Speaking of PUPPET MASTER - R.I.P. Guy Rolfe, PUPPET MASTER and MR. SARDONICUS

Read this yesterday on the AOL horror boards:

"Guy Rolfe, actor, was born on December 27, 1911. He died on October 19,
2003, aged 91.

Leading man in the Forties heyday of the British screen who later became a
star of cult horror movies

Guy Rolfe had a screen career in Britain and America that spanned five
decades, first as a leading man and then in character parts. A lean and
dashing figure with mean looks, he starred opposite Hollywood legends such
as Elizabeth Taylor, Tyrone Power, Charles Laughton and Joan Fontaine, and
worked in every genre from thrillers and romantic dramas to musicals and
historical epics.

Later in his career he began appearing in horror films, and at the age of 80
he became a favourite of the slasher-movie crowd by appearing as the insane
puppet manufacturer Andre Toulon in the Puppetmaster films.

Born in Kilburn, North London, Rolfe was educated at a local state school.
After sampling such professions as boxing and racing-car driving he decided
to become an actor in his early twenties. He made his first professional
appearance on stage in 1936 and worked in various repertory companies as
well as the West End. After making several uncredited film appearances in
the early 1940s he played a small role in the hugely popular British
historical drama Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948), which starred Stewart
Granger and Joan Greenwood. His rise to fame was swift. He made three more
films the same year, again in small supporting roles, but then rocketed to
stardom in Robert Hamer's brilliant cat-and-mouse thriller The Spider and
the Fly (1949), in which he was cast as a gentleman cracksman opposite Eric
Portman's dour detective.

Although he quickly became a major name with both the Rank and Ealing
studios, Rolfe had set his sights on working in American films, whether in
Hollywood or based in Britain. He particularly admired the Americans' style
of screen acting and their way of making films. His chance came when he
appeared in MGM's epic swashbuckling adventure Ivanhoe (1952) as a somewhat
oily Prince John among a host of stars including Elizabeth Taylor, Robert
Taylor and George Sanders. Partly filmed on location in Britain, this was
one of MGM's biggest box-office successes and brought Rolfe international
stardom.

Throughout the Fifties and Sixties he alternated between heroes and villains
and between British and American films. Never very choosy about his scripts
he would appear in anything from King of the Khyber Rifles (1953) and Dance
Little Lady (1955) to The Barbarians (1960) and the atrocious Snow White and
the Three Stooges, in which he seemed rightly embarrassed as Count Oga.

Whether in duds or box-office hits, Rolfe was always highly paid.
Immaculately dressed he would often arrive at the studios in a
chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce.

Popular with his co-stars he was always regarded as a gentleman and was
noted for playing vingt-et-un (usually for money) on the set.

His most memorable film role was that of Mr Sardonicus in the cult horror
film of the same name. The low-budget director William Castle personally
introduced the picture and concluded the proceedings as a "punishment poll"
in which the audience decided the fate of Rolfe as Sardonicus, the evil
19th-century aristocrat who kidnaps Audrey Dalton to compel her surgeon
sweetheart, Ronald Lewis, to operate on his face, frozen in childhood into a
hideous grin.

Although Rolfe went on to make several more historical epics (including
Taras Bulba in 1962 and Nicholas and Alexandra in 1971), the role of Mr
Sardonicus had pointed the way to a future in horror films. He appeared in
several Hammer films and in 1987 the director Stuart Gordon -who spookily
claimed to have seen Mr Sardonicus 15 times -tracked Rolfe down to his home
in Spain and offered him a leading role in his comedy horror, Dolls.

Rolfe also made occasional television appearances, in, among others, The
Avengers, Churchill's People, Space 1999 and The Secret Army.

By the 1990s Rolfe had achieved worldwide cult status with his Puppetmaster
appearances, but he was also proud that he was still remembered by many as a
leading man from the British cinema's heyday.

His first wife predeceased him. He is survived by his second wife, Margaret.
There were no children."