This morning brings about some sad news as we’ve learned Oscar-nominated actor Michael J. Pollard has passed away at the age of 80. The circumstances surrounding his passing have not yet been made clear. Rob Zombie, who directed the 2003 horror movie House of 1000 Corpses which featured Pollard in the role of Stucky, broke the news on Facebook with a touching message for the late actor. Here’s what Zombie wrote about Pollard’s passing on the post.
“We have lost another member of our House Of 1000 Corpses family. I woke up to the news that Michael J. Pollard had died. I have always loved his work and his truly unique on screen presence. He was one of the first actors I knew I had to work with as soon as I got my first film off the ground. He will be missed.”
Included in Zombie’s Facebook post is a photo from the set of House of 1000 Corpses. In the pic, Zombie poses alongside Pollard, Sid Haig, and Irwin Keyes. As Keyes passed away in 2015 and Sid Haig died just two months ago, the losses have left Zombie in a state of shock looking back at his time spent working with all three on the set. “I can’t believe all three of my friends in this picture are now gone,” the filmmaker writes.
Born in New Jersey in 1939, Pollard took an early interest in acting and attended Montclair Academy and Actors Studio in New York. By the late ’50s, he had taken on acting roles on television shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Andy Griffith Show. On The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, he took over for Gilligan star Bob Denver, with Jerome Krebs replacing Denver’s iconic Maynard G. Krebs for a short period of time. This started what would become a decades-long career as a character actor performing in dozens of roles. In 1966, he took on one of his most memorable roles on an episode of the original Star Trek series as Jahn, the teenage-leader of an all-child planet.
We at The DC Patriot send our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to his friends, family, and fans.
