Jack Taylor (actor)

Jack Taylor (born George Brown Randall; October 21, 1936) is an American actor known best for featuring in many European low-budget exploitation movies of the 1970s, particularly several directed by Spanish moviemaker Jesús Franco. Born in Oregon City, a suburb of Portland, Oregon, Taylor began acting onstage as a child. During the 1950s, he began appearing in small roles for Los Angeles-based television series before relocating to Mexico and featuring in several movies directed by Federico Curiel.

Taylor had several minor roles in movies during the early 1960s, including ''Cleopatra'' (1963) and ''Custer of the West'' (1966) before having the main role in Jesús Franco's ''Succubus'' (1968). Taylor relocated subsequently to Madrid, and appeared in numerous exploitation and horror movies there, including ''Count Dracula'' (1970), '' Eugenie… The Story of Her Journey into Perversion'' (also 1970), '' Female Vampire'' (1973), and '' Pieces'' (1982).

Taylor's later roles include '' 1492: Conquest of Paradise'' (1992), Roman Polanski's '' The Ninth Gate'' (1999), Daryush Shokof's ''A2Z'' (filmed 2004) and Miloš Forman's '' Goya's Ghosts'' (2006).

Early life

Taylor was born George Brown Randall on October 21, 1936 in Oregon City, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. He began acting as a child, first appearing in a stage production of ''Macbeth''.

Career

He adopted the stage name Jack Taylor and began his acting career in small roles on 1950s American television shows such as ''The Jack Benny Program'' and ''Sheena, Queen of the Jungle''. He relocated to Mexico during the late 1950s and featured in a number of movies for director Federico Curiel, often featuring the Mexican characters Nostradamus the Vampire and the superhero Neutron. Reportedly, he relocated to Europe to appear in the movie ''Cleopatra'' (1963), but his small part was uncredited.

Taylor had a minor role in the international co-production of Robert Siodmak's ''Custer of the West'' (1966).

In 1967, Taylor began his prolific collaboration with Jesús Franco for the movie ''Succubus'' (1968, his first onscreen lead role) and '' Eugenie… The Story of Her Journey into Perversion'' (1970). He went on to play Quincey Morris in the 1970 Franco opus ''Count Dracula'' alongside Christopher Lee, Herbert Lom, Soledad Miranda and Klaus Kinski, before appearing in many of Franco's softcore pornography movies, most famously '' Female Vampire'' (1973) with Lina Romay.

During this period, Taylor also featured with Spanish horror actor Paul Naschy in '' Dr. Jekyll vs. The Werewolf'' (1971) and ''The Mummy's Revenge'' (1975) and worked for director Amando de Ossorio on three occasions, for '' The Ghost Galleon'' (1974), '' Night of the Sorcerers'' (1974) and ''The Sea Serpent'' (1985). He appeared in León Klimovsky's '' The Vampires Night Orgy'' (1972) and the Italian ''giallo'' movie ''Red Rings of Fear'' (1978). Juan Piquer Simón directed him in two movies, a Jules Verne adventure movie named ''Where Time Began'' (1978) and the gory cult movie '' Pieces'' (1982). Taylor next appeared as a priest in John Milius' ''Conan the Barbarian'' (1982).

José Ramón Larraz directed Taylor in two other Spanish slasher movies: '' Rest in Pieces'' (1987) and ''Edge of the Axe'' (1988). He also had a supporting role in Ridley Scott's '' 1492: Conquest of Paradise'' (1992), and later featured with Johnny Depp in Roman Polanski's horror movie '' The Ninth Gate'' (1999).

He next appears in André Téchiné's ''Loin'' (2001), and Miloš Forman's '' Goya's Ghosts'' (2006). Taylor had a supporting role in '' Son of Cain'' (2013), followed by ''Grand Piano'' (also 2013), featuring Elijah Wood and John Cusack.

Select filmography

References

Sources

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Jack
1936 births
Living people
American male film actors
American male television actors
American expatriates in Spain
Male actors from Oregon
People from Oregon City, Oregon