Occupation Actor Children Diana Gemora Role Makeup Artist | Name Charles Gemora Years active 1928–1958 | |
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Full Name Carlos Cruz Gemora Born June 15, 1903 ( 1903-06-15 ) Negros, Philippines Died August 19, 1961, Hollywood, California, United States Movies Swiss Miss, The Savage Girl, The Circus Kid Similar People John G Blystone, Victor Schertzinger, Lloyd Bacon, George B Seitz | ||
Charles gemora goes ape
Carlos Cruz Gemora (June 15, 1903 – August 19, 1961), commonly known as Charles Gemora, was a former Hollywood makeup artist renowned as "the King of the Gorilla Men" for his prolific appearances in many Hollywood films while wearing a gorilla suit.
Contents
- Charles gemora goes ape
- Road to Bali and Road to Morocco Clips Showing Charles Gemoras Expertise For Creating Ape Magic
- Biography
- Death
- Filmography
- References
"Road to Bali" and "Road to Morocco" Clips Showing Charles Gemora's Expertise For Creating Ape Magic
Biography
Gemora was born on the island of Negros, Philippines, and arrived in San Francisco as a stowaway. He quickly found work on a fruit farm in Colusa, California but later moved to Los Angeles. He earned money doing portrait sketches outside of Universal Studios where his talents were discovered and put to work in the studio's sculpture department for The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923). Gemora found his 5'4"/163 cm stature made him a natural to wear a gorilla suit, which he did, beginning with The Leopard Lady (1928).
Gemora's study of real gorillas at the San Diego Zoo and his expertise on makeup gave him an extensive career as a gorilla opposite such luminaries as Our Gang (Bear Shooters), Lon Chaney (The Unholy Three), Bela Lugosi (Murders in the Rue Morgue), Laurel and Hardy, (The Chimp & Swiss Miss), The Marx Brothers (At the Circus), Bob Hope and Bing Crosby (Road to Zanzibar), The Great Gildersleeve (Gildersleeve's Ghost), Abbott and Costello (Africa Screams) and Robert Mitchum (White Witch Doctor).
With men in gorilla suits no longer providing the same scares in the 1950s as they did in the 1930s/40s, Gemora moved into science fiction films such as the Martian in War of the Worlds and I Married a Monster from Outer Space.
Death
Gemora died of a heart attack in August 1961, while he was working on the makeup for Jack the Giant Killer, which would have been his last film.
Filmography
Make Up Department
1962
Jack the Giant Killer (makeup artist)
1962
Hands of a Stranger (makeup artist)
1961
Flight of the Lost Balloon (makeup artist - as Charles Gomura)
1961
Love in a Goldfish Bowl (makeup artist - uncredited)
1961
One-Eyed Jacks (makeup artist - uncredited)
1959
Hotel de Paree (TV Series) (makeup artist - 10 episodes)
- Sundance and the Fallen Sparrow (1960) - (makeup artist)
- Sundance and the Long Trek (1960) - (makeup artist)
- Vengeance for Sundance (1960) - (makeup artist)
- Sundance and the Greenhorn Trader (1960) - (makeup artist)
- Hard Luck for Sundance (1960) - (makeup artist)
- Sundance Goes to Kill (1960) - (makeup artist)
- Sundance and the Blood Money (1960) - (makeup artist)
- The Man Who Believed in Law (1959) - (makeup artist)
- Return of Monique (1959) - (makeup artist)
- The High Cost of Justice (1959) - (makeup artist)
1960
The Mountain Road (makeup artist - uncredited)
1959
The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (makeup artist)
1958
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (TV Series) (makeup artist - 2 episodes)
- Silent Thunder (1958) - (makeup artist)
- The Time Element (1958) - (makeup artist)
1958
I Married a Monster from Outer Space (makeup artist - uncredited)
1957
Witness for the Prosecution (makeup artist: Marlene Dietrich - uncredited)
1957
Omar Khayyam (makeup artist)
1957
Blondie (TV Series) (makeup artist - 1 episode)
- Howdy, Neighbor (1957) - (makeup artist)
1956
Around the World in 80 Days (makeup artist - uncredited)
1956
The Ten Commandments (makeup artist - uncredited)
1956
The Harder They Fall (makeup artist - uncredited)
1956
