Russ Tamblyn, 76 years young!

Today marks the birthday of actor Russ Tamblyn, who was born on December 30, 1934. Perhaps his best-known role is in West Side Story, but his career is much more varied than that, starting as an adolescent in movies like Gun Crazy.

For whatever reason, Tamblyn never quite got the best roles, instead having to play in such stuff as High School Confidential!, which is fun if admittedly lousy. That, and supporting roles. For some reason, I thought I had done a post on The Haunting this year at Halloween. Tamblyn plays the owner of the possibly haunted house that attracts Julie Harris and others.

Looking through Tamblyn's credits, it seems as though there are a few films that are suitable for TCM Underground that look like a lot of fun, although I've never seen them before. Satan's Sadists (1969), in which Tamblyn plays the leader of a biker gang that has some hippie stoners in it, sounds like a lot of fun, although it does sound terrible. Tamblyn also appears in 1971's Dracula vs. Frankenstein, although not in one of the big roles. One has to wonder what Tamblyn did to deserve winding up in movies like this.