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.
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The granddaddy of all monster movies, the one and only original King Kong (1933), celebrates its 85 year anniversary this year. To help commemorate this event, the Park Ridge Library and the Pickwick Theatre are doing something special. At the library, they have a huge display of different items from or pertaining to this classic movie. These items are from the estate of director Ernest Schoedsack and his screenwriter wife, Ruth Rose. This collection is on public display for the first time.