Anything Goes (makeup artist - uncredited)
1955
The Far Horizons (makeup artist - uncredited)
1955
Hell's Island (makeup artist - uncredited)
1954
The Naked Jungle (makeup artist - uncredited)
1952
Son of Paleface (makeup artist - uncredited)
1952
Viva Zapata! (makeup artist - uncredited)
1951
A Place in the Sun (makeup artist - uncredited) / (makeup artist: Elizabeth Taylor - uncredited)
1950
Union Station (makeup artist - uncredited)
1948
The Emperor Waltz (makeup artist - uncredited)
1947
Unconquered (prosthetic lab technician - uncredited)
1947
California (makeup artist - uncredited)
1945
Back to Bataan (makeup artist - uncredited)
1944
Frenchman's Creek (makeup artist - uncredited)
1944
The Story of Dr. Wassell (makeup artist - uncredited)
1944
Double Indemnity (makeup artist - uncredited)
1944
And the Angels Sing (makeup artist - uncredited)
1943
Henry Aldrich Haunts a House (makeup artist - uncredited)
1942
Here We Go Again (makeup artist: Jerry Maren - uncredited)
1942
Between Us Girls (special makeup - uncredited)
1942
Reap the Wild Wind (makeup artist - uncredited)
1941
Bedtime Story (makeup artist - uncredited)
1941
The Great Man's Lady (special makeup - uncredited)
1941
It Started with Eve (makeup artist - uncredited)
1941
Hold Back the Dawn (makeup artist - uncredited)
1941
Aloma of the South Seas (makeup artist - uncredited)
1940
The Quarterback (makeup artist - uncredited)
1940
Golden Gloves (makeup artist - uncredited)
1940
Those Were the Days! (makeup artist - uncredited)
1940
Dr. Cyclops (makeup artist - uncredited)
1940
The Grapes of Wrath (makeup artist - uncredited)
1939
Disputed Passage (makeup artist - uncredited)
1939
The Magnificent Fraud (makeup artist - uncredited)
1939
Gunga Din (makeup artist - uncredited)
1938
I'm from the City (makeup artist - uncredited)
1938
Swiss Miss (makeup artist - uncredited)
1938
Her Jungle Love (makeup artist - uncredited)
1938
The Buccaneer (makeup artist - uncredited)
1937
The Good Earth (makeup artist - uncredited)
1936
The Jungle Princess (makeup artist - uncredited)
1936
The General Died at Dawn (makeup artist - uncredited)
1935
A Midsummer Night's Dream (makeup artist - uncredited)
1932
Island of Lost Souls (makeup artist - uncredited)
1931
Don Juan diplomático (makeup artist - uncredited)
1929
Where East Is East (makeup artist - uncredited)
Actor
1961
Flight of the Lost Balloon as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1958
Mardi Gras as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1958
I Married a Monster from Outer Space as
Alien (uncredited)
1954
Phantom of the Rue Morgue as
Sultan the Gorilla (uncredited)
1954
So You Want to Be Your Own Boss (Short) as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1953
White Witch Doctor as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1953
The War of the Worlds as
Martian (uncredited)
1949
Africa Screams as
The Ape (uncredited)
1948
Who Killed 'Doc' Robbin? as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1945
Road to Utopia as
Bear (uncredited)
1944
Gildersleeve's Ghost as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1943
Two Weeks to Live as
Plato The Gorilla (uncredited)
1941
Road to Zanzibar as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1941
The Monster and the Girl as
The Gorilla (uncredited)
1939
At the Circus as
Gibraltar the Gorilla (uncredited)
1938
Swiss Miss as
Gorilla (as Charles Gamore)
1937
Oh, Doctor as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1936
Charlie Chan at the Circus as
Caesar the Ape (uncredited)
1935
Gum Shoes (Short) as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1934
Bum Voyage (Short) as
The Gorilla (uncredited)
1934
The Lost Jungle as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1933
So This Is Africa as
Josephine the Gorilla (uncredited)
1933
Sing, Bing, Sing (Short) as
The Gorilla (as Sir Charles)
1933
Nature in the Wrong (Short) as
Mr. Chadwick, the Gorilla (uncredited)
1932
Island of Lost Souls as
Gorilla on Pier (uncredited)
1932
The Savage Girl as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1932
