This
week at Flashbak, I remembered a great (if creepy…) toy from the 1970s: Kenner’s
Hugo, The Man of a Thousand Faces.
Here’s
a snippet and the url (http://flashbak.com/use-imagination-create-disguises-hugo-kenners-man-thousand-faces-56668/
)
“Now
here’s some good old-fashioned nightmare fodder from the mid-1970s. Hugo -- the face you see before you -- is a
bald-hand puppet, thirteen inches in height, with a big, bald plastic head, and
cloth arms.
This
unforgettable toy, Hugo, the Man of a Thousand Faces, was manufactured by
Kenner so that youngsters could practice the fine art of movie make-up and, I
suppose, crafting sinister disguises.
Created
by screenwriter Alan Ormsby (1943 - ) -- also an actor and author of the book Movie
Monsters -- Hugo the Man of a Thousand Faces was released in 1975, and
came complete with a cloak, wig, glasses, and more.
In
particular, he came with hair and facial accessories that could be attached to
his visage courtesy of a “non-toxic glue”
that, as memory serves, nonetheless smelled funny…”
Please
continue reading at
Flashbak.
Ormsby was also behind the make up FX for Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, Deathdream, and Deranged. Hugo was one of those toys from my childhood years (I was born in 1971)that I somehow missed. In fact, first time I ever saw one was in the original Pee Wee Herman Show in the early 1980s. Hugo portrayed Pee Wee's hypnotic puppet (Dr. Mondo, I think he was called?).
ReplyDeleteI remember receiving this toy for Christmas around 1979. I thought it was awesome, and you could use the disguises on yourself as well. I would wear the mustache and pretend to be a stranger to my parents....
ReplyDeleteDavid. Do you remember that Alan Ormsby and his then wife Anya starred in the movie "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things"? And also him and the guy who played Jeff in the movie with him also had small parts in Deathdream while his wife had one of the leading roles playing Andy's sister. And the actress who played Terri in CSPWDT played Andy's girlfriend. It seems as if all of these actors were very good friends in real life!
ReplyDeleteSure do. Children is a real favorite. Matter of fact I finished off watching all of the Blu Ray a month ago. They had a nice little acting troop there.
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