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Taso N. Stavrakis | |
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| Born | July 12, 1957 |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, stunt performer |
| Years active | 1977 – 2017 |
Taso Nicholas Stavrakis (born July 12, 1957) is an American film and television actor and stunt performer best known for his appearances in the George A. Romero films Dawn of the Dead , Knightriders , and Day of the Dead . [1]
Recruited by his good friend and Carnegie-Mellon University classmate Tom Savini, Stavrakis assisted with stunts and special makeup effects on several seminal 1980s horror productions, including the original Friday the 13th , in which he portrayed "The Prowler" (as the unidentified killer was initially referred to in Victor Miller's screenplay). Romero frequently joked that Stavrakis should be included in the Guinness Book of World Records for having appeared as the most zombies in his Dead series (5 in Dawn and 6 in Day). [2]
Offered the opportunity to portray villain Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th Part 2 , Stavrakis turned down the role as his friend Savini had declined to create the film's makeup effects. He instead took an opportunity to create special makeup effects for He Knows You're Alone , an early thriller by Armand Mastroianni (and incidentally Tom Hanks's first feature film), with whom Stavrakis would work again on the 2006 cinematic adaptation of The Celestine Prophecy
Stavrakis eventually gravitated almost exclusively toward stunt work, serving as stunt coordinator on Day of the Dead and the Romero-scripted Creepshow 2 (1987), while his acting work during this period included a brief stint on As the World Turns as Stavros, a Greek interpreter.
His more recent film work includes appearances in Martin Campbell's The Mask of Zorro , Gore Verbinski's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (in a "Tortuga Island" sequence which was edited from the first film but utilized in the sequel) and Michael Mann's 2006 Miami Vice redux, as well as wrangling duties on pictures such as Jackass Number Two and the Seth Green road-trip comedy Sex Drive .
In 2010, Stavrakis appeared as a featured zombie in the pilot episode of the AMC Network series The Walking Dead . As the "living dead" subgenre has increased in popularity over the years, Taso now makes occasional appearances at horror-themed conventions around the world. In 2018, his brother Christian sculpted and installed a bronze bust of George Romero in the Monroeville Mall, the first public monument to Romero's work and career.
| This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(June 2021) |
A tournament fencer and seasoned equestrian, Stavrakis is a founding member of the Hanlon-Lees Action Theater, an American entertainment company which pioneered the art of theatrical jousting. He also performed for several years with the Big Apple Circus during the mid-1990s as a variety of characters (including "Captain Coney," a Coney Island-inspired superhero), and remains a member of BAC's Clown Care unit, providing entertainment and encouragement to children in hospital.
| This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(June 2021) |
In 2018 Taso fulfilled a lifelong dream by founding the West Virginia Renaissance Festival, the first and only medieval faire in that state. Located in Lewisburg, WV, the festival currently runs for four weekends every June.
Day of the Dead is a 1985 American post-apocalyptic zombie horror film written and directed by George A. Romero, and produced by Richard P. Rubinstein. The third film in Romero's Night of the Living Dead series, it stars Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato, Jarlath Conroy and Richard Liberty as members of a group of survivors of a zombie apocalypse sheltering in an underground bunker in Florida, where they must determine the outcome of humanity's conflict with the undead horde. Romero described the film as a "tragedy about how a lack of human communication causes chaos and collapse even in this small little pie slice of society".
Dawn of the Dead is a 1978 zombie horror film written, directed, and edited by George A. Romero, and produced by Richard P. Rubinstein. An American-Italian international co-production, it is the second film in Romero's series of zombie films, and though it contains no characters or settings from the preceding film Night of the Living Dead (1968), it shows the larger-scale effects of a zombie apocalypse on society. In the film, a phenomenon of unidentified origin has caused the reanimation of the dead, who prey on human flesh. David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, and Gaylen Ross star as survivors of the outbreak who barricade themselves inside a suburban shopping mall amid mass hysteria.
Prosthetic makeup, which may also be referred to as special make-up effects or FX prosthesis, is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding, and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects. Prosthetic makeup draws a straight lineage from the Stagecraft of theatre and can be observed at the birth of science fiction cinema with Le Voyage dans La Lune, a 1902 French adventure short film directed by pioneer of special effects Georges Méliès.
George Andrew Romero was an American-Canadian filmmaker, writer, editor and actor. His Night of the Living Dead series of films about an imagined zombie apocalypse began with the original Night of the Living Dead (1968) and is considered a major contributor to the image of the zombie in modern culture. Other films in the series include Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985). Aside from this series, his works include The Crazies (1973), Martin (1977), Knightriders (1981), Creepshow (1982), Monkey Shines (1988), The Dark Half (1993), and Bruiser (2000). He also created and executive-produced the television series Tales from the Darkside from 1983 to 1988.
Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 action horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his directorial debut, with a screenplay by James Gunn. A remake of George A. Romero's 1978 horror film of the same name, it stars an ensemble cast that includes Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, and Mekhi Phifer. Scott Reiniger, Tom Savini, and Ken Foree from the original film also make cameo appearances. Set in Milwaukee, the film follows a group of survivors who take refuge in an upscale suburban shopping mall during a zombie apocalypse.
Land of the Dead is a 2005 post-apocalyptic horror film written and directed by George A. Romero; the fourth of Romero's six Living Dead movies, it is preceded by Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead, and succeeded by Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead. It was released in 2005, with a budget of $15–19 million, the highest in Romero's Dead series, and has grossed $46 million.
Ken Foree is an American actor, best known as the protagonist Peter from the horror film Dawn of the Dead (1978) and as Roger Rockmore on the Nickelodeon television sitcom Kenan & Kel (1996–2000).
Night of the Living Dead is a 1990 American horror film directed by Tom Savini and starring Tony Todd and Patricia Tallman. It is a remake of George A. Romero's 1968 film of the same title; Romero rewrote the original 1968 screenplay he had originally co-authored with John A. Russo. Like the original, the film follows seven strangers as they meet and survive in a rural farmhouse, following the awakening of cannibalistic zombies. It is the only "official" remake of the 1968 film, with other "unofficial" remakes coming out after, as a result of the source material's lack of copyright ownership. Night of the Living Dead was released by Columbia Pictures in the United States on October 19, 1990. The film received negative reviews upon initial release and grossed $5.8 million against a $4.2 million budget. Modern reviews have been more positive.
Thomas Vincent Savini is an American prosthetic makeup artist, actor, stunt performer and film director. He is known for his makeup and special effects work on many films directed by George A. Romero, including Martin, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Creepshow and Monkey Shines; he also created the special effects and makeup for many cult classics like Friday the 13th, Maniac, The Burning, The Prowler and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.
Knightriders is a 1981 American drama film written and directed by George A. Romero and starring Ed Harris, Gary Lahti, Tom Savini, Amy Ingersoll, Patricia Tallman, and Christine Forrest. It was filmed entirely on location in the Pittsburgh metro area, including Fawn Township and Natrona during the summer of 1980.
John S. Harrison Jr. is an American filmmaker, musician, and composer best known for his collaborations with director George A. Romero and for writing-directing the miniseries adaptation of Dune.
Gregory Nicotero is an American special make-up effects creator, television producer, and director. His first major job in special effects makeup was on the George A. Romero film Day of the Dead (1985), under the tutelage of Romero and make-up effects veteran Tom Savini.
Hanlon-Lees Action Theater is an American entertainment company credited with the development of theatrical jousting. The company was formed in 1979 by partners Kent Shelton, Robin Wood, Richard "Dikki" Ellis, R. Vincent Park, Taso N. Stavrakis, and Stephen "Omms" Ommerle.
Texas Frightmare Weekend is a horror-oriented for-profit media event held annually in the Dallas, Texas, area. The weekend is a way for fans of the horror genre to connect with fellow horror lovers, meet guests that work in the genre, discover new films, and buy merchandise.
Bodily mutilation in film describes the apparent mutilation for theatrical purposes of a character in a film. Bodily mutilation is most usually portrayed in the context of horror, but is also used in other genres, such as medical dramas or war films. It is used primarily either to shock or fascinate the audience of a film, or to add a sense of realism to a film. Improved special effects in recent decades have seen an increase in the prevalence of bodily mutilation in film.
John Amplas is an American actor known primarily for his work with director George A. Romero, particularly his appearances in the title role of Martin (1977), as well as Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Creepshow (1982).
Richard P. Rubinstein is an American film and television producer, who has worked mainly in the science fiction and horror genres. In the 1970s and 1980s he collaborated frequently with horror director George A. Romero, including on the seminal 1978 zombie film Dawn of the Dead and the 1984–1988 anthology horror television series Tales from the Darkside. In the 1980s and 1990s Rubinstein produced a substantial number of projects based on the writings of horror novelist Stephen King.
Gary Howard Klar was an American actor known for his role as Pvt. Steel in George A. Romero's cult classic zombie film Day of the Dead. He also appeared in Married to the Mob (1988), Big (1988), and Hackers (1995).
Pasquale A. "Pat" Buba was an American film editor, noted for his longtime collaboration with George A. Romero.
KNB EFX Group is an American special effects company that specializes in prosthetic makeup, animatronics, and other practical effects. It was founded in 1988 by Robert Kurtzman, Greg Nicotero, and Howard Berger, though Kurtzman left in 2003. After establishing a reputation for gory effects in horror films throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, they broadened to performing animatronics and makeup effects for mainstream comedy and drama films. Their work on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Walking Dead have netted them multiple awards and nominations.