Rondo Hatton (April 22, 1894 – February 2, 1946)
was an American journalist and actor. After writing for ''
The Tampa Tribune
''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area.
The newspaper also published a ''St. Pe ...
'', Hatton found a career in film due to his unique facial features, which were the result of
acromegaly. He headlined horror films with
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
near the end of his life, earning him a reputation as a cult icon.
Early years
Hatton was born in the
Kee Mar College
Kee Mar College was a private women's college in Hagerstown, Maryland. It was founded in 1853 as the Hagerstown Female Seminary under the auspices of the Lutheran church. The college conferred Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) and Master of Arts (A.M.) deg ...
girls' infirmary in
Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland,
United States and the county seat of Washington County. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2020 census was 43,527, and the population of the Hagerstown metropolitan area (exten ...
.
The family moved several times during Hatton's youth before settling in
Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
.
He starred in track and football at Hillsborough High School and was voted Handsomest Boy in his class his senior year.
[
In Tampa, Hatton worked as a sportswriter for '']The Tampa Tribune
''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area.
The newspaper also published a ''St. Pe ...
''. He continued working as a journalist until after World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, when the symptoms of acromegaly developed. Acromegaly distorted the shape of Hatton's head, face, and extremities in a gradual but consistent process. He eventually became severely disfigured by the disease. Because the symptoms developed in adulthood (as is common with the disorder), the disfigurement was incorrectly attributed later by film studio publicity departments to elephantiasis
Elephantiasis is the enlargement and hardening of limbs or body parts due to tissue swelling. It is characterised by edema, hypertrophy, and fibrosis of skin and subcutaneous tissues, due to obstruction of lymphatic vessels. It may affect the genit ...
resulting from exposure to a German mustard gas
Mustard gas or sulfur mustard is a chemical compound belonging to a family of cytotoxic and blister agents known as mustard agents. The name ''mustard gas'' is technically incorrect: the substance, when dispersed, is often not actually a gas, b ...
attack during service in World War I. Hatton served in combat and served on the Pancho Villa Expedition
The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition, but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, U.S. Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the p ...
along the Mexican border and in France during World War I with the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, from which he was discharged due to his illness.
Acting career
Director Henry King noticed Hatton when he was working as a reporter with ''The Tampa Tribune
''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area.
The newspaper also published a ''St. Pe ...
'' covering the filming of ''Hell Harbor'' (1930) and hired him for a small role. After some hesitation, Hatton moved to Hollywood in 1936 to pursue a career playing similar, often uncredited, bit and extra roles. His most notable of these was as a contestant-extra in the "ugly man competition" (which he loses to a heavily made up Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...
) in the RKO
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...
production of ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame
''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story o ...
''. He had another supporting-character role as Gabe Hart, a member of the lynch mob in the 1943 film of ''The Ox-Bow Incident
''The Ox-Bow Incident'' is a 1943 American Western film directed by William A. Wellman, starring Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews and Mary Beth Hughes, with Anthony Quinn, William Eythe, Harry Morgan and Jane Darwell. Two cowboys arrive in a Western ...
''.
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
used Hatton's unusual features to promote him as a horror star after he played the part of The Hoxton Creeper (aka The Hoxton Horror) in the studio's ninth Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
film, ''The Pearl of Death
''The Pearl of Death'' is a 1944 Sherlock Holmes film starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, the ninth of fourteen such films the pair made. The story is loosely based on Conan Doyle's short story "The Adventure of the ...
'' (1944). He made two films playing "the Creeper", ''House of Horrors
''House of Horrors'' is a 1946 American horror film released by Universal Pictures, starring Rondo Hatton as a madman named "the Creeper".
Plot
Struggling sculptor Marcel de Lange (Martin Kosleck) is depressed about events in his life, and d ...
'' and ''The Brute Man
''The Brute Man'' is a 1946 American horror thriller film starring Rondo Hatton as the Creeper, a murderer seeking revenge against the people he holds responsible for the disfigurement of his face. Directed by Jean Yarbrough, the film features ...
'', which were both filmed in 1945 but not released until after his death in 1946.
Death
Around Christmas 1945, Hatton suffered a series of heart attacks
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
, a direct result of his acromegalic condition. On February 2, 1946, he suffered a fatal heart attack at his home on South Tower Drive in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.[ His body was transported to Florida and interred at the American Legion Cemetery in Tampa.
]
Legacy
Hatton's name — and simple but brutish face — have become recurring humorous motifs in popular culture. In season 6, episode 4 of the 1970s television series ''The Rockford Files
''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investigator ...
'' ("Only Rock-n-Roll Will Never Die, part 1"), Jim Rockford, exasperated at a friend who dismisses himself as unattractive, exclaims "You're no Rondo Hatton!" Hatton's physical likeness inspired the Lothar character in Dave Stevens
Dave Lee Stevens (July 29, 1955 – March 11, 2008) was an American illustrator and comics artist. He was most famous for creating ''Rocketeer, The Rocketeer'' comic book and film character, and for his pin-up style "glamour art" illustrations, ...
's 1980s ''Rocketeer
The Rocketeer is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books originally published by Pacific Comics. Created by writer/artist Dave Stevens, the character first appeared in 1982 and is an homage to the Saturday matinee serial heroes f ...
Adventure Magazine'' stories, and in Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's 1991 film version, ''The Rocketeer
The Rocketeer is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books originally published by Pacific Comics. Created by writer/artist Dave Stevens, the character first appeared in 1982 and is an homage to the Saturday matinee serial heroes ...
