Michael Legge (filmmaker)

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Michael Legge
Michael Legge

Michael Legge (born June 12, 1953)[1] is an award winning Massachusetts-born actor[2] and filmmaker.[3] He is known for producing ultra-low-budget comedy-horror films which he writes, directs and generally stars in. Sideshow Cinema is the name of the production company he founded.

Contents

[edit] Early life

As a youth Mike Legge enjoyed watching the comedies of The Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy[4] however, he was also a big fan of horror movies that were so prevalent in the 1950s/1960s.[5]

He started making movies quite young with an 8mm movie camera and by high school was already making spoofs of movies such as David Lean's Bridge on the River Kwai.[6] Legge was not just shooting and editing these films, but he was also writing and acting in them. He would use friends and family members to help make these mini productions. As he got older his films became more sophisticated and professional.

[edit] Acting career

Legge's natural ability at acting led him to the stage, from an early age, where up to the present he has performed in literally hundreds of musicals and stage plays. He runs his own theater company in Medway, Massachusetts, which he does out of his love for the art. He usually directs these productions and has garnered a fan following over the years.

He has produced, on stage, each of the Marx Brothers musical comedies. His Groucho Marx impersonation is considered by many to be very good and the shows are said to have sold out in advance before each performance.

Legge has won several awards as an actor including a B-Movie Award for being the Best Villain in 1999 in his film Braindrainer[7] at the B-Movie Film Festival. His acting as been in much demand on the stage as well as on screen. In 2000, he played Dr. Wahl in The Girls from H.A.R.M.! directed by Pat Bishow.[8]

[edit] Filmmaking career

Michael Legge's filmmaking career developed out of his love of the movies and of his own skill at making short comedies and off the wall films. His early movies were all shot on film. From 1979 to 1986 he made literally dozens of films.[9] In 1987 his short film Squirrels won an award at a film festival. He continued to produce and develop films through his production company Sideshow Cinema.

With his success on the festival circuit an independent film distibutor signed him up and released many of his short and feature films on video. Currently, Sub Rosa is releasing all his films. His crazy brand of horror humor has a large following in American and overseas.

Honey Glaze which was released in 2003, was Legge's biggest effort. A feature the film had the biggest budget up till that time and it had a successful Sub Rosa release. His most recent comedy feature is Democrazy which was released January 25, 2005. It stars himself, Lorna Nogueira, John Shanahan, and Stacy Armstrong. It was nominated for three awards at the B-Movie Film Festival in Syracuse, New York — Best Special Effects, Best Movie, and Best Screenplay (the last of which it won).

[edit] Screenwriter and Playwright

Michael Legge's success as a filmmaker and actor is that he also creates his own material. He has written everyone of his many films as well as writing plays for the stage. The first stageplay he wrote was Memoirs of a Gorilla which he also produced and directed on stage. Jac Publishing has published two of his previously staged plays that he wrote, Shake-a-spear and The Fabulous Imbecile.

[edit] List of films

  • Squirrels (1987), writer, producer, director, and actor
  • Chat for Mrs. Order (1987), writer, producer, director, and actor
  • Working Stiffs (1989), writer, producer, director, and actor
  • Loons (1991), writer, producer, director, and actor
  • Cutthroats (1994), writer, producer, director, and actor
  • Sick Time (1995), writer, producer, director, and actor
  • Potential Sins (1997), writer, producer, director, and actor
  • Alien Agenda: Under the Skin (1996-1997),[10] wrote and directed[11] an "Alien Abductee Interviews" segment
  • Stumped (1998), writer, producer, director, and actor
  • Creaturerealm: Demons Wake (1998), wrote and directed "Dryer Straits" segment
  • Braindrainer (1999), writer, producer, director, and actor
  • The Girls from H.A.R.M! (2000), actor
  • Honey Glaze (2003), writer, producer, director, and actor
  • That's Independent! (2004), interviewee
  • Democrazy (2005), writer, producer, director, and actor

[edit] References

  1. ^ Internet Movie Database
  2. ^ Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television, Volume 46. Gale Group, 2003.
  3. ^ Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television, Volume 46. Gale Group, 2003.
  4. ^ Making Movies on Your Own: Practical Talk from Independent Filmmakers, Kevin J. Lindenmuth, MacFarland & Company, page 26.
  5. ^ Making Movies on Your Own: Practical Talk from Independent Filmmakers, Kevin J. Lindenmuth, MacFarland & Company, page 26.
  6. ^ Internet Movie Database
  7. ^ Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television, Volume 46. Gale Group, 2003.
  8. ^ Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television, Volume 46. Gale Group, 2003.
  9. ^ Making Movies on Your Own: Practical Talk from Independent Filmmakers, Kevin J. Lindenmuth, MacFarland & Company, page 10.
  10. ^ Video and DVD Guide 2003, by Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, Ballintine Books, 2002, pages 20 & 1570
  11. ^ Video and DVD Guide 2003, by Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, Ballintine Books, 2002, pages 20 & 1570

[edit] External links

[edit] Sources

  • Video and DVD Guide 2003, by Mick Martin and Marsha Porter.
  • Encyclopedia of Underground Movies by Phil Hall.
  • Making Movies on Your Own: Practical Talk from Independent Filmmakers by Kevin J. Lindenmuth.
  • U. S. Copyright Office
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