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Title: Ted V. Mikels is broke Post by: Pennywise on September 14, 2009, 12:51:30 AM Something I read in a local free magazine here:
http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2009/sep/10/when-life-isnt-movie/ Ted V. Mikels is an exploitation filmmaker who made lots of B- and Z-grade movies like The Black Klansman (1966), The Astro-Zombies (1968), The Corpse Grinders (1972), and the Mystery Science Thetaer 3000 staple Girl in Gold Boots (1968). Title: Re: Ted V. Mikels is broke Post by: Monster Jungle X-Ray on September 14, 2009, 01:32:04 AM That is very sad to hear, Mikels is one of those larger than life guys who has always seemed to persevere no matter what. The Astrozombies alone puts him in cinema history, but he has many other great b-flicks. I met him at a convention long ago when he was in the process of making Corpse Grinders II, and he was wonderful, funny, and genuinely appreciative of his fans. Hearing his stories about the ins and outs of the film business was very entertaining. Hopefully something can come together for him with the new book and documentary out there, after 60 years in the business to be broke at 80 is not a good place to be.
(http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff260/Tengusame/tvmikels.jpg) Title: Re: Ted V. Mikels is broke Post by: Rev. Powell on September 14, 2009, 11:13:16 AM That's sad. Mikels wasn't really a talented director, but he was quite a character and he made some interesting stuff by accident (I love ASTRO-ZOMBIES). I know he made a lot of money over the years; at one point he lived in a castle with a stable of "wives." Sounds like he poured all the money he made into unprofitable projects. I hope things turn up for the guy.
When I lived in Vegas, I used to give out Mikels home telephone number (straight out of the phone book) when I didn't want to give out my real number. I feel kind of guilty about that. Title: Re: Ted V. Mikels is broke Post by: Eyesore on September 14, 2009, 11:19:39 PM Man that sucks! I wonder if Hammargren can help him out? Man, I sure would love to go through Dr. Lonnie's house some day!
Title: Re: Ted V. Mikels is broke Post by: Jim H on September 18, 2009, 05:46:05 PM That is very sad to hear, Mikels is one of those larger than life guys who has always seemed to persevere no matter what. The Astrozombies alone puts him in cinema history, but he has many other great b-flicks. I met him at a convention long ago when he was in the process of making Corpse Grinders II, and he was wonderful, funny, and genuinely appreciative of his fans. Hearing his stories about the ins and outs of the film business was very entertaining. Hopefully something can come together for him with the new book and documentary out there, after 60 years in the business to be broke at 80 is not a good place to be. That is really sad. The saddest thing of all is apparently a bunch of his 35MM equipment got junked! What the heck!? I didn't even know he was still working, and I don't think I've seen any of his films.. But anyone with that much experience and who has worked as hard for as long as him doesn't deserve to be in his situation. Really sucks. At least he has his health, apparently. He looks good in that recent picture for an 80 year old. Title: Re: Ted V. Mikels is broke Post by: RCMerchant on September 25, 2009, 06:10:58 AM Boy-that is sad. I saw ASTRO ZOMBIES on TV in the early 70's. One of the first films I was actually aware of a film being awful.Bless his heart.
Title: Re: Ted V. Mikels is broke Post by: ghouck on September 25, 2009, 11:02:59 AM When I lived in Vegas, I used to give out Mikels home telephone number (straight out of the phone book) when I didn't want to give out my real number. I feel kind of guilty about that. lol. Title: Re: Ted V. Mikels is broke Post by: anon on October 22, 2009, 11:21:35 PM Ted V. Mikels broke? Certainly not for long. Check this out, a possible preview of things to come in "Astro-Zombies M3:Cloned" out in 2010 at The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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