Recently Dead

Character actor Mel Welles, best remembered as Gravis Mushnik, the florist in 1960's Little Shop of Horrors, died of heart failure in Norfolk, Virginia. He was 81. Though he may be remembered mostly for his role in Little Shop, he appeared in dozens of grade-Z movies far worse than that early Roger Corman shlocker. Do Lady Frankenstein, Attack of the Crab Monsters (above), The Undead, or Pirates of Tripoli ring a bell? Probably not. But when he appeared as Sir Bop in Rock All Night, he also wrote the accompanying Unabridged Hiptionary to help audiences decipher the slang, because he was nothing if not versatile. He also appeared on TV, directed bad movies in Europe, produced and directed concerts Down Under, recorded voice-overs, taught, and became a script supervisor. "He had a very eclectic career," said his widow Annie. (Welles' website)

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