,'' in which the character is played by actor Tiny Ron
Ronald "Tiny Ron" Taylor (November 21, 1947 – November 28, 2019) was an American film actor and former basketball player, known for his work in feature films such as ''The Rocketeer'' (1991) and '' Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'' (1994), and in t ...
in prosthetic make-up.
The '' 2000 AD'' comic book character Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' (1977), which is a British weekly anthology Comic book, comic. He is the ...
, who is rarely seen without his helmet, used "face-changing technology" to make himself look like Hatton in issue 52 (18 February 1978) — the first time the character's face was shown unobscured. The name "Rondo Hatton" was also in a list of suspects obtained by Dredd during the case. As the artist Brian Bolland
Brian Bolland (; born 26 March 1951)Salisbury, Mark, ''Artists on Comic Art'' (Titan Books, 2000) , p. 11 is a British comics artist. Best known in the United Kingdom as one of the definitive Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology '' 2 ...
revealed in an interview with David Bishop: "The picture of Dredd’s face — that was a 1940s actor called Rondo Hatton. I've only seen him in one film." Additionally, the character The Creep in the ''Dark Horse Presents'' comic-book series strongly resembled Hatton.
Hatton is regularly name-check
Name-dropping (or name-checking or a shout-out) is the practice of naming or alluding to important people and institutions within a conversation,. story, song, online identity, or other communication. The term often connotes an attempt to impress ...
ed in the novels of Robert Rankin
Robert Fleming Rankin (born 27 July 1949) is a prolific British author of comedic fantasy novels. Born in Parsons Green, London, he started writing in the late 1970s, and first entered the bestsellers lists with ''Snuff Fiction'' in 1999, by ...
, often referred to as "the now-legendary Rondo Hatton" and credited as appearing in films that are either fictional, or in which he clearly had no part, such as the ''Carry On
Carry On may refer to:
* ''Carry On'' (franchise), a British comedy media franchise
*Carry-on luggage or hand luggage, luggage that is carried into the passenger compartment
* ''Carry On'' (film), a 1927 British silent film
* ''Carry On'' (novel), ...
'' films. Rankin's references to Hatton routinely occur in the form of "he had a Rondo Hatton" (hat on). Another namecheck occurs in Rafi Zabor's PEN/Faulkner-award-winning 1998 novel ''The Bear Comes Home
''The Bear Comes Home'' is a novel written by Rafi Zabor. It won the 1998 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction. It was selected as an alternate for the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award.
Details
The novel tells the story of an alto saxophone-playing bea ...
'', where the name is used as a nickname for good-natured but unrefined minor character Tommy Talmo. In the 2004 Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
novel, ''The Dark Tower VII
''The Dark Tower'' is a 2004 fantasy novel by American writer Stephen King. It is the seventh and final book in his ''Dark Tower'' series. It was published by Grant on September 21, 2004 (King's birthday), and illustrated by Michael Whelan. It ...
'', a character is described as looking "like Rondo Hatton, a film actor from the 1930s, who suffered from acromegaly and got work playing monsters and psychopaths". In the 1991 movie ''The Rocketeer'', actor Tiny Ron Taylor
Ronald "Tiny Ron" Taylor (November 21, 1947 – November 28, 2019) was an American film actor and former basketball player, known for his work in feature films such as ''The Rocketeer'' (1991) and '' Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'' (1994), and in t ...
, playing Nazi henchman Lothar, is made up with prosthetics to look like Hatton. The episode of ''Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' entitled "The Wedding of River Song
"The Wedding of River Song" is the thirteenth and final episode in the sixth series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', and was first broadcast on BBC One on 1 October 2011. It was written by lead writer and executiv ...
" features Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series ''Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and '' Dracula''. Together with ...
as a character whose appearance (achieved through prosthetics) is based on Hatton's, credited under the pseudonym Rondo Haxton for his performance.
A documentary being produced in 2017, ''Rondo and Bob'', and released in 2020, looks at the lives of Hatton and ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American horror film produced and directed by Tobe Hooper from a story and screenplay by Hooper and Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow and Gunnar Hansen, w ...
'' art director Robert A. Burns, a self-described expert on Hatton.
The full story of Hatton's life is sensitively told in the Scott Gallinghouse book ''Rondo Hatton: Beauty Within the Brute'' (BearManor Media, 2019), which also includes exhaustive production histories of his Universal horror films.
Rondo Hatton Awards; cultural references
Since 2002, the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award
The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award, often called the Rondo Award, is an annual award founded in 2002 that honors journalism, scholarship and film preservation in the horror genre, particularly of classic horror film and their modern-day counterp ...
s have paid tribute to Hatton in name and likeness.Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards
dreadcentral.com; accessed August 30, 2016. The physical award is a representation of Hatton's face, based on the bust of "The Creeper", whom Hatton portrayed in the 1946 Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
film ''House of Horrors
''House of Horrors'' is a 1946 American horror film released by Universal Pictures, starring Rondo Hatton as a madman named "the Creeper".
Plot
Struggling sculptor Marcel de Lange (Martin Kosleck) is depressed about events in his life, and d ...
''.
Filmography
References
Further reading
"Rondo Hatton"
''The Tampa Bay Times''. September 29, 1923.
* Hatton, Rondo
"Newshounds, Once Doughboys, Describe First Armistice Day: Southeast of Sedan"
''The Tampa Bay Times''. November 12, 1928.
External links
*
*
The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatton, Rondo
1894 births
1946 deaths
20th-century American male actors
Burials in Florida
Male actors from Tampa, Florida
People from Hagerstown, Maryland
People with acromegaly
Sportswriters from Florida
Sportswriters from Maryland
United States Army personnel of World War I
United States Army soldiers