Just because an actor decides to focus on one role, in this case, comedy, for the majority of their career, doesn’t mean they don’t have other aspirations. Perhaps pivoting to, say, horror when they’re known for more lighthearted stuff isn’t easy. Or, who knows, maybe directors just weren’t looking to cast guys known for jumping sharks on water skis in scary movies back in the day. Whatever the reason, here are a few familiar funny people who later featured in horror films.
4. Fred Gwynne
Famously appearing on sitcoms like Car 54, Where Are You? and The Munsters, Fred Gwynne decided to give horror a try for the first time when he turned 63. In 1989, he appeared as Jud Crandall in the film adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Crandall is the one who ultimately informs his new neighbors, Louis and Rachel Creed, of the ancient burial ground behind their home that brings the dead back to life. Despite Crandall’s warnings that “dead is better,” Louis still decides to bury his dead son in the cemetery, which doesn’t work out well for either of them, to say the least. Gwynne’s character was famously parodied on South Park years later.
3. Art Carney
With a comedy career dating back to the 1930s, Honeymooners star Art Carney didn’t appear in a horror film until the ripe age of 66. Similar to Fred Gwynne, his big horror moment was in a Stephen King adaptation: 1984’s Firestarter. It tells the story of a young girl, played by Drew Barrymore, who starts fires with her mind as a result of a government experiment. Carney plays a farmer who agrees to hide the girl and her father after the government agency responsible for her comes after them.
2. Moe Howard
Three Stooges member Moe Howard tried to keep the group going for as long as he was able, but things officially came to an end in 1970 after Larry Fine suffered a debilitating stroke. And while Moe briefly showed up in a goofy sci-fi horror flick in 1958 called Space Master X-7, it wasn’t until 1973’s Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls that Moe made his only appearance in a full-on horror movie, three years after leaving the Stooges behind. Doctor Death is the name of a magician who transfers the souls of his volunteers into himself in order to prolong his life. Moe appears in a short scene as a spectator who confirms the death of one of the magician’s victims. He was 76 at the time.
1. Henry Winkler
Best known to audiences as Fonzie on Happy Days, Henry Winkler made his first appearance in a horror film when he was 51, and it was a big one. Winkler had an uncredited role as Principal Himbry in Wes Craven’s 1996 slasher, Scream. He wasn’t credited because a studio executive thought his appearance would throw off the movie’s balance. He ended up getting applauded at test screenings. Years later, in the 2022 sequel, they included an inside joke about his Happy Days co-star Ron Howard portraying Winkler’s character in the fictional movie Stab.
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