WORLD OF MONSTERS: HORROR ACTORS CRY "U.N.C.L.E."!

Saturday, October 19, 2024

HORROR ACTORS CRY "U.N.C.L.E."!

Like THE ADDAMS FAMILY and THE MUNSTERS TV shows, I made darn sure I was home when the next episode of THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. came on. After monsters, spies and secret agents were my meat and the 60's served up the filet mignon -- there were the movies featuring James Bond, Derek Flint, Matt Helm and the generous TV sides of SECRET AGENT (aka DANGER MAN), I SPY (two cool dudes!), GET SMART (funnier'n hell!), MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (very suspenseful!), WILD, WILD WEST (another favorite!), THE AVENGERS (Diana Rigg -- 'nuff said!), THE PRISONER (weird, but wonderful!), THE SAINT (Roger Moore is smooth!), BLUE LIGHT (starring Robert Goulet!), and yes, even THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E. (Mary Ann Mobley and Stephanie Powers!)! Between these two topics, it was hard to ask more more in those halcyon days (but of course, we did).

Leo G. Carroll, Robert Vaughn and David McCallum.

Now let's take a look at an interesting phenomenon that occurred: the crossover of horror and spy shows, in particular well-known horror actors that appeared in both THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. and THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E. Both shows already had one horror actor in the cast; Leo. G. Carroll played a mad scientist in the 1955 Universal thriller, TARANTULA, THE TOWER OF LONDON, a couple of Hitchcock films and an episode of THRILLER.

Leo G. Carroll in Tarantula.

Elsa Lanchester guested as Dr. Agnes Dabree in "The Brain Killer Affair" (Season 1, Episode 3; Airdate: 8 March 1965) who develops a brain-altering machine in the spirit of her creator in a film 30 years earlier, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Makeup artist Jack Dusick memorialized her famous film by adding two silver streaks in her hair!

Vincent Price was cast in "The Foxes and Hounds Affair" (Season 2, Episode 4; Airdate: October 8, 1965) as Victor Marton who has a device that translates thoughts -- for nefarious purposes of course!

John Carridine was a cult priest in the two-part "The Prince of Darkness Affair" (Season 4, Episode 4-5; Airdates: 2 October 2 1967, and 9 October 1967). It also guested Mr. Spaulding himself, Sid Haig! THE HELICOPTER SPIES, a feature-length film edited with these two episodes, was released in 1968 in theaters.

The biggest guest surprise was Boris Karloff who played the outrageous (for the time) transvestite T.H.R.U.S.H. agent Mother Muffin in THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E.'s "The Mother Muffin Affair" (Season 1, Episode 3; Airdate: 27 September 1966).

Producer Douglas Benton took Karloff's signing on for the program quire casually: "I had worked with him [Karloff] on his earlier series. I was the story editor and associate producer on THRILLER, and that was one of the reasons he appeared on THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E. for us."

Karloff's makeup was applied by Jack Dusick. When completed, he was a sight to behold! Doug Benton recalled:

"We were shooting down at the Venice Beach, and he [Karloff] was in the makeup trailer. And he was sitting there, and he had put his skirt on but he hadn't put the top of the outfit on, but he had put the wig on, and he and the makeup man [Dusick] were working on his makeup. And these two little boys walked up, and Boris turned around and looked out the door of the trailer and the two kids, one was about eight and the other about six. Boris swore to me that the other boy turned to the younger and said, 'Jeez, that's the ugliest old bag I ever saw in my life.'"

Last but not least, John Carradine guested again in THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E.'s "The Montori Device Affair" (Season 1, Episode 5; Airdate: 11 October 1966) as Prof. Boris Budge, who -- you guessed it -- possesses a brain-washing device. THE ADDAMS FAMILY alumni Ted "Lurch" Cassidy and Lisa "Wednesday" Loring also appeared. The episode was directed by veteran John Brahm, who also directed episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, THE OUTER LIMITS, THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR, THRILLER, and Vincent Price's THE MAD MAGICIAN.