Larry Blamire
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Larry Blamire is an American
filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
, writer and artist best known for the
independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...
''
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra ''The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra'' is a 2001 American independent science-fiction parody film directed by Larry Blamire. The film is a spoof of B movies released during the 1950s. The film was videotaped on a budget of less than US$100,000, and w ...
''.


Biography

Blamire was raised in
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
and studied
illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...
at the
Art Institute of Boston Lesley University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. As of 2018-19 Lesley University enrolled 6,593 students (2,707 undergraduate and 3,886 graduate). History ...
under Norman Baer, a second generation student of
Howard Pyle Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy. In 1894, he began ...
.


Comic author

He dabbled briefly in
underground comics Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...
, writing and drawing the Predator, a vigilante character, in Ace of Spades and Blazing Violence. After several years of various blue collar jobs, Blamire started working as a
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...
for
Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...
, and later
Aboriginal Science Fiction ''Aboriginal Science Fiction'' was a high-circulation semi-professional science fiction magazine started in October 1986 by editor Charles Ryan. After releasing 49 issues it ceased publication in the spring of 2001. In 2002 the rights to ''Abor ...
, among others.


Stage acting career

In the 1980s Blamire began acting on stage on a whim, landing roles at various
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
theatres; the Open Door Theatre, the Alley Theatre, as well as a season at the Boston Shakespeare Company. It was with the Open Door Theatre that he found a home, particularly in their outdoor summer productions at
Jamaica Pond Jamaica Pond is a kettle lake, part of the Emerald Necklace of parks in Boston designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The pond and park are in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, close to the border of Brookline. It is the source of the M ...
by the Pinebank Mansion in a natural formation known as the Kettlebowl. His first play, ''In the Nations'', a dark
western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
which he also directed, received critical and audience acclaim and was followed by his version of
Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...
in which he played the title role but did not direct. It was later published by Bakers Plays, continuing to be performed worldwide. In 1984 he wrote and directed Interface, a science fiction thriller based on the alleged
Philadelphia Experiment The Philadelphia Experiment was an alleged event claimed to have been witnessed by an ex- merchant mariner named Carl M. Allen at the United States Navy's Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, sometime around ...
featuring ambitious effects and sound design. Performed indoors, it played well with audiences but, like
Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...
, received a mixed reaction from the press.


