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Post #363190 by bamalamalu on Sun, Feb 24, 2008 11:59 AM

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Ben Chapman, 79; Gill Man in cult film 'Creature From the Black Lagoon'

As an actor, Ben Chapman never landed a star-making role. Far from it. He had small parts in only a few films, including an uncredited bit part in "Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki."

But Chapman nevertheless achieved a degree of movie immortality -- and he did it without uttering a word of dialogue or even showing his face.

The 6-foot-5 ex-Marine played the title character in "Creature From the Black Lagoon," the classic 1954 3-D monster movie that quickly developed a cult following that has endured.

Chapman, a retired Honolulu real estate salesman, died Thursday of congestive heart failure at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, said his longtime companion, Merrilee Kazarian. He was 79.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-chapman24feb24,0,6196194.story