Biography

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.
- IMDb mini biography by: woodyanders

Gaunt face and croaky voice

Lean stringy build

Harbinger Warning Kids in Friday The 13th and Friday the 13th Part 2

For many years it was falsely reported that he had died in 1989; therefore his actual death in 2004 was a double shock to fans.

Walt Gorney, along with Adrienne King, Betsy Palmer, Corey Feldman and Kane Hodder are the only five characters to appear in more than one Friday the 13th film.

Though he usually is cast as an extra in numerous films, he is probably best known for portraying Crazy Ralph, the drunk old man who says "You're all doomed!" in Friday the 13th (1980) and Friday the 13th: Part 2 (1981).

He was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the son of Zofia (Kania) and Jan Górny, who were of Polish descent. The family moved to the U.S. when Walt was a small child, settling in Massachusetts.