Mel Welles
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Mel Welles
Biography
A writer turned actor/director, Mel Welles was one of the most enduring cult figures from '50s exploitation pictures. Born in New York City in 1924, Welles moved into films after careers in clinical psychology, writing, and radio, and also performed in theater and wrestling promotion in Canada. He arrived in Hollywood at just about the time that his services were needed, in the first half of the 1950s -- filmmakers were eager to make movies appealing to teens, and in addition to some skills as an actor, Welles, who had written for jazz satirist Lord Buckley, was a natural both as a performer and writer of "special material" to jazz up the scripts and action of the exploitation pictures being ground out. His most notable work in this area was in the 1958 drug-and-sexploitation classic High School Confidential, directed by Jack Arnold, for which Welles provided two stunningly funny (and effective) parodies of beat poetry and jargon, and also served as the movie's resident expert on marijuana. During this period, Welles -- who was a master of numerous accents and dialects -- appeared in numerous Roger Corman films (Attack of the Crab Monsters, Rock All Night etc.), usually in small roles, and became part of the stock company that included Dick Miller and Jonathan Haze. His most prominent and enduring role for Corman -- and his personal favorite -- was that of Gravis Mushnik in the original 1960 non-musical version of Little Shop Of Horrors. During the '60s, Welles began directing low budget films such as the crime thriller Code of Silence (1960) and the horror film Lady Frankenstein (1972). By the 1980's, Welles had come to appreciate the admiration lavished on his work by his former teenage fans at conventions and in books -- he appreciated the outpourings of approval for his acting, in cult movies that came to be described and categorized as "psychotronic," though he was also somewhat embarrassed by the seriousness with which modern audiences embraced his beat poetry parodies in High School Confidential (and which, much to his puzzlement, recently surfaced on a compact-disc collection of actual Beat poetry). He had also resumed acting in the 1980s, including occasional voice-over work. Welles died of heart failure in 2005, at the age of 81. ~ Bruce Eder, RoviFilmography:
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Mel Welles
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Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Mel Welles
| Mel Welles | |
|---|---|
 Welles in The Little Shop of Horrors |
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| Born | February 17, 1924 New York City, New York |
| Died | August 18, 2005 Norfolk, Virginia |
Mel Welles (February 17, 1924 - August 18, 2005) was an American film actor and director. His best-remembered role may be that of hapless flower shop owner Gravis Mushnik in the 1960 low-budget Roger Corman dark comedy, The Little Shop of Horrors.
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Biography
Not much is known of Welles' early life, except that he was born Ira Meltcher in New York City. He graduated from Mt. Carmel High School, in 1940. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree from Penn State University, a Master of Arts degree from West Virginia University, and a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University.
Welles held a number of jobs during his lifetime; at one time or another he worked as a clinical psychologist, radio DJ, television actor, writer and film director. He did some stage work before traveling to Hollywood, where in 1953 he appeared in his first film, Appointment in Honduras. His favorite role (The Little Shop of Horrors) was also his last in the U.S. for many years.
In the early 1960s, he left the United States initially to make a film in Germany. After the producer was arrested he travelled to Rome to act, produce and direct mostly uncredited primarily in Europe several film productions including the cult horror films Maneater of Hydra (1967) and Lady Frankenstein (1971). His fluency in five languages proved to be most helpful where he started a dubbing company that by his own estimate dubbed over 800 European made films[1]. He also served as a film consultant. Later he returned to the U.S., appearing in a number of films, doing voice work, and teaching voice acting.
Probably his most widely seen work in the late 1970s was his English adaptation of the Japanese television show, "Spectreman" which was seen on UHF and cable across the United States. While he shares writing credit with two other people, it's clear that most of the English voice work, and the offbeat humor, is his.
In 1998, Welles took to the stage in a community theater production of Little Shop of Horrors (musical) as Mushnik, the role he created in the original Roger Corman film. Welles had never performed in the musical and was happy to be asked to do the role, which he described as a "mitzvah" for Scotts Valley Performing Arts. Jonathan Haze, who played Seymour in the original film, attended the opening, and Welles also received a visit from Martin P. Robinson, the designer of the Audrey II plant puppets used in the off-Broadway production (Robinson is also famous for his puppetry on Sesame Street).
Welles was working on a horror screenplay, tentatively titled House of a Hundred Horrors, at the time of his death.
Filmography
- Appointment in Honduras (1953)
- Gun Fury (1953)
- Wyoming Renegades (1954)
- Jesse James vs. the Daltons (1954)
- Yankee Pasha (1954)
- Massacre Canyon (1954)
- Pushover (1954)
- Bengal Brigade (1954)
- The Silver Chalice (1954)
- The Racers (1955)
- Pirates of Tripoli (1955)
- Soldier of Fortune (1955)
- Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)
- Spy Chasers (1955)
- Duel on the Mississippi (1955)
- Kismet (1955)
- The Big Knife (1955)
- Hold Back Tomorrow (1955)
- The Fighting Chance (1955)
- Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956)
- Outside the Law (1956)
- Calling Homicide (1956)
- Flight to Hong Kong (1956)
- Code of Silence (1957)
- Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)
- Hold That Hypnotist (1957)
- The Undead (1957)
- Rock All Night (1957)
- Designing Woman (1957)
- The 27th Day (1957)
- Hell on Devil's Island (1957)
- Tip on a Dead Jockey (1957)
- The Brothers Karamazov (1958)
- High School Confidential! (1958)
- Hakuja den (1958) (English voice dub)
- The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
- Lo Sceicco Rosso (1962)
- Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962)
- The Reluctant Saint (1962)
- The Keeler Affair (1963)
- Panic Button (1964)
- Our Man in Jamaica (1965)
- La Sorella di Satana (1966)
- Llaman de Jamaica, Mr. Ward (1968)
- Die Grosse Treibjagd (1968)
- Joyride to Nowhere (1977)
- Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype (1980)
- Faeries (1981) (voice)
- Wolfen (1981) (voice)
- Body and Soul (1981)
- The Last American Virgin (1982)
- Homework (1982)
- Chopping Mall (1986)
- Commando Squad (1987)
- Rented Lips (1988)
- Invasion Earth: The Aliens Are Here (1988)
- Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II (1989)
- Raising Dead (2002)
Notes
- ^ Paul, Louis Mel Welles Interview in Tales from the Cult film Trenches: Interviews with 36 Actors from Horror, Science Fiction and Exploitation Cinema McFarland 06/09/2007
External links
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Mentioned in
Joy Ride to Nowhere
(1978 Action Film)
Rock All Night
(1957 Musical Film)
The Undead
(1957 Horror Film)
La Isla de la Muerte
(1966 Science Fiction Film)
Lady Frankenstein
(1971 Horror Film)
» More