Writing and directing movie career

In 1985, however, Blamire wrote and directed ''Jump Camp'', a surreal dark comedy about a writer searching for a missing psychiatrist in a ghost town that took the quirky dialogue suggested by ''In the Nations'' and elevated it to heights of absurdity. The play was an instant hit with audiences and critics alike, ending up on the year's ten best lists in the ''
Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'', ''
Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...
'' and ''
Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' and ...
''. Moving outdoors again, Blamire's next play, ''Bride of the Mutant's Tomb'', was a comedy about a hapless
Ed Wood Edward Davis Wood Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) was an American filmmaker, actor, and pulp novel author. In the 1950s, Wood directed several low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became cult cla ...
-inspired director trying to make his low-budget
science fiction movie Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...
in the 1950s with a group of misfits. Despite less than complimentary reviews, it proved to be another crowd pleaser. In 1987 Blamire next wrote ''Whyo'', a
revenge tragedy Revenge tragedy (sometimes referred to as revenge drama, revenge play, or tragedy of blood) is a theoretical genre in which the principal theme is revenge and revenge's fatal consequences. Formally established by American educator Ashley H. Thor ...
about Irish gangs in 19th Century New York. It received a grant from the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities and an ambitious staged reading at Gloucester Stage Company. This led to
Israel Horovitz Israel Horovitz (March 31, 1939 – November 9, 2020) was an American playwright, director, actor and co-founder of the Gloucester Stage Company in 1979. He served as artistic director until 2006 and later served on the board, ex officio an ...
commissioning a play, ''The Chroma Line,'' a partly autobiographical look at life in a wallpaper warehouse. His last play of the '80s was ''Ha'nt'', a one-act performed as part of a horror anthology. During this period, Blamire received critical acclaim for a series of leading stage roles, including MacMurphy in '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'', Hotspur in ''
Henry IV, Part 1 ''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the battle at ...
'', John Proctor in ''
The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as a ...
'', Tilden in ''
Buried Child ''Buried Child'' is a play written by Sam Shepard that was first presented in 1978. It won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and launched Shepard to national fame as a playwright. The play depicts the fragmentation of the American nuclear family ...
'' and Al in ''
In the Boom Boom Room ''In the Boom Boom Room'' is a play by David Rabe. The play follows a young go-go dancer who has a difficult relationship with her parents. Plot summary Chrissy arrives in 1960s Philadelphia with the dream of becoming a successful dancer. Despe ...
'', for which he won The Boston Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Actor. He also played the rapist in the Boston premiere of '' Extremities''. In the 1990s, despite revivals of ''In the Nations'' and ''Jump Camp'' (the latter at the Alliance Repertory Company in Los Angeles) and a lead role as the country DJ host in the hit show '' A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline'' at the
Charles Playhouse The Charles Playhouse is a theater at 74 Warrenton Street Boston in the Boston Theater District. The venue comprises an approximately 500-seat mainstage, which hosts the long-running Blue Man Group, and a 200-seat second stage that hosted ''Shear ...
, Blamire found himself moving away from theatre. In 1992 Blamire's comedy sketches were chosen for the HBO Writers Search, and he directed several at the
Stella Adler Theatre The Stella Adler Studio of Acting (formerly Stella Adler Conservatory) is a prestigious acting school that was founded by actress and teacher Stella Adler.
in L.A. They were also collected in an evening called ''Larry Blamire's Sketch-O-Rama'' by a new Massachusetts company, Theatre 9. Towards the end of the '90s, Blamire was writing more and more screenplays on spec, several of which were quarter- and semifinalists in the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...
Nicholl Fellowship The Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting is a fellowship program founded in 1986 to aid screenwriters. It is administered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. History Gee Nicholl, widow of producer Don Nicholl, worked w ...
. In 1997 Blamire began working with an internet start-up called Bali Hai Interactive, given carte blanche to develop new cutting edge entertainment. What resulted was ''The Wise Eye Guys'', a quirky
interactive Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...
nonlinear animated adventure for which he did thousands of drawings and directed the voice actors (which included his wife, actress Jennifer Blaire). Months after the company moved its offices to Los Angeles, it went under in the
dot com crash The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet. Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compo ...
of 2000. Trying unsuccessfully to raise money for the floundering Bali Hai, Blamire, having recently read about developments in digital video, got the idea of shooting an ultra-low-budget spoof of 1950's bargain basement science fiction movies, incorporating elements from ''Bride of the Mutant's Tomb''. The resulting film, ''
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra ''The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra'' is a 2001 American independent science-fiction parody film directed by Larry Blamire. The film is a spoof of B movies released during the 1950s. The film was videotaped on a budget of less than US$100,000, and w ...
'', premiered at the
Mill Valley Film Festival The Mill Valley Film Festival is an annual American film festival founded in 1977. History In October 1977, Mark Fishkin, Rita Cahill and Lois Cole organized a three-day film festival. It featured three film tributes, Francis Ford Coppola's ''T ...
in 2002. Picked up by Michael Schlesinger for
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
, the film was released in 2004. That same year, Blamire wrote and directed ''Johnny Slade's Greatest Hits'' (now ''Meet the Mobsters''), produced by and starring John Fiore and some of
The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
cast. In 2005, he wrote and directed ''
Trail of the Screaming Forehead ''Trail of the Screaming Forehead'' is a 2007 American science fiction comedy film written by, directed by and starring Larry Blamire. Plot In the quiet little town of Longhead Bay, something sinister is afoot - crawling alien forehead parasites ...
''. Though continuing the retro science fiction spoof theme, the film had a different look and feel, in widescreen and color, under the
Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for '' Might ...
Presents banner, with a title song composed by Blamire and sung by
The Manhattan Transfer The Manhattan Transfer is a Grammy award–winning vocal group founded in 1969 that has explored a cappella, vocalese, swing, standards, Brazilian jazz, rhythm and blues, and pop music. There have been two editions of the Manhattan Transfer, ...
. After festival screenings, it was picked up by IFC, playing VOD in 2009, slated for DVD release in 2010. In 2007, Blamire formed a company, Bantam Street, with his core group of actors and technicians. Their acclaimed web series ''Tales From the Pub'' launched that same year. In 2008, Bantam Street made two films back-to-back; ''
The Lost Skeleton Returns Again ''The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra'' is a 2001 American independent science-fiction parody film directed by Larry Blamire. The film is a spoof of B movies released during the 1950s. The film was videotaped on a budget of less than US$100,000, and w ...
'', a sequel to ''
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra ''The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra'' is a 2001 American independent science-fiction parody film directed by Larry Blamire. The film is a spoof of B movies released during the 1950s. The film was videotaped on a budget of less than US$100,000, and w ...
'', and ''
Dark and Stormy Night ''Dark and Stormy Night'' is a 2009 independent film spoofing the haunted house and murder mystery films produced by Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. Larry Blamire directed and acted in the film and wrote the screenplay. The film also include ...
'', a stylistically authentic takeoff on 1930s "old dark house" movies. Both feature Bantam Street's ever-increasing pool of veteran character actors, including
Betty Garrett Betty Garrett (May 23, 1919 – February 12, 2011) was an American actress, comedian, singer and dancer. She originally performed on Broadway, and was then signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She appeared in several musical film ...
, H.M. Wynant and
James Karen James Karen (born Jacob Karnofsky; November 28, 1923 – October 23, 2018) was an American character actor of Broadway, film and television. Karen is known for his roles in '' Poltergeist'', ''The China Syndrome'', '' Wall Street'', ''The Retu ...
.


