Stephen King's First Cameo Role Was In A Little-Seen George Romero Movie
Horror maestro Stephen King is well-known for making cameos in various movies and TV shows that were based on his novels and short stories, but there were a few instances where he appeared in projects that didn't draw on his work whatsoever. In fact, one of his best roles by far is playing the creepy Harley veteran and "cleaner" named Bachman, in the third season of Kurt Sutter's "Sons of Anarchy," who's contacted to come and dispose of a dead body. But King's first-ever cameo happened decades before the FX series, in the late George A. Romero's (who's also responsible for one of the essential zombie movies that every fan should watch at least once ) underseen 1981 action drama, "Knightriders."
"Knightriders" follows a modern-day troupe re-enacting medieval customs, using altered motorcycles instead of horses to joust, and living by the proverbial sword in the '80s of Pennsylvania. Led by Ed Harris' Billy (the actor's first leading role), who models himself after the principles of King William, the group faces troubles with local authorities, talent agents, and other outside factors as reality seems to break the veil of their grand fantasy more and more. Besides Harris, the "Knightriders" cast also includes legendary make-up artist and actor Tom Savini, Gary Lathi, Martin Ferrero, Ken Foree, and Patricia Tallman — and of course, Stephen King as the Hoagie Man.
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King's cameo was the first in a line of several collaborations with Romero
Stephen King only appears in "Knightriders" for a few seconds as one of the spectators — a gross man eating voraciously and uttering lines at the same time while big chunks of food and crumbs are falling out of his mouth — watching Billy's troupe joust. His brief performance is pitch-perfect as the type of fool he often describes in his novels with the same accuracy. It's really just a fun moment that Romero likely included in the movie because the two were great friends. Perhaps that's why this became sort of a thing between them in the years to come.
Just a year after "Knightriders," Romero directed the classic horror anthology "Creepshow" (written by King), and cast the author in his one and only leading role as Jordy Verrill in the segment, "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill." In the 1987 sequel, "Creepshow 2," King returned for a short cameo in "The Hitchhiker" segment, too. The two also collaborated in the "Tales From the Darkside" series, as well as its 1990 feature, "Tales From the Darkside: The Movie."
Yet their most significant work together might be the 1993 horror flick, "The Dark Half," that Romero adapted from King's 1989 novel of the same name, starring Timothy Hutton as a writer whose vicious and violent alter ego comes to life. In retrospect, it's funny that it all started with a young King eating as a bad-mannered schmuck in front of a camera.
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