Stagecoach ride into Wild West City with Larry Storch.

Appreciating the Career of Lance Henriksen

Today, May 5th, is the birthday of Lance Henriksen. 

I'm pretty sure I was introduced to Lance Henriksen's work by the original entry in The Terminator series of films.  As legend has it, Henriksen was director James Cameron's first choice to portray the metallic killling machine from the future.  However the studio desired an actor with greater name recognition and the part went to Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Henriksen portrayed one of the frustrated cops dealing with the terminator's killing spree and had little luck in fending off the inhuman murderer's assault on his police precinct.

With his distinctive looks and sombre voice, Henriksen is an actor hard to get out of your mind once you've seen him.  His career is full of diverse roles, from hero to villain and from blockbuster studio faire to independent outings of interest.  He's been the lead in westerns, like Gunfighter's Moon and horror films like The Pit and the Pendulum.  Perhaps his most famous film role is that of the android part he did score - Bishop in Aliens, also from director Cameron.

He has had memorable TV appearences including a turn in Tales From the Crypt in which he portrayed a gambler literally willing to put his life and limbs on the line for his obsessive wagers.

In the late 90's Henriksen took on the role of Frank Black.  The TV series was from creator Chris Carter, quite hot in Hollywood at the time as his series The X Files was doing amazing for Fox.  Millenium starred Henriksen as a retired FBI profiler whose services were still used by a mysterious group called Millenium.  They were bracing themselves for an oncoming onslaught against society by crime and other dangers at the turn of the millenium. 

The stories were cryptic, dark and mysterious, but always engaging due to Henriksen's powerful work.  It was this show that made me a fan of Henriksen and eager to seek out his full body of work. 

I've been lucky enough to meet Henriksen twice at horror conventions.  He's very nice to fans, eager to hear their reaction to his work.  He can really reach fans on a common level as he seems very direct in speaking his mind.  Fans are lucky that he has his autobiography out, Not Bad For A Human.

Malcolm McDowell & David Bowie - 2 Greats!

Reality forges links in mysterious ways.

As a teenager I became a huge fan of Malcolm McDowell, first for his work in Time After Time.  McDowell played the great science fiction writer H. G. Wells, but in the film Wells did more then write science fiction - he lived it.  Wells created a time machine, but bad luck had a friend (played by David Warner) turn out to be the infamous Jack the Ripper and the killer escaped into time via the machine.

Time After Time led me to seek out other McDowell films.  I was repeatedly transfixed by his performances in such productions as A Clockwork Orange, if.., and O Lucky Man!.  The later is my favorite film, a heady mix of first rate acting and  music provided by Alan Price of The Animals.  The film has a surreal flair as it follows coffee salesman Mick Travis (McDowell) on a series of adventures throughout England of the late 60's early 70's era.  Travis encounters everything from nefarious businessmen to mad scientists but always looks for tomorrow's oppurtunities.  Interestingly, McDowell himself worked as a coffee bean salesman.  His character in this film, Mick Travis, was the central character in if.., and would return in Britannia Hospital.

Malcolm McDowell managed to introduce me to two musical greats.  It was McDowell's role as offscreen narrator that led me to view The Compleat Beatles.  His voice added a lot to the story of The Beatles start, growth and eventual breakup.  The film is well researched with ample facts and happily does not delve too deeply into gossip or unfounded scandals. 

Malcolm McDowell introduced me to David Bowie's work with Cat People.  The 1982 film was a remake of a black and white Val Lewton film from forty years earlier.  The remake had more blood and a stronger interpetation of the story's central theme of sexuality.  And it had a killer tune by Bowie. 

Cat People (putting out fire) has mysterious and passionate lyrics that somehow maintain an immortal flaire.  Bowie's voice seems to me at it fullest here, able to utilize its deep richness to convey listeners to an eerie plane of existance where the supernatural rules. I found myself recognizing that voice elsewhere, a TV movie called The Annhilator used Ashes to Ashes.  And I couldn't help myself from seeking out his work in albums and film.
 

  
    Myself and Malcolm McDowell at Horrorfind Convention in September of 2012. (Above)

It was a great pleasure to get to meet Malcolm McDowell at serval local conventions.  And recently its been a great pleasure to write for davidbowienews.com - go there to find more of my musings concerning the great David Bowie.