"Plan 9 from Outer Space" actor dies

Troy McClure died yesterday. You may remember him... [Wrong actor. Start again. Ed.] Gregory Walcott died yesterday. You may remember him for his role as Jeff Trent in Plan 9 from Outer Space, long revered as "the worst movie ever made". (Sources for this quote are too numerous to list.) IMDb gives it two stars; Rotten Tomatoes gives it 3.5, largely for its high comedic value.

The 1959 movie was a low-budget oddity written, produced and directed by the idiosyncratic Edward D. Wood Jr., himself the subject of an excellent biopic with Johnny Depp starring in the title role. Plan 9 from Outer Space slowly developed a cult following for its cheap effects and a ragtag cast that included the one-name TV personalities Vampira and Criswell as well as Bela Lugosi, in footage shot shortly before his death in 1956. And Greg Walcott.

To Mr. Walcott’s embarrassment, Plan 9 became a staple at bad-film festivals and the movie with which he was most often associated. The actor had already been in the hit Henry Fonda Navy comedy Mister Roberts (1955) and other movies. He said in a 1998 interview that the Plan 9 script "made no sense," but he took the job because one of the producers was a friend of his. "I thought maybe my name could give the show some credibility," he said.

Here's the trailer for Ed Wood.



And here -- I know you've been waiting for it -- is the link for Plan 9 from Outer Space -- the whole rotten tomato. According to the biopic, Ed Wood said, "This is the one I'll be remembered for." He was right!