Walt Gorney(1912-2004)
- Actor
Character actor Walt Gorney was born on April 12, 1912 in Vienna,
Austria. He came to the United States when he was ten years old and
lived with his family in Massachusetts. He had at least three younger
sisters. In 1946, Gorney moved to an apartment in Greenwich Village in
New York City. Walt appeared in a handful of movies in minor roles; he
was usually cast as bums or average working class types. With his lean,
stringy build, gaunt face, croaky voice, and intense off-center screen
presence, Gorney was perfectly cast as local town eccentric and grim
prophet of gloom 'n' doom Crazy Ralph in the horror classic
Friday the 13th (1980). He
returned as Crazy Ralph in
Friday the 13th: Part 2 (1981)
and did the opening narration for
Friday the 13th: The New Blood (1988).
Outside of his regrettably sparse movie credits, Walt had a long and
respectable career acting on stage. Gorney was a member of the
theatrical group the Provincetown Players in the early 1950s. He
portrayed the role of Juan in the world premiere of "If Five Years
Pass" and the part of Allen in "The Male Animal". Gorney appeared in
the Broadway plays "Scratch" and "Trelawny of the Wells". Moreover, he
also acted in the Off-Broadway stage productions "The Misanthrope",
"Measure for Measure" and "Crystal and the Fox". Walt Gorney died at
age 91 after a long illness at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City
on March 5, 2004.
