Samuel William Hinzman (October 24, 1936 – February 5, 2012) was an American actor and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

Career

Hinzman's first role was the cemetery

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

in the popular

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American Independent film, independent zombie horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, written by Romero and John A. Russo, John Russo, produced by Russell Streiner and Karl Har ...

'' (1968). He reprised the role in new scenes that were filmed for the 30th-anniversary edition of the film. Hinzman also played roles in the films '' Legion of the Night'' (1995), '' Santa Claws'' (1996), '' Evil Ambitions'' (1996), and '' The Drunken Dead Guy'' (2005). His final role was in '' River of Darkness'' (2011), where he played a lead role alongside

Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler and amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler. He first earned recognition for winning a Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, gold me ...

Kevin Nash Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959) is an American actor, podcaster and retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is also known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Ac ...

and

Sid Eudy Sidney Raymond Eudy (December 16, 1960 – August 26, 2024) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, best known for his tenures in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), wrestling ...

. He later directed the films ''

The Majorettes ''The Majorettes'' (released in the United Kingdom as ''One by One'') is a 1986 American slasher film directed by S. William Hinzman, written and produced by John A. Russo, which he adapted from his own novel. Its plot follows a string of seria ...

'' (1986), and ''

Flesheater ''Flesheater'' is 1988 horror film directed, written, produced, and co–edited by Bill Hinzman. An independent production, the film also stars Hinzman, best known for playing the cemetery ghoul in George A. Romero's ''Night of the Living Dea ...

'' (1988). His name is spelled "Heinzman" in the original Night of the Living Dead credits. During filming of ''Night of the Living Dead'', crew member Gary Streiner accidentally caught himself on fire while attempting to ignite a prop with gasoline. Bill Hinzman managed to put out the fire, saving Streiner's life.

Death

Hinzman died on February 5, 2012, from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. His death occurred the same day as that of Josephine Streiner (1918–2012), a crew member who played a zombie in ''Night of the Living Dead''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hinzman, S. William 1930 births 2012 deaths Male actors from Pittsburgh American male film actors People from Coraopolis, Pennsylvania Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania Film directors from Pennsylvania