Ken Foree

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Ken Foree, 2007

Kentotis Alvin "Ken" Foree (born February 29, 1948 in Indianapolis ) is an American actor . He often plays positive characters in horror films . He became known with the 1978 film Zombie with the role of SWAT officer Peter Washington. He has also played roles in more family-friendly productions such as that of the family man Roger Rockmore in the sitcom Kenan & Kel on the children's channel Nickelodeon .

Life

Ken Foree comes from a family of politicians and academics. He started his professional life in the social field as an adviser to a street academy in New York City . In the summer of 1974, Ken Foree opened a photography studio in Manhattan . However, this was completely robbed after only three months. Shortly after this incident, he met an actress friend who suggested that he give acting a try instead. As she was on her way to audition for the theater production Blues for Mr. Charlie , Ken Foree accompanied her there and was immediately awarded the lead role.

After this chance entry into acting, he took acting classes at Shulman's Performing Gallery in New York City. He played his first film role in the sports comedy The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings from 1976. He also played in 1977 in an episode of the popular television series Kojak . At the same time, he also worked as a management assistant in a restaurant in Greenwich Village and took on roles in smaller theater productions.

In 1978 he played in George A. Romero's horror film Dawn of the Dead (German: zombie or zombies in a department store ) with the role of the SWAT police officer Peter Washington one of the four main characters. In this film he also speaks the sentence that is often quoted later and used as a tagline for this film : “ When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth. ”(In German dubbing :“ When there is no more room in hell, the dead come to earth. ”) The film was a great success and so Ken Foree became known among friends of the horror genre. However, he did not earn much from this role and worked as a chauffeur in addition to acting for the next time . In 1981 he was back in front of the camera for George A. Romero: This time he only played a supporting role as Little John in the film Knightriders .

In addition to roles in feature films, Foree has appeared in individual episodes of numerous well-known television series such as The A-Team , Knight Rider , Hunter , Dallas , Matlock , General Hospital , Babylon 5 and the X-Files .

From 1996 to 1999 he played the family man Roger Rockmore in 61 episodes of the sitcom Kenan & Kel on the children's channel Nickelodeon .

After that he received fewer orders and, according to his own statement, gained up to 180 kg body weight. For this reason, he initially wanted to decline the offer to make a small appearance on the remake of Dawn of the Dead , which was filmed in 2004 , and was persuaded by his agent to do so at the last minute. In this remake, Foree, as a television preacher, speaks again the well-known sentence quoted above. After this performance people became more aware of him again and so he played a bigger role in Rob Zombies The Devil's Rejects , now again somewhat slim, in 2005 .

Ken Foree currently lives in Los Angeles .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ An interview with Ken Foree. The Film Asylum
personal data
SURNAME Foree, Ken
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Foree, Kentotis Alvin (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH February 29, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Indianapolis , Indiana, United States