From SouthBendTribune.com --Durock, a journeyman actor and stuntman who appeared in more than 700 films and television shows, died last week at his home in Oak Park, Calif., after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 72.
Dick Durock's early work included stunts for "The Beverly Hillbillies" and a bit part as "Guard #1" in an episode of "Star Trek." He would go on to do stunt work in hundreds of films and television shows, including "The Poseidon Adventure" and "A-Team," and act in hundreds more, including "The Rockford Files," "The Incredible Hulk," "Married with Children" and "Stand by Me."
But Dick Durock's most memorable work was as the DC Comics character Swamp Thing, a plant-like humanoid charged with protecting the natural world from the abuses of man.
He played the character in two feature films, "Swamp Thing" (1982) and "The Return of Swamp Thing" (1989), and in a subsequent television series, also called "Swamp Thing," that ran for 71 episodes in the early 1990s.
Dick Durock was practically unrecognizable in the physically taxing role, which required him to don a heavy body suit and endure hours of makeup.
"At the end of the day you're wearing 80 pounds of wet latex," Dick Durock said in a 2008 interview for the Web site Mania.com, "plus all the chemicals on your face. It sure isn't sunglasses and autographs, I'll tell ya."
He was also the Imperious Leader from the original Battlestar Galactica.
5 comments:
Swamp Thing is one of my most favorite films of all time. Sad to hear of his passing. RIP Dick Durock.
Aw, man, that bites! But 72??? WOW! He was older than I thought. Loved the Swamp Thing show, cheesy fun!!! :(
Damn,nobody remembers that Durock also played an evil Hulk in a 2 part episode of "The Incredible Hulk" entitled "The First".
I met Mr.Durock in Savannah after Swampthing 2.I had the honor of watching him get made up.I drove him to the World Premier of the film in the VW Thing that he blew up in the movie.He signed ALL autographs and donated ALL of his money to the Oatland Island Education Center.I have never met a nicer,mor giving person in my life.-John Potter
I had never Known who played the "Imperious Leader"....( I knew who was his "voice"...)
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