Born Lawrence Rory Guy in Kansas City, Kansas, the late Angus Scrimm (8/19/26 – 1/9/16) portrayed the eerie villain in “Phantasm”. His previous roles were minor. He studied drama and was graduated from the University of Southern California. His first film role was as a postal employee in 1973’s “The Severed Arm.”

Prior to that first acting job, Mr. Scrimm wrote and edited for a number of publications. He won a Grammy Award for the liner notes he wrote for Capitol Records. He had a recurring role on the television series, “Alias.”

“Phantasm” was produced for an estimated $300,000, and shooting was done on weekends. Don Coscarelli wrote, directed, co-produced, filmed, and edited the movie. He called his own script “barely linear”, and it was often revised during filming. The movie deals with death, mourning, and fear from the perspective of an adolescent boy who had recently been orphaned.

Mr. Scrimm, who stood 6-foot four-inches tall, wore platform shoes and suits several sizes too small to enhance his height. The Tall Man used gleaming spheres that flew, attached themselves to a victim’s forehead, drilled a hole into the skull, and pumped it out. This iconic device is, in large part, responsible for the success of the “Phantasm” cult following, success, and franchise.

"Phantasm" spawned four sequels. The last one, “Phantasm: Ravager”, was generally released to US theaters in the fall of 2016, a short while after Mr. Scrimm’s death from prostate cancer at age 89.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org