Born in Indiana, Ken Foree has been scaring us on the big screen for years!
Get ready, because he is about to raise the hair on the back of necks again, with the new gruesome horror picture The Devils Rejects from Lions Gate Films written and directed by Rob Zombie. The Devils Rejects is the follow-up to his smash hit, House of 1000 Corpses where Ken plays Charlie Altamont, a badass pimp who owns a shady prostitute ranch. The movie will be released July 22nd of this year.
Growing up, his family is noted for their academic and political achievements, so his entry into show biz was unplanned to say the least and quite surprising to his family members.
Kens story begins in a not so typical way; in the summer of 1974 he opened a photography studio in Manhattan. Three months later, the studio was broken into and he was robbed of everything. Ken was trying to figure out his next move when a few days later, he bumped into an actress friend who was on her way to an audition for the off Broadway production of James Baldwin's Blues for Mr. Charlie. They chatted for a minute and she asked him to come along with her. Well, it wasn't as if he had anything else planned so he did. and to make a long story short, the director asked him to audition for the play and he landed the lead role!
After six weeks of rehearsal he was hooked on acting.
Kens introduction to acting took him on an unusual path. He decided to get some formal training at renowned Michael Shulman's Performing Gallery in New York.
Shortly after that he landed roles in the film The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings opposite Richard Pryor and James Earl Jones and a guest starring role on TV's "Kojak". To make proverbial ends meet, he took a position as an assistant manager for a restaurant in Greenwich Village, New York while he was also trying to perfect his craft by doing off Broadway theatre at La Mama. One day, an actor friend told him about an audition that he might be right for on a new indie horror picture that was generating a lot of under-ground buzz. He called, went in and landed the role of Peter Washington in George A. Romeros 1978 classic, Dawn of the Dead, which proved to be a cult classic and in 2003 it marked its 25th anniversary and remains as popular as ever.
In the 2004 Universal Pictures remake, Ken reprised his role of Peter Washington (The Televangelist) and the film continued its streak of winning success.
While he is most widely known for his work in the last two installments of Dawn, he has quite a few other horror films to his credit which include, The Dentist, Sleepstalker, Joshua Tree, Hangfire, Night of the Warrior, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 just to name a few.
A tribute was also made to Ken in the British comedy, Shaun of the Dead where his last name was used for the shops store Foree Electric. The film received awards for Best Character and Best Horror Flick at the 2004 IGN Entertainment Awards.
In addition to his horror roles, you saw a softer side of Ken in Nickelodeons hit show Keenan and Kel. His past guest starring television roles include, The X-Files, General Hospital, Babylon 5, and Brothers just to name a few.
When Ken isnt scaring us to death, he enjoys several sports including, weightlifting, surfing, boxing, and watching Hoosier basketball. He also enjoys traveling and history.
Ken currently resides in Los Angeles.
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