Kerwin Mathews, 81, of ‘Sinbad’ Sword Fight, Dies
By DENNIS HEVESI
Published: July 13, 2007
Kerwin Mathews, a dark-haired, tall and strikingly handsome swashbuckling movie actor of the 1950s who is best known for his starring role in “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad,” and particularly for that film’s roiling sword fight with a skeleton, died July 5 at his home in San Francisco. He was 81.
The death was confirmed by his partner of 46 years, Tom Nicoll.
In 1957 the renowned stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen cast Mr. Mathews as a flesh-and-blood Sinbad who battles fire-breathing dragons, a Cyclops and a woman who morphs into a snarling serpent. Nearly half a century later, Mr. Nicoll said, Mr. Mathews regularly received letters from people recalling his climactic duel with the skeleton.
Mr. Mathews never actually took a swipe at the skeleton. The animated skeleton was added after Mr. Mathews enacted the balletic sequence, maintaining eye contact with an invisible set of bones.
During his 20-year career, Mr. Mathews acted in 22 movies and made many television appearances. He is also known for playing Dr. Lemuel Gulliver, tied to the ground by the little people of the island of Lilliput, in Mr. Harryhausen’s 1960 movie “The 3 Worlds of Gulliver.”
Mr. Mathews was born in Seattle on Jan. 8, 1926. After graduating from Beloit College in Wisconsin, he taught high school English in Lake Geneva, Wis. In the early 1950s he moved to California and won a part in a play at the Pasadena Playhouse. An agent spotted him and got him a contract with Columbia Pictures. Mr. Mathews retired from acting in 1978 and moved to San Francisco.
Except as Sinbad and Gulliver, Mr. Nicoll said, Mr. Mathews was never satisfied with merely playing action roles.
“He always wanted to do light comedy, or something more weighty,” he said.
Then, in 1963, Mr. Mathews was cast as Johann Strauss Jr. in the Disney television production “The Waltz King.”
“He was most proud to play Strauss,” Mr. Nicoll said, “and that he had to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. Whether they actually followed him I don’t know, but he tried very hard.”
link to obit at NY Times
www.nytimes.com/2007/07/13...athews.html
Wiki Bio and Links
Kerwin Mathews (January 8, 1926 – July 5, 2007) was an American actor.
Mathews was born in Seattle, Washington, USA. He attended Janesville High School in Janesville, Wisconsin, and attended nearby Beloit College where he studied drama and music. Before acting, he was briefly a high school teacher in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
Mathews was best known for his roles in fantasy movies in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. He retired from acting in 1978.
He died in his sleep in San Francisco on July 5, 2007 at the age of 81. He leaves behind his partner of 46 years, Tom Nicoll.
Filmography
The escape of Mr Protrus (1954)
Space Patrol (1954)
5 Against the House (1955)
Charlie C company (1954)
The Lady in the Wind (1955)
Catch at Straws (1956)
The Ford Television theatre (1954-1956,3 episodes)
The Country Husband (1956)
Playhouse 90 (1956)
The Garment Jungle (1957)
Show of Strength (1957)
The Suicide Club (1958)
Matinee Theatre (1957-1958,2 episodes)
Tarawa Beachhead (1958)
The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
The Last Biltzkrieg (1959)
The Obenaurf Story (1959)
Goodyear Theatre (1959)
Saffo, Venere de Lesbo( 1960)
Man on a String (1960)
The Three Worlds of Gulliver (1960)
The Devil at Four'O'clock (1961)
Pirates of Bloodriver (1962)
Jack the Giant Killer (1962)
OSS 117 se' de'chaine (1963)
Maniac (1963)
The Waltz King (1963,2 episodes)
Disneyland (1963,2 episodes)
Panic in Bangkok (1964)
Battle Beneath the Earth (1967)
The Viscount (1967)
Ghostbrakers (1967)
The Killer Likes Candy (1968)
A Boy...a Girl (1969)
Dead of the Night (1969)
Barquero (1970)
Octaman (1971)
Death Takes a Holiday (1971)
Achilles Heel (1972)
Ironside (1972)
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973)
Nightmare in Blood (1978)
.
