Hard working thesp, Dick Durock, who played the Swamp Thing in both film and TV, gone at 72.
Durock, a native of South Bend. Indiana appeared in over 700 films including the first adaptation of DC Comics’ morbid moss man the Swamp Thing (created by Len Wein & Berni Wrightson).
"I came out to California and met a guy," Durock said in an interview last year to promo the DVD release of the iconic series, "That knew a guy that knew another guy that knew a stuntman, he introduced me to the stuntman, and he told me about a gym in Santa Monica where … a lot of the professional stuntmen worked out."
Durock’s early work included stunts for The Beverly Hillbillies and Star Trek.
He would go on to do stunt work in hundreds of films and television shows, including The Poseidon Adventure and A-Team, and act in hundreds more, including The Rockford Files The Incredible Hulk, Married with Children and the classic film Stand by Me.
He was most memorable role (natch) was the film Swamp Thing (1982) and The Return of Swamp Thing (with Heather Locklear) (1989), and in spin-off TV series Swamp Thing, that ran for 71 episodes in the early 1990s.
Dick was unrecognizable in the physically taxing role, which required him to don a heavy body suit and endure endless hours of makeup.
"At the end of the day you’re wearing 80 pounds of wet latex," Durock recalled "Plus all the chemicals on your face.
"It sure isn’t sunglasses and autographs, I’ll tell ya."
