In the Friday the 13th franchise, it seems that Jason Voorhees is everywhere the victims turn, behind closed doors, busting through windows, around every corner, hiding under water, in the back seat of a car, and on and on. I’ve had a similar experience in real life with several Jason encounters this year, but fortunately mine have been considerably more pleasant. Being a fan of the series is most certainly a guilty pleasure as horror most certainly my favorite genre, but for guys like me who grew up in the 1980’s, Friday the 13th was just a part of life.
I had previously met Kane Hodder in 2009. He had played Jason more times than any other actor. I also passed up a big Jason reunion at a Hollywood Show later that year, simply because I couldn’t bring myself to shell out so much money all at once on these guys. In all, there have been 10 actors playing Jason, plus one who was a Jason imposter in the fifth entry in the series. But lately, since they seem to be appearing everywhere, I’ve been picking them up one by one – similar to the way that Jason picked people off one by one.
We’ll start with Richard Brooker, who chronologically is the earliest Jason in this posting. He was the Jason in Friday the 13th Part III (the one in 3-D), and was the first to don the iconic Red Wings hockey mask (seen at the top of the posting), with the Jason in the previous film only wearing a burlap bag over his head. Brooker had been a stuntman and trapeze artist with a slim build, necessitating that he wore padding under his costume to give him a stockier build.
I met up with him at the Flashback Weekend Chicago Horror Convention on Sunday, August 12, 2012. He was a nice guy, although he implied that I might be selling his autograph on eBay since I asked not to have it personalized. I’m sure that I wouldn’t be getting much more than the $20 that I paid for it if that were the case. Still, he was pleasant enough, and willing to both pose for a picture and choke me as tradition dictates.
Next up is the Jason actor who immediately followed him in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (above). Ted White had quite a history as a stuntman, having doubled for John Wayne, Clark Cable, and Fess Parker in the past. He didn’t really want to be associated with the psychotic killer Jason, so he was uncredited for his role in the film.
White was a nice guy when I met him, and from reports he was quite a nice guy during the filming. Despite not wanting to get too close to the young actors in the film because it might affect their performance, he became infuriated with the film’s director and threatened to quit when a rough shooting schedule dictated that actress Judie Aronson was forced to remain in cold water for a long period of time.
Although his placard said he was charging $5 for a photo with him, for whatever reason he didn’t charge me. The photo I chose from White was one which showed Jason being unmasked in the film. Not being mean, but I could see the similarity between the the actor and the character, unlike others who never came out from behind the mask on screen. I didn’t get a strangulation pose when I met him at the Chiller Theatre show on April 28, 2012, but I did get a ‘frightened’ pose.
Last and most certainly not least was C.J. Graham, who portrayed Jason in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (above). After the fifth installment of the series in which Jason had an ‘imposter’ killer, fans clamored to have their old hateful hero back, so Jason was brought back to life by Mr. Graham.
When I met him at the HorrorHound Weekend in Indianapolis on Sunday, September 7, 2012, he was certainly the friendliest of Jasons, and perhaps one of the upper echelon of all friendly actors whom I’ve met. He talked with Jamie and me at length about his recent career running the Thunder Valley Casino in northern California, and about the celebrities that he brings in to do personal appearances. Although a self-confessed ‘B-list actor’, he was certainly one of the nicest, and not only did he pose with me for free, but he invited Jamie to be in picture too. He also went easy on me during our strangulation scene.
So that’s a total of four Jasons down, and six to go. If all goes well, I’ll push myself over the halfway mark before the year is up. Ch Ch Ch…Ha Ha Ha…
Celebrity encounters of the Spring 2012 Chiller Theatre show will continue…
Celebrity encounters of the 2012 Chicago Flashback Weekend will continue…
Celebrity encounters of the September 2012 Indianapolis HorrorHound Weekend will continue…
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