Hy Pyke

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Hy Pyke

Born	December 2, 1935 (1935-12-02) (age 72) Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Film, television, stage actor

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Hy Pyke is an American character actor born in Los Angeles, California on the December 2, 1935, the son of vaudevillian David Pyke and his wife Pauline. Pyke majored in theatre at UCLA in the 60's, appearing in numerous student films, including one for Ray Manzarek, keyboard player of The Doors, called Induction (1965), which also featured The Doors vocalist Jim Morrison in a brief role. During that time period, Pyke was also associated with Del Close.

From UCLA, Pyke went on to have a longish career playing strange, often comic characters in usually out-of-the-ordinary, low-budget, independent features, with some brief appearances in mainstream films. Some of his mainstream appearances, like a small part in the John Milius film Dillinger (1973), ended up cut out of the final film. Although many of his better known films are in the horror genre, Pyke acted in everything from blaxploitation to musical comedies. He had a unique acting style best described as "manic", which some might call overacting, with a penchant for physical, exaggerated comedy. He also had an extremely distinctive, raspy voice, which could be called a crossing of Aldo Ray with Krusty the Clown from The Simpsons.

In the 70's, Pyke's physical appearance was equally distinctive. Very short, slightly overweight, with a moustache and heavily balding head of wild black hair, he looked like the archetypal Mexican bandit of B-westerns or Sancho Panza (a role he played in The Erotic Adventures Of Don Quixote, 1976) come to life. Besides his film work, Pyke acted in theater, musical revues, etc.

During the 70's, Pyke delivered a number of bizarre performances in equally extraordinary films. His most memorable role was as a creepy bus driver in the 1975 horror film Lemora: A Child's Tale Of The Supernatural. Other notable 70's Pyke appearances were in Dolemite, (1975), The First Nudie Musical, (1976), and in Spawn Of The Slithis, (1978). Pyke played the part of Bebe Rebozo in an unreleased Richard Nixon satire called The Way He Was.

Pyke's best-known role is the bar owner Taffey Lewis in the science fiction movie Blade Runner, (1982), directed by Ridley Scott. Another noteworthy 80's appearance was in the horror comedy Vamp (1986), starring Grace Jones. Towards the end of the 1980s, Pyke's acting career slowed down and he moved over to television commercials. His last larger movie role to date was in the low-budget, very minor 1990 horror film Hack-O-Lantern.

Pyke last lived in Los Angeles performing as a nightclub comedian after surviving quadruple by-pass surgery. In 2004, he contributed to a book about obscure 70's genre films, Gods in Polyester, reminiscing on Lemora, Dolemite and others, in a style very much in tune with his persona on the big screen. Pyke has been namechecked twice in reviews of the book, in passing on the website of the British Headpress publishing house, and in detail in the Dutch horror magazine Schokkend Nieuws, where his stories were referred to as "insane adventures". Pyke also contributed pieces on Blade Runner and Hack-O-Lantern to the book Gods In Spandex, A Survivor's Account of 80's Cinema Obscura (2007), a sequel to Polyester. He was also interviewed for a E! True Hollywood Story episode on David Carradine in 2000. Pyke has recently appeared in a new new film for the first time in years, The Secret Pursuit of Happiness, which premiered in 2006.

Although many of Pyke's films have gone on to become cult movies, he has remained relatively unknown as an actor. Outside of the midnight movie crowd, Pyke is remembered mostly for Blade Runner.

[edit] A Partial Filmography

Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural AKA Legendary Curse of Lemora (1975)

The best-regarded of Pyke's horror films, Lemora is the only film directed by Eating Raoul writer Richard Blackburn, who knew Pyke from UCLA. It's a dreamlike, atmospheric film very much unlike other American horror films of the time, being more reminiscent of the works of French director Jean Rollin (whom Blackburn was apparently unfamiliar with) and strongly influenced by the writings of H. P. Lovecraft and possibly, to a lesser extent, Carmilla by Sheridan le Fanu. Like Rollin's films, Lemora is very erotic in mood, has an aura of dreamy surrealism and is richly colorful. Unlike Rollin, sex is only hinted at (there is practically no nudity) and there is very little in the way of violence. On his DVD commentary track to Lemora, Blackburn also cites authors Mervyn Peake and Arthur Machen as influences. Set in the American South of the 30's, in a way Lemora can also be described as a Southern Gothic fable. Whereas most of Pyke's other horror credits were either intentionally humorous or of the "so bad it's good" variety (or combinations of the two), Lemora is a serious film with only light comic touches.

Lemora stars Lesley Gilb as Lemora, the titular ancient vampire, and the late Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith, a cult actress of the 70's, in her first and only starring role as Lila Lee, the young and innocent, devoutly religious heroine who falls under her spell. Pyke delivers his most unhinged performance, hamming it up all the way as a manic, bug-eyed bus driver who gives Lila Lee a ride to the town of Astaroth (more on the meaning of the word Astaroth here), and falls victim to mutated vampires living in the woods. His long monologue to Smith is both one of Lemora's highlights and completely at odds with the rest of the film. Pyke also appears briefly towards the end of the film, now transformed into a beastlike vampire.

