ed Wood's movies shifted more and more towards pornography
for the last twenty years of his life.
According to Tim Burton
's 1994 movie Ed Wood
, Paul Marco founded his own fan club, of which he then served as president, and spent his time signing autographs (Marco was portrayed in Burton's film by actor Max Casella
).
/tribute film The Naked Monster
, which also featured actors from The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Thing from Another World
, The War of the Worlds
, Beyond the Time Barrier
, and The Indestructible Man
, all reprising the roles they had played in the cited earlier films.
Marco hoped for a career revival with the "Dark Corner" series of shorts. He completed the first, entitled Kelton's Dark Corner (by Vasily Shumov
), and was planning to shoot several scenes for the second before his death.
On May 14, 2006, Paul Marco died after a battle with hip problems and chronic illness, at the age of 78.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who often appeared in movies made by Ed Wood, including the "Kelton Trilogy" of Bride of the Monster
Bride of the Monster
Bride of the Monster is a 1955 sci-fi horror film starring Bela Lugosi, along with Tor Johnson, Tony McCoy and Loretta King Hadler. It was produced, directed and co-written by Edward D. Wood, Jr....
, Night of the Ghouls
Night of the Ghouls
Night of the Ghouls is a 1959 horror film written and directed by Ed Wood. It is a sequel of sorts to the 1955 film Bride of the Monster...
and Plan 9 from Outer Space
Plan 9 from Outer Space
Plan 9 from Outer Space is a 1959 science fiction film written and directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film features Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson and Maila "Vampira" Nurmi...
, in which he played a bumbling, fearful policeman named Kelton.
Career
Born in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Marco started taking lessons in drama, singing and dancing at an early age. After graduating from Hollywood High School
Hollywood High School
Hollywood High School is a Los Angeles Unified School District high school located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California.-History:...
, he served in the Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His first known movie role was a small part in the 1944
1944 in film
The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
film Sweet and Low-Down with Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
, and The Pied Pipers
The Pied Pipers
The Pied Pipers were a popular singing group in the late 1930s and 1940s. Originally they consisted of eight members who had belonged to three separate groups: Jo Stafford from The Stafford Sisters, and seven male singers: John Huddleston, Hal Hopper, Chuck Lowry, Bud Hervey, George Tait, Woody...
. In the early 1950s, The Amazing Criswell
The Amazing Criswell
Jeron Criswell King , born Jeron Criswell Konig, and known by his stage-name The Amazing Criswell , was an American psychic known for wildly inaccurate predictions...
predicted on national television that Paul Marco would go far in the motion picture business. Criswell introduced Marco to Ed Wood shortly thereafter. In turn, Marco introduced Ed Wood to Bunny Breckinridge
Bunny Breckinridge
John Cabell "Bunny" Breckinridge was an American actor and drag queen, best known for his role as "The Ruler" in Ed Wood's film Plan 9 from Outer Space, his only film appearance.- Early life :...
, a flamboyantly gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
Shakespearean actor who lived with Marco for a time and co-starred in Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Marco depended on Wood for parts, and he more or less retired as an actor as Ed Wood's movies shifted more and more towards pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
for the last twenty years of his life.
According to Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
's 1994 movie Ed Wood
Ed Wood (film)
Ed Wood is a 1994 American comedy-drama biopic directed and produced by Tim Burton, and starring Johnny Depp as cult filmmaker Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film concerns the period in Wood's life when he made his best-known films as well as his relationship with actor Bela Lugosi, played by Martin Landau...
, Paul Marco founded his own fan club, of which he then served as president, and spent his time signing autographs (Marco was portrayed in Burton's film by actor Max Casella
Max Casella
Max Casella is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the television series The Sopranos, Doogie Howser, M.D., and as the voice of Daxter in the Jak and Daxter video game series.-Life and career:...
).
Later life and death
In 1995 Marco recorded a 45, "Home on the Strange", in which he reprised his Kelton character for Dionysus Records. He revived Kelton once more in the 2005 science fiction satireSatire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
/tribute film The Naked Monster
The Naked Monster
The Naked Monster is a 2005 American ultra low-budget science fiction and horror comedy film written by Ted Newsom and directed by Newsom and Wayne Berwick as an homage to and spoof of the "giant monster-on-the-loose" films of the 1950s...
