Verne Langdon (September 15, 1941 – January 1, 2011) was an American mask maker, musician, magician, circus clown, make-up artist, and wrestler. He was also a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
Vernon Loring Langdon was born in Oakland, California as an only child to two musical parents. His mother was first cellist in the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and his father an amateur violin and occasional saw player, who had used his skills to pay himself through dental college. His uncle, Red Nichols was a noted jazz band leader with The Five Pennies.
By the age of ten, Verne was studying classical piano with Thomas Ryan, head of music at what would become San Jose University. At fourteen he had dispensed with conventional musical training and was demonstrating pianos at a local music store, where he was spotted by Korla Pandit (real name John Redd), the celebrated faux-Indian exponent of mystical organ-playing, firmly putting the Exotic into Exotica. He offered to teach Langdon both theory and practical organ and Wurlitzer skills, something which he accepted.
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| Korla & Verne |
The 6-foot-2, 266-pound Langdon was an amateur wrestler from sixth grade until freshman year at San Jose State College, a real contrast from his classical piano studies. The interest in pro wrestling came from his father’s friendship with Gorgeous George (George Wagner).At San Jose, Langdon played football, and had a radio show that included wrestling as well as playing keyboards when required. He graduated with a major in English literature and a minor in radio-television. After leaving college, Verne hosted shows on local radio stations.
Langdon’s childhood wasn’t all music. He had an early fascination with the circus, more specifically clowns, and was in an unusually fortuitous situation in having a dentist for a father. Langdon junior was given free rein to play in this playground of putty, wax and moulds, creating little creatures and having his father cast a clown’s nose from his own face. An ability to combine his innate artistry with the mechanical know-how of how to make full-head casts would serve him well for years to come.
Here’s
“Carnival Of Souls” from above album
Langdon’s fascination for clowning and dressing up led to him buying a couple of masks from the overlord of mask creation, Don Post Snr. So enamoured was he with Post’s work, that he and his father tracked him down to meet him in person. Over the course of Langdon’s schooling, he and Post kept in touch, essentially becoming pen-pals, with Post increasingly aware of his protegee’s skills in creating face prosthetics. His skills became more widely known when he started producing his signature clown nose for a local theatrical supplies company, later creating a zombie mask due to demand. Hollywood shows by theatre companies, illusionists and variety acts started using masks made by Langdon alongside the far more well-known Don Post creations.
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| Langdon & Don Post |
From 1963-1968, Langdon helped to re-shape the company, bringing in new sculptors and launching the legendary ‘calendar mask’ range. Amongst other gigs, Langdon worked on all the ‘Planet of the Apes’ films, as well as the spin-off TV show, ‘Lost in Space’ and a parade of Hollywood stars, from Liberace to Karloff. Perhaps cementing himself in pop culture lore even more strongly was a project he did for his own amusement, a zombie. It soon appeared on the front of the 1972 ‘Creepy‘ annual and has since become iconic, an image which conveys the horror, inventiveness and humour of the whole scene. With Jay Stein and Terry Winnick he created The Land of a Thousand Faces Makeup Show in 1975 and the Castle Dracula horror show in 1980 for Universal Studios Tour, Hollywood, California.
The turn of the decade saw Langdon refocusing on creating music. Back in 1966, Langdon had co-produced the album, ‘An Evening With Boris Karloff & Friends‘ for Decca, a release which combined Boris Karloff introducing spoken word snippets from classic Universal horror films with over-the-top (but actually really good) spooky musical accompaniment.Musically he has produced, written, performed and recorded thirty one albums for two record labels, Electric Lemon Record Co., and Dejavu Record Company “ranging from theatre organ to harpsichord, comedy to calliope.
His most recent album was released on March 16, 2009, Jonathan Winters – A Very Special Time. This nineteen-track, spoken-word album, which featured memorial tracks with all music composed by Verne Langdon, was nominated for a Grammy. Langdon was a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. He was a special guest of the Monsterpalooza – The Art of Monsters on April 9, 2010, in The Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel in Burbank, California.
Langdon died of natural causes at his Arizona home at the age of 69, on January 1, 2011. Whether performing romantic abstract excursions on keyboards or interpreting his own often melancholy lyrics, his gentle artistry was a never-ending expedition into the romantic corners of his fertile and most remarkable Imagination. His life and career can best be described as varied; Verne Langdon was truly, a Renaissance man.
(Edited
from Weird bones, Wikipedia, Slam Wrestling & IMDb)