Bob Burns was the ultimate fan of the sci-fi and horror genre. He was an author, actor, makeup man, consultant, historian, and more importantly, a collector and archivist. He knew the importance of these items, from the original Time Machine from the 1960s film to the armature from the original King Kong, not to mention masks from a young 16-year-old Rick Baker to pieces from both Alien and Aliens, and so much more. And the best part, he looked at this stuff like the same little 10=year-old that is inside of all of fans, with a sense of wonder and fascination.

He worked with Paul Blaisdell on films like It Conquered the World (1956) and Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957), but in the early ’60s, they created a short-lived magazine called Fantastic Monsters of the Films.

He would often appear in a gorilla costume, usually billed as Kogar, but also was a Gorilla named Tracy in the 1975 Saturday morning show The Ghost Busters.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Burns a couple of times over the years at different conventions, and no matter his health or age, he always spoke of these movies with the excitement of a little kid.

In 2001, he published a book called It Came from Bob’s Basement, which is collection of photos of different items from some of the stuff he had acquired over the years. In 2012, directors Frank Dietz and Trish Geiger gave us Beast Wishes: The Fantastic World of Bob and Kathy Burns. I highly recommend seeking out both of these. You can read our review of it HERE.

Definitely an icon that will never be forgotten.