At the time of its release Lemora was banned by the Catholic Film Society, probably for its lesbian undertones, and quickly fell into obscurity except in France, where it became something of a cult film. It was first released on video in the United States (with a mini-documentary on the film) as late as the mid-90's. Today, Lemora still remains a relatively obscure film, but it has developed a strong following in the horror fandom over the years. It has also generated some degree of interest among gothic rock subculture and vampire fetishists. The commentary track on the recent Lemora DVD contains some funny Pyke trivia by Blackburn. Probably the most outrageous anecdote features Pyke, after having misunderstood Blackburn's permission to play his part "like a rat", showing up to shoot his scene in full rat make-up, with rodentine ears, nose, teeth and a tail.

Lesley Gilb never acted in another film. Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith went on to have a career mostly in independent exploitation films in the 70's and early 80's, which earned her a cult reputation. The last years of her life were tragic, troubled by a long battle with drug addiction. She eventually died in 2002 of complications due to hepatitis. The Lemora DVD, released by Synapse Films, is dedicated to her. Of the other people involved in Lemora, the late cinematographer Robert Caramico, who started his career on films like Orgy of the Dead (1965) and Blackenstein (1973), went on to work on television series like Harry and the Hendersons.

Lemora has also inspired at least two rock bands, the British gothic rock combo The Ghost of Lemora and the American black metal band Lemora.

Dolemite (1975)

The ultimate blaxploitation feature starring X-rated comedian Rudy Ray Moore as Dolemite and directed by frequent Fred Williamson collaborator, the late D'Urville Martin (who also plays Dolemite's nemesis Willie Green), based on a black urban legend narrative (toasting) popularized by Moore on his comedy albums like Eat Out More Often. Pyke has a small but amusing part as the corrupt Mayor Daley, symbol of The Man and the behind-the-scenes baddie of the film. Before being shot by Moore, Pyke gets to do a nude scene and show off the two-handed victory sign, in imitation of Richard Nixon. In the company of Moore, Pyke's performance comes across as surprisingly restrained. The cinematographer of Dolemite was Nicholas von Sternberg, the son of Josef von Sternberg.

Dolemite has lived on to become a major cult film, and samples from the film can now be frequently heard on rap CDs.

The First Nudie Musical (1976)

Slightly more innocuous than the title suggests, The First Nudie Musical is a light musical sex comedy about failing exploitation movie producer Harry Schechter (Stephen Nathan) who sets out to produce the world's first pornographic musical to save his impoverished studio from being turned into a shopping mall. While there is no shortage of nudity or musical numbers with names like "Lesbian Butch Dyke", the film never ventures towards more explicit sex scenes. Pyke plays the singing and dancing Uncle Benny, one of the financial backers of the First Nudie Musical. He appears in a few key scenes in the beginning of the film, and later makes brief appearances until the end. Although Pyke's part is tiny, First Nudie Musical is a very good example of the kind of films he gravitated towards. Blade Runner and his other ventures into mainstream cinema might be more respectable in the traditional sense, but Pyke looks more at home in off-the-wall low-budget productions, where he gets to do his own thing. As with Dolemite, the more outrageous the film, the more normal Pyke appears in it, in stark contrast to his scene-stealing antics in Lemora. For additional trivia, one of the stars of the film is Cindy Williams of Laverne & Shirley fame.

The Erotic Adventures of Don Quixote (1976)

Pyke's largest role as Sancho Panza in one of his personal favorite films, a sexploitation musical comedy loosely based on the classic novel Don Quixote by the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes. Starring Corey John Fisher as Don Quixote, directed by late German exploitation director Raphael Nussbaum, whose other claim to fame was the minor 1974 cult film Pets, starring Candice Rialson.

Spawn of the Slithis (1978)

Pyke plays the part of a police chief not entirely unlike the bus driver from Lemora in this tongue-in-cheek radioactive mud monster movie, which has become somewhat famous through the "Slithis Survival Kit" that was used to advertise it. Slithis is a lighthearted, low-budget throwback to 50's monster movies. Although no classic and often slow-moving, it's worth seeing for fans of Pyke and/or the films of Bert I. Gordon and Roger Corman. Pyke, however, has no love for Slithis, calling it his only "rubber duck dreck of a film" in the book Gods in Polyester.

Nightmare in Blood (1978)

Pyke and Ray K. Gorman play the henchmen to Jerry Walter's vampire Malakai in a low-budget horror comedy.

Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women (1978)

A TV movie on the life of Florenz Ziegfeld, worth a mention for being Pyke's only television acting credit outside of commercials.

Blade Runner (1982)

Pyke's most well-known and restrained performance as bartender Taffey Lewis, and a role that has secured him a namecheck on countless Blade Runner and general science fiction film websites.

Hack-O-Lantern (1990)

A routine ultralow-budget occult horror effort by Indian director Jag Mundhra, livened up by Pyke's reliably gonzo turn as the devil-worshipping Grandpa of Katina Garner.

[edit] Bibliography

Gods In Polyester, or, A Survivors' Account of 70's Cinema Obscura (2004/Succubus Press) -Pyke contributed pieces on Lemora, The First Nudie Musical, Spawn of the Slithis, Dolemite, The Erotic Adventures of Don Quixote and Nightmare in Blood.

Gods In Spandex, or, A Survivors' Account of 80's Cinema Obscura (2007/Succubus Press) -Pyke contributed pieces on Blade Runner and Hack-O-Lantern.