- Born
- Died
- Birth nameKenneth Joseph Strickfaden
- Ken Strickfaden was born on May 23, 1896 in Anaconda, Montana, USA. He is known for The Lost City (1935), The Shadow (1940) and Blackenstein (1973). He died on February 29, 1984 in Inglewood, California, USA.
- Saved and kept all of the laboratory equipment that was used in both Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935) in working order in his garage. When director Mel Brooks was filming Young Frankenstein (1974), Strickfaden lent out all of it to 20th Century Fox for its use in the film and personally took care to make sure that it worked properly.
- In 1979, sound designer Ben Burtt visited Strickfaden at his home to record the sounds of the laboratory equipment from both Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935) in motion. Burtt then went on to make use of those legendary sounds "here and there" in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and later films, including the opening of the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Emperor Palpatine's Force bolts in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983).
- Director Curtis Harrington, who worked with Strickfaden on "Games" (1967), later affectionately described him as "the original mad scientist".
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content