Writing career

In 2009, Blamire published two books; ''Tales of the Callamo Mountains'', a collection of his western horror short stories, and ''I Didn't Know You Came With Raisins'', a collection of his surreal cartoons. He also completed a screenplay of ''Steam Wars'', an ambitious longtime project with copious illustrations. Blamire continues to keep his hand in graphics, working in both
Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...
and acrylic paint. His paintings tend toward
surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
.


Personal life

Blamire is the nephew of British actor Bert Edgar. Blamire has two sons—Cory, by his first marriage and Griffin, by wife Jennifer Blaire, whom he married in 1998.


Releases

* ''
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra ''The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra'' is a 2001 American independent science-fiction parody film directed by Larry Blamire. The film is a spoof of B movies released during the 1950s. The film was videotaped on a budget of less than US$100,000, and w ...
'' was released on DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on June 22, 2004. * '' Meet the Mobsters'' was released on DVD by Salient Media on May 20, 2008. *
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
released both ''
Dark and Stormy Night ''Dark and Stormy Night'' is a 2009 independent film spoofing the haunted house and murder mystery films produced by Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. Larry Blamire directed and acted in the film and wrote the screenplay. The film also include ...
'' and ''
The Lost Skeleton Returns Again ''The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra'' is a 2001 American independent science-fiction parody film directed by Larry Blamire. The film is a spoof of B movies released during the 1950s. The film was videotaped on a budget of less than US$100,000, and w ...
'' on DVD on August 17, 2010. A free DVD of ''Tales from the Pub'' was given to those who preordered the DVDs on Shout! Factory's website. * ''
Trail of the Screaming Forehead ''Trail of the Screaming Forehead'' is a 2007 American science fiction comedy film written by, directed by and starring Larry Blamire. Plot In the quiet little town of Longhead Bay, something sinister is afoot - crawling alien forehead parasites ...
'' was released on DVD in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
by 4 Digital on June 20, 2011.


Notes


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blamire, Larry Living people American male film actors American male composers 21st-century American composers American male stage actors American film directors American male screenwriters American comics writers American speculative fiction artists Special effects people Science fiction artists American illustrators Underground cartoonists American voice directors Year of birth missing (living people) People from Massachusetts Lesley University alumni 21st-century American male musicians