Bryant Haliday
Born April 7th, 1928 – Died July 28th, 1996

If you’re a fan of obscure British horror films, then you might know the name of Bryan Haliday. He appeared in films like Devil Doll (1964), Curse of the Voodoo (1965), The Projected Man (1966), or my personal favorite, Tower of Evil (1972). But if you’re a serious cinephile, then you definitely know something else he was involved in.

Haliday started Harvard with the plan of studying international law, but instead fell in love with acting. In the late ’40s, he was one of the founding members of the Brattle Theatre Company which took residence in an old church, turning it into an actual theater, producing numerous plays there. Later, it was turned into a movie house.

In 1956, along with his partner Cyrus Harvey, they founded Janus Films, which specialized in foreign film distribution, which was later acquired by The Criterion Collection. So if you have a number of Criterion’s DVDs and Blu-rays, I’m sure you’re familiar with Janus Films emblem. Haliday was a huge fan of cinema and really got into film acting just because he enjoyed it so much. The titles he appeared in weren’t going to win any Academy accolades, but he enjoyed them. And so did we!