Kerwin at IMDB
www.imdb.com/name/nm0558663/
Kerwin at Meekers Museum
www.meekermuseum.com/kerwin.html
By DENNIS HEVESI
Published: July 13, 2007
Kerwin Mathews, a dark-haired, tall and strikingly handsome swashbuckling movie actor of the 1950s who is best known for his starring role in “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad,” and particularly for that film’s roiling sword fight with a skeleton, died July 5 at his home in San Francisco. He was 81.
The death was confirmed by his partner of 46 years, Tom Nicoll.
In 1957 the renowned stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen cast Mr. Mathews as a flesh-and-blood Sinbad who battles fire-breathing dragons, a Cyclops and a woman who morphs into a snarling serpent. Nearly half a century later, Mr. Nicoll said, Mr. Mathews regularly received letters from people recalling his climactic duel with the skeleton.
Mr. Mathews never actually took a swipe at the skeleton. The animated skeleton was added after Mr. Mathews enacted the balletic sequence, maintaining eye contact with an invisible set of bones.
During his 20-year career, Mr. Mathews acted in 22 movies and made many television appearances. He is also known for playing Dr. Lemuel Gulliver, tied to the ground by the little people of the island of Lilliput, in Mr. Harryhausen’s 1960 movie “The 3 Worlds of Gulliver.”
Mr. Mathews was born in Seattle on Jan. 8, 1926. After graduating from Beloit College in Wisconsin, he taught high school English in Lake Geneva, Wis. In the early 1950s he moved to California and won a part in a play at the Pasadena Playhouse. An agent spotted him and got him a contract with Columbia Pictures. Mr. Mathews retired from acting in 1978 and moved to San Francisco.
Except as Sinbad and Gulliver, Mr. Nicoll said, Mr. Mathews was never satisfied with merely playing action roles.
“He always wanted to do light comedy, or something more weighty,” he said.
Then, in 1963, Mr. Mathews was cast as Johann Strauss Jr. in the Disney television production “The Waltz King.”
“He was most proud to play Strauss,” Mr. Nicoll said, “and that he had to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. Whether they actually followed him I don’t know, but he tried very hard.”
link to obit at NY Times
www.nytimes.com/2007/07/13...athews.html
Wiki Bio and Links
Kerwin Mathews (January 8, 1926 – July 5, 2007) was an American actor.
Mathews was born in Seattle, Washington, USA. He attended Janesville High School in Janesville, Wisconsin, and attended nearby Beloit College where he studied drama and music. Before acting, he was briefly a high school teacher in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
Mathews was best known for his roles in fantasy movies in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. He retired from acting in 1978.
He died in his sleep in San Francisco on July 5, 2007 at the age of 81. He leaves behind his partner of 46 years, Tom Nicoll.
Filmography
The escape of Mr Protrus (1954)
Space Patrol (1954)
5 Against the House (1955)
Charlie C company (1954)
The Lady in the Wind (1955)
Catch at Straws (1956)
The Ford Television theatre (1954-1956,3 episodes)
The Country Husband (1956)
Playhouse 90 (1956)
The Garment Jungle (1957)
Show of Strength (1957)
The Suicide Club (1958)
Matinee Theatre (1957-1958,2 episodes)
Tarawa Beachhead (1958)
The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
The Last Biltzkrieg (1959)
The Obenaurf Story (1959)
Goodyear Theatre (1959)
Saffo, Venere de Lesbo( 1960)
Man on a String (1960)
The Three Worlds of Gulliver (1960)
The Devil at Four'O'clock (1961)
Pirates of Bloodriver (1962)
Jack the Giant Killer (1962)
OSS 117 se' de'chaine (1963)
Maniac (1963)
The Waltz King (1963,2 episodes)
Disneyland (1963,2 episodes)
Panic in Bangkok (1964)
Battle Beneath the Earth (1967)
The Viscount (1967)
Ghostbrakers (1967)
The Killer Likes Candy (1968)
A Boy...a Girl (1969)
Dead of the Night (1969)
Barquero (1970)
Octaman (1971)
Death Takes a Holiday (1971)
Achilles Heel (1972)
Ironside (1972)
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973)
Nightmare in Blood (1978)
.
Kerwin at IMDB
www.imdb.com/name/nm0558663/
Kerwin at Meekers Museum
www.meekermuseum.com/kerwin.html
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