, which also featured actors from The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Thing from Another World
The Thing from Another World
The Thing from Another World , is a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell . It tells the story of an Air Force crew and scientists at a remote Arctic research outpost who fight a malevolent plant-based alien being...
, The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds (1953 film)
The War of the Worlds is a 1953 science fiction film starring Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. It was the first on-screen loose adaptation of the H. G. Wells classic novel of the same name...
, Beyond the Time Barrier
Beyond the Time Barrier
Beyond the Time Barrier is a 1959 Cold War era black and white time travel science fiction film filmed in ten days in Texas. It was produced by and starred Robert Clarke and was directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Ulmer's wife Shirley acted as a script editor whilst their daughter Arianne Arden...
, and The Indestructible Man
The Indestructible Man
The Indestructible Man and similar can mean:-* The Indestructible Man , a novel written in the Doctor Who scenario* Indestructible Man, a black-and-white second-feature science fiction film starring Lon Chaney, Jr., made in 1956...
, all reprising the roles they had played in the cited earlier films.
Marco hoped for a career revival with the "Dark Corner" series of shorts. He completed the first, entitled Kelton's Dark Corner (by Vasily Shumov
Vasily Shumov
Vasily Shumov is a Russian/American artist, musician, multimedia and experimental artist, short film director. He is probably best known for his music band Center, which was formed in Soviet Union and is based in Los Angeles, USA since 1990. Shumov created music in such genres as new wave,...
), and was planning to shoot several scenes for the second before his death.
On May 14, 2006, Paul Marco died after a battle with hip problems and chronic illness, at the age of 78.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1944 | Sweet and Low-Down | Uncredited | |
| 1952 | Hiawatha Hiawatha (film) Hiawatha is a 1952 western film directed by Kurt Neumann and starring Vince Edwards. The film is based on the poem The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Much of the location work was done on the Hudson Palisades when many early film studios in America's first motion picture industry... |
||
| 1955 | Bride of the Monster Bride of the Monster Bride of the Monster is a 1955 sci-fi horror film starring Bela Lugosi, along with Tor Johnson, Tony McCoy and Loretta King Hadler. It was produced, directed and co-written by Edward D. Wood, Jr.... |
Officer Kelton | Alternative title: Bride of the Atom |
| 1959 | Night of the Ghouls Night of the Ghouls Night of the Ghouls is a 1959 horror film written and directed by Ed Wood. It is a sequel of sorts to the 1955 film Bride of the Monster... |
Patrolman Paul Kelton | Alternative title: Revenge of the Dead |
| Plan 9 from Outer Space Plan 9 from Outer Space Plan 9 from Outer Space is a 1959 science fiction film written and directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film features Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson and Maila "Vampira" Nurmi... |
|||
| 1961 | The Young Savages The Young Savages The Young Savages is a 1961 crime drama film directed by John Frankenheimer, starring Burt Lancaster, and written by Edward Anhalt from a novel by Evan Hunter.... |
Uncredited | |
| 1965 | Rat Fink | ||
| 1989 | Horror Talk | ||
| 2005 | The Naked Monster The Naked Monster The Naked Monster is a 2005 American ultra low-budget science fiction and horror comedy film written by Ted Newsom and directed by Newsom and Wayne Berwick as an homage to and spoof of the "giant monster-on-the-loose" films of the 1950s... |
Kelton the Cop | |
| 2009 | Kelton's Dark Corner: Trilogy One | Direct-to-DVD release | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1960 | The Donna Reed Show The Donna Reed Show The Donna Reed Show is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the upper middle class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz appears as her pediatrician husband Alex, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children Mary and Jeff. The show originally aired on ABC at 10 pm from September... |
Plumber #3 | 1 episode |
| 77 Sunset Strip 77 Sunset Strip 77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes.... |
Jeep Driver | 1 episode | |