Happy National Gorilla Suit Day
I really can’t make this up. It is National Gorilla Suit Day. Don’t believe me, just Google it!
In honor of National Gorilla Suit Day, I offer up a toast to my friend Bob Burns. When I was kid, there was a fun program on Saturday morning called Ghostbusters. This show was years before the Bill Murray movie and featured Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch, along with Tracy the Gorilla. The credits listed Bob Burns as Tracy’s trainer. I loved the show.
A few years later (1978 or so), I find myself reading about this guy named Bob Burns in Starlog magazine. He puts on these elaborate Halloween shows at his home in LA. The Time Machine, Robby the Robot, War of the Worlds. I remember thinking that I wanted to be just like Bob Burns when I grew up.
In 1996, Connie and I flew out to Los Angeles for the Famous Monsters convention. Forry Ackerman would be there, along with Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen. Who do I meet? Bob Burns! Bob had both King Kong and Mighty Joe Young with him. I think I must have asked him a million questions. The great thing is Bob was the nicest guy in the world.
Then I started going to Wonderfest, and of course Bob and his wife Kathy were frequent guests. Bob would come by the Cult table in the dealers room every year and check things out. And one night, I recieved word that Tracy was there. Tracy! I ran out on my balcony, which overlooked the Saturday night festivities. I ran down the stairs and across the courtyard and into the show room and found myself face-to-snout with Tracy the Gorilla. I stopped. I bowed down before the great Tracy. And he reached out and patted me gently on the head. And fortunately, Brian Ludden was right there with his camera. He snapped the picture at the top of the page.
Since that time I’ve been honored to visit Bob’s Basement and see his incredible collection of movie props. You can see photos of my visit here. The photo above is from Monsterpalooza last April.
You might also enjoy visiting these pages
- The Official Bob Burns Website
- Bob Burns’ Hollywood Halloween
- John Michlig’s site featuring his book with Bob
- It Came From Bob’s Basement at Amazon
- The Cartoon Adventures of Major Mars
And there is also these pages on the Cult site
So happy National Gorilla Suit Day to everyone!
