RIP Kerwin Mathews- star of DC pilot "A Darkness At Blaisedon" & many films

[Charles_Ellis]

I was saddened to hear of his passing- I had always liked his adventure films and always felt he could've been a bigger star if given the right material.  Pity the 1969 Dan Curtis pilot wasn't picked up, as it would've been a boost for his career and given DC a chance to put the DS actors on primetime on a regular basis as guests stars on the proposed series. 


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/08/BAGLAQT1D51.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

[David]

after retiring from show biz, Mathews & his lover lived right here in SF CA,.
They lived in an area called Buena Vista Park, right near Haight Ashbury.

Here they were able to live openly as a gay couple, which they could not do in the Hollywood of the 60s & 70s.

I still have my MPI VHS of A Darkness at Blaisdon, briefly available some 15 years ago.
It's superbly creepy!
Sam Hall wrote it, Lela Swift directed, the DS score is used, and both Thayer David & Louis Edmonds played supporting roles.
I hope it gets a DVD release.

RIP, Kerwin.

David

[Charles_Ellis]

David, did you get to meet Mr. Mathews?  He was something else!

[David]

Hey Charles:

I never met Mr. Mathews, but he was known for appearing at AIDS fundraisers.

He & his lover were of the old school. Elegant gentlemen, they called people by their last names and reportedly had a beautiful home.

It's a shame that their brand of class has fallen by the wayside.

David

[Mary]

Holy cats!  Does anyone else besides me remember his movie "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf?"  I had to mention that -- this was a major part of my childhood!  LOL!  (And of course my interest in werewolves comes from DS!  LOL!)  Anyway, yeah, this movie was cheesy, but it was still cool!  LOL!

Sorry to hear of his passing.  Sounds like he must have been a very nice person. 

[CyrusL]

I heard about this Sunday but was waiting to find a confirmation article before I posted this.
Kerwin Matthews, best known perhaps as Sinbad in Ray Harryhausen's classic, "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", has passed away at 81. Readers of this board will remember him as the star of the Dan Curtis pilot "A Darkness at Blaisedon", which is available from MPI. Blaisedon as most here know was an attempt by Dan Curtis to have a prime time weekly series in the DS vein. (All puns intended  ) The show is also notable for the appearence of both Louis Edmonds and Thayer David, as well as acquainting Dan with Michael Stroka who auditioned for that show but was cast on DS instead. Matthews  survived by his companion of 46 years, Tom Nicoll, and was living in San Francisco. Below in a link to his obit in the SF Chronicle. RIP 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/08/BAGLAQT1D51.DTL

Michael

[David]

 

Hey Mary:

I recall seeing Boy Who Cried Werewolf, at the long gone Nostrand Theatre in Brooklyn NY in 1973.
The co-feature was the mutant snake thriller "Ssssss...."

Ah, yes.
The horror movies of my youth.
What pleasent memories!

David

[rainingwolf]

Readers of this board will remember him as the star of the Dan Curtis pilot "A Darkness at Blaisedon", which is available from MPI.

IS it still available? I don't see it on their website, but I've been looking for a copy for ages! Would love to know where to find one?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It's probably not still available from MPI because they've pretty much phased out all of their VHS tapes and I don't believe they've offered it on DVD. The VHS has occasionally shown up on eBay, but there's no rhyme or reason as to when it's available there.  :-

[Mary]

I recall seeing Boy Who Cried Werewolf, at the long gone Nostrand Theatre in Brooklyn NY in 1973.
The co-feature was the mutant snake thriller "Ssssss...."

Ah, yes.
The horror movies of my youth.
What pleasent memories!

Yes!  When I saw it (in my small town in Ohio), it was a double feature with "Ssssss" but my mom wouldn't let me stay for the second one -- LOL!  But that was fine with me because werewolves were my thing and I had to beg and beg her just to let me see "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf" (she thought it would be too scary) -- LOL!  I did eventually see "Ssssss" on tv years later, though.  But "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf was very exciting and definitely scared me (yes, Mom was right, but I wanted to get scared!  LOL!).  I was in the 6th grade at the time.  I remember the scene where the werewolf was locked in the shed and the boy's mom had to go back into the house to get the car keys so they could escape and it seemed like everybody in the whole theater was yelling "Hurry up!" and sitting on the edge of our seats waiting to see if they could get away before the werewolf broke out of the shed -- LOL!  After I saw this movie I was terrified for weeks that someone around me would turn into a werewolf and attack me -- LOL!  But I thought this movie was so cool -- I took my tape recorder and recorded my own sequel (which I made up as I went along) where the boy was now a werewolf -- LOL!  It included lots of howling -- LOL!  (Yes, I sound like I still am in the 6th grade -- LOL!)

Anyway, thanks for your reply and sharing your memory, David!

Mary