| Edwin Neal | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 12, 1945 Houston, Texas |
| Occupation | Actor |
Edwin Neal is an American actor, perhaps best known for his role as the Hitchhiker in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or his role as Lord Zedd in Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. He has been a top voice talent and actor for years appearing on screen and off in such diverse projects as The Lord of the Rings game providing four voices including the Villains. Three voices in Wii's Metroid Prime 3 and many more. He has worked with Oliver Stone on JFK and is Doctor Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog. Set a record, doing 26 different voices in the only completely unedited version of all 103 episodes of Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets), which included the lead villain Berg Katse. Ed provides three voices in a new Batman DC Universe Online game; the voices of Two-Face, Killer Croc, and Harvey Bullock (a Cop).
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Born in Houston, Texas, Neal, after high school, studied at Lon Morris college in Jacksonville, Texas, before moving on to acting and directing studies at the University of Texas at Austin. While there, Neal auditioned for the role of the Hitchhiker in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and got it. He has said that when auditioning he acted as an eccentric relative of his. The movie went on to become a cult classic and Neal's career was launched and made him one of today's biggest horror icons.
Neal still continues to act. His most notable roles since The Texas Chain Saw Massacre were playing the Mercer interrogator in Oliver Stone's JFK, and Big Chuck's Henchman in the 1993 movie My Boyfriend's Back. He has also done some voice work, for films, computer games and cartoons. Neal also annually tours worldwide making many public appearances as "The Hitchhiker" at horror conventions and related gatherings.
Neal was inducted into the "Hollywood Horror Hall of Fame" in 1993 along side with Vincent Price, and owns one of the world's largest movie poster collections, from 1900 to the present day. He received a Bronze Star for Valor during his service in Vietnam in 1969.
Neal currently lives in Austin, Texas and has six children: Kirsche Dickson, David Valenzuela, Heidi James, Morna Neal, Preston Neal, Marlee Neal and two step children: Angelina Hitchcock and Andrea Ramos.
Edwin Neal made appearances for a charity benefit with a professional wrestling company in Fort Worth, IHW Entertainment to help raise money for the Fort Worth Community Center that provides youth a place to go and join activities. Neal appeared on the promotion's 1 Night Only event that took place on Oct 4th 2008 as a guest announcer & actually knocked out wrestler Sean Quinlan, Neal also performed at the Promotion's Halloween event on Oct 30th 2010 "Tales from the Ringside" Neal as Co-Master of Ceremonies for the night.