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Forrest J. Ackerman, John Bloom, and Zandor Vorkov in Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971)

Biography

John Bloom

Overview

  • Born
    February 19, 1944 · Los Angeles, California, USA
  • Died
    January 15, 1999 · Los Angeles, California, USA (heart failure)
  • Height
    7′ 0¼″ (2.14 m)

Mini bio

  • The big, bulky and extremely tall John F. Bloom was an imposingly massive 7 foot 4 inch tall giant who was born on February 19, 1944 and grew up both in and around Los Angeles, CA. He originally worked as an accountant until he was convinced to take up acting in 1971 by the legendary Grade Z schlock/exploitation/drive-in filmmaker Al Adamson. Bloom made his film debut as the Frankenstein Monster in the hilariously horrible horror film Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971). He also appeared in supporting roles in the films Brain of Blood (1971) and Angels' Wild Women (1971) for Adamson as well, playing a hulking warrior and a motorcycle gang member, respectively.

    Among Bloom's more memorable film roles are a gentle and dim-witted behemoth of a handyman who has the head of a vicious killer grafted onto his body in the deliciously cheesy horror film The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant (1971), a murderous alien who terrorizes Los Angeles in the not-half-bad horror/sci-fi film The Dark (1979), the intimidating bodyguard of an Indian pimp in the hilariously raunchy and raucous film Bachelor Party (1984), a cannibal hillbilly named the Reaper in the terrible horror film The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1984), and an enormous antagonistic alien who fights with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in the science fiction film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).

    Bloom continued working throughout the 1980s and early 1990s playing tall, hulking thugs or seedy criminals in minor to small roles in films and TV series until health problems led to his semi-retirement in the mid-1990s. Being a giant, he suffered from acromegaly for his entire life, which took a toll on his health and led to an enlarged heart, among other physical problems. John Bloom died of heart failure on January 15, 1999 at the age of 54.
    - IMDb mini biography by: woodyanders

Trivia

  • At 7 feet 4 inches tall, Bloom was the tallest actor to date to ever play the Frankenstein Monster in the history of film and the closest that any actor who played the Monster has ever come to the literary Monster's height of 8 feet tall in the novel that introduced the character, "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" (1818) by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. He was also a full 17 inches taller than Boris Karloff, who was the best-known actor to play the Monster.

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