Gregory Walcott, actor best remembered for his role in the horror/ sci-fi Plan 9 From Outer Space, passed away on Friday. The sad news was made official by his son, who posted the announcement on Facebook: ‘’We said goodbye to my dad today’’, the sad Facebook post said, ‘’He spent his life making people feel good’’. According to The Hollywood Reporter, actor Gregory Walcott died Friday of natural causes at his Canoga Park home in Los Angeles.
Gregory Walcott was pilot Jeff Trent in the Edward D. Wood Jr. directed ”abomination movie”. Released in 1959, Plan 9 From Outer Space was considered one of the most disappointing movies ever (although at its time managed to attract a consistent amount of fans and followers). Gregory Walcott was inevitably associated with Plan 9, but he firmly asserted his point of view regarding that matter. He confessed without hesitation: ‘’I had done so many great films and worked with so many great directors that I didn’t want to be identified with such a piece of trash.”
In an 1998 interview, Gregory Walcott was asked about starring in a sci-fi film opposite Bela Lugosi and his answer was both hilarious and true: ‘’But Ed, Bela Lugosi is dead.’’ Yes, Bella Lugosi passed away in 1956, but it seems that writer-director Wood had previously shot some footage of him, which was consequently introduced in a low budget movie. Walcott’s reaction to this proposition was, at first, a definite refusal. But later on, he confessed: “I read the script, and it was gibberish. It made no sense, but I saw Ed Reynolds as a naive, sweet man. I had done some pretty good things prior to that, so I thought I had a little credibility in Hollywood. I thought maybe my name would give the show some credibility. … The film was made surreptitiously. My agent didn’t even know I did it.”
His portfolio includes both motion pictures and television series, of which the most known are 87th Precinct (1961), The Sugarland Express (1974) or Ed Wood (1994). As for his television series roles, Gregory Walcott appeared in The Man Behind the Badge as Tom Barker in 1955, in Crusader as Fritz in 1956, in Tales of Wells Fargo (1959-1960) and in Dallas (1980-1990).