The Sign of the Cross as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1932
Blonde Venus as
Helen Faraday in Gorilla Suit (uncredited)
1932
Hawkins & Watkins Inc. (Short) as
The Gorilla (as Sir Charles)
1932
The Chimp (Short) as
Ethel - the Chimp (uncredited)
1932
Sealskins (Short) as
Jocko the Boxing Gorilla (uncredited)
1932
Murders in the Rue Morgue as
Erik, the Gorilla (uncredited)
1931
Nu-Ma-Pu - Cannibalism as
Cannibal (uncredited)
1931
Monkey Business in Africa (Short) as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1931
Ghost Parade (Short) as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1931
Scared Stiff (Short) as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1930
The Cohens and the Kellys in Africa as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1930
Are You There? as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1930
The Gorilla as
The Gorilla (uncredited)
1930
Pure and Simple (Short) as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1930
Rain or Shine as
Charlie the Gorilla (uncredited)
1930
The Unholy Three as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1930
Bear Shooters (Short) as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1930
Los cazadores de osos (Short) as
Gorilla
1930
Ingagi as
Ingagi - The Gorilla (uncredited)
1929
Tarzan the Tiger as
Taglat the Gorilla / Chulk the Gorilla (uncredited)
1929
Jungle Drums (Short) as
Wild man
1929
His Baby Daze (Short) as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1929
Where East Is East as
Rangho the Gorilla (uncredited)
1929
The Holy Terror (Short) as
Gorilla
1929
The Devil Bear as
Borno the Gorilla (uncredited)
1929
Stark Mad as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1929
Seven Footprints to Satan as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1929
Why Gorillas Leave Home (Short) as
Gorilla
1928
Tarzan the Mighty as
Taug the Gorilla / Toka the Gorilla (uncredited)
1928
Do Gentlemen Snore? (Short) as
Charley the Gorilla (uncredited)
1928
The Circus Kid as
Zozo - the Gorilla
1928
His Favorite Wife (Short) as
Gorilla (uncredited)
1928
The Leopard Lady as
The Ape
1927
Goose Flesh (Short) as
Gorilla (uncredited)
Art Department
1945
Kitty (painter: "Blue Boy" copy - uncredited)
1940
Dancing on a Dime (mask creator - uncredited)
1935
Night Life of the Gods (sculptures - uncredited)
1930
Feet First (Gorilla display prop - uncredited)
1929
Stark Mad (sculptor - uncredited)
1928
Noah's Ark (sculptor: idols - uncredited)
1926
The Black Pirate (set design/sculptures - uncredited)
1925
The Phantom of the Opera (opera house set design - uncredited)
1924
The Thief of Bagdad (sculptor - uncredited)
1923
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (sculptures - uncredited)
Costume Department
1958
The Colossus of New York (designer: Colossus costume - uncredited)
1958
Curse of the Faceless Man (costume: The Faceless Man - uncredited)
1953
The War of the Worlds (costume maker: Martian costumes - uncredited)
1948
Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (sculptor: mermaid tail - uncredited)
1932
The Sign of the Cross (gorilla costume creator - uncredited)
1932
Blonde Venus (gorilla costume creator - uncredited)
1925
The Lost World (ape-man suit creator - uncredited)
Stunts
1948
Who Killed 'Doc' Robbin? (stunts - uncredited)
1941
Road to Zanzibar (stunts - uncredited)
1941
The Monster and the Girl (stunts - uncredited)
1934
The Lost Jungle (stunts - uncredited)
Special Effects
1958
Curse of the Faceless Man (creature creator - as Charles Gemorra)
1954
The Naked Jungle (mechanical designer: ants - uncredited)
Thanks
1994
Hollywood Goes Ape! (Documentary) (dedicatee)
Self
1930
Africa Speaks! (Documentary) as
Gorilla (uncredited)
Archive Footage
2016
Charlie Gemora: Uncredited (Documentary)
1998
Universal Horror (TV Movie documentary)
1986
The Laurel and Hardy Show (TV Series) as
Ethel / Gorilla (1986)
1955
The Little Rascals (TV Series) as
Charlie (1955)
1949
Down Memory Lane as
Charlie, the gorilla
References
Charles Gemora Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA