Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers actor George P. Wilbur has passed away. The actor and stunt performer racked up more than 150 titles over the course of his career, which lasted over half a century. However, he is likely best known for his turn behind the mask as iconic slasher villain Michael Myers, a role he would return to in Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers, becoming the first actor to ever reprise the role.
Per Collider, this Wednesday, Wilbur died at age 81. A wave of tributes has already begun to pour in from friends, coworkers, and fans across the internet, including his Halloween 4 counterpart Erik Preston, who played Young Michael Myers. Check out select posts below:
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George P. Wilbur's Hollywood Legacy
Wilbur, who was born in Connecticut on March 6, 1941, began his storied career in the 1960s. After getting a job as an extra on the set of 1966's El Dorado in Arizona, he was hired as a stand-in for Western icon John Wayne. He then moved to California and began to expand into stunt work, making his onscreen acting debut as an uncredited boxer in 1971's Escape from the Planet of the Apes.
After performing stunts in 1970s disaster films including The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, his work turned more toward horror at the dawn of the 1980s. Films that he worked on throughout the decade include Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist, the iconic horror-comedy Ghostbusters, and the H.P. Lovecraft gorefest Re-Animator. He even performed stunts for 1989's Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, though Myers himself was portrayed by Don Shanks in that particular entry.
The iconic Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers performer will be sorely missed by those who loved him and appreciated his work. Although like most stunt performers he was never exactly a household name, his contributions to many film favorites over the past decades have been incalculable. Without him, iconic titles including A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, Total Recall, and The Silence of the Lambs might never have been the same.
Source: Collider