He only made four films, but Erland van Lidth was equally memorable in all of them. His large size was part of the reason he was noticed. The other was his talent, for he was more than just a big-boned actor. He knew how to take full advantage of his presence to get the most out of every role he played.
Whether through intimidation or sympathy, his characters managed to keep audiences wanting more. And even though his parts were supporting ones, he was the actor that made people want to sit through the credits to discover his name.
Three of his four films have a fan base. Anyone that has seen The Wanderers, Stir Crazy or The Running Man, will never forget Erland van Lidth as Terror, Grossberger or Dynamo. His beautiful operatic voice was dubbed for Stir Crazy, but in The Running Man, what you hear is the real deal.
Erland van Lidth died of heart failure in 1987. His movie career was brief, but memorable. And since Hollywood missed her opportunity to use him in other projects, he only left four films for people to view and discover. And what they will find (besides being entertained) is another actor that is Not Very Famous...but should be.
Whether through intimidation or sympathy, his characters managed to keep audiences wanting more. And even though his parts were supporting ones, he was the actor that made people want to sit through the credits to discover his name.
Three of his four films have a fan base. Anyone that has seen The Wanderers, Stir Crazy or The Running Man, will never forget Erland van Lidth as Terror, Grossberger or Dynamo. His beautiful operatic voice was dubbed for Stir Crazy, but in The Running Man, what you hear is the real deal.
Erland van Lidth died of heart failure in 1987. His movie career was brief, but memorable. And since Hollywood missed her opportunity to use him in other projects, he only left four films for people to view and discover. And what they will find (besides being entertained) is another actor that is Not Very Famous...but should be.
You are so right about Erland! I saw his face in the thumbnail & all I could remember was that I loved that guy - whoever he was.
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I went to college with him and even then he was amazing in the MIT theater projects. Such a gentle giant.
ReplyDeletehis voice would have made the angels cry as it did me and may he be looking over us now peace be with you erland iam martin o'vel Hereford uk
ReplyDelete"Terror" is unforgettable in "The Wanderers" ... daunting and hilarious both.
ReplyDeleteI went to school with Erland and we were in boy scouts as very young boys, He used to sing and play guitar around the campfire with his brother. They both had beautiful voices, even as young boys they had deep baritone sound. It was a gift, Later on he went on to be a action movie icon. It was a pleasure knowing him for so long, Too bad his life ended so short
ReplyDeleteI was watching an old western the other day and in it the characters sing Down in the Valley. It made me think of Stir Crazy and I remember Erland singing that song and how beautiful it was. Too bad his days with us were short. I would have loved to have heard more from him.
ReplyDeleteErland was the actor that Frank Miller based the Kingpin on.If any of your readers read Daredevil,they probably recognized him from the Wanders or Stir Crazy.Frank Miller himself said so in an interview way back when.Although the Kingpin was used in Spider-man comics before Daredevil,Frank Miller was the writer who we all know him by.
ReplyDeleteI was a computer programmer at Equitable Life in the mid 80's where Erland was involved in deployment of our new IBM desktop computers which was completely new to Mainframe programmers such as me at that time. I remember sitting in a conference room where he and his associate (an Asian man named Stanley) were explaining the deployment. Stanley was rambling on about something but I could not help but look at Erland who looked irritated by this when suddenly sitting next to Stanley he turns to him and says 'Shut up Stanley' and began to take control of the meeting agenda. At the time his comment may have been shocking and intimidating to most in the meeting, but I thought it was precious.
ReplyDeletesi no hubiese muerte hubiese sido un grande... recuerdo su frase traducida al español en Running man ´´HOLA MI AMORRR´´
ReplyDeletehe was great...I remember him in stir crazy better than anything else when I think of that movie...actually he is really the only thing I do remember about it and I have seen it several times!!! hahaha...
ReplyDeleteTruly amazing singer, such a shame he wasn't involved in more films, as he knew how to act. RIP Erland from Yvonne, Cardiff UK
ReplyDeleteWe were talking about Gene Wilder the other day and I mentioned Erland. I read some facts about him and showed some photos so everybody could remember what he looked like. It's too bad his life came to an end so soon. As intelligent and talented as he was, and the type of person he was, I believe he could have accomplished soo much. I shed a tear thinking and remembering this young man. He was an honest soul.
ReplyDeleteI knew Erland later in life. Such a good soul and a good person. Always something clever to say. We all lost someone special when he passed. I am sure he is singing to the heavenly choir.
ReplyDeleteI met Erland in 1981 in Colorado Springs, CO at the Olympic Training Center. I
ReplyDeletewas invited there for the track program and Erland was there for wrestling. Several of us went to his room and met him, then he sang Down in the Valley for us. Pretty cool experience.
I have seen the film "Stir Crazy" with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor about two guys who get arrested and are forced to join the prison rodeo in order to earn their freedom. Grossburger was in that film and he was enjoyable. He reminded me of a friend I once knew that looked like a tough guy but was very loveable. And that taught me something. That even a scary-looking person can have a soft side. We shouldn't judge people for what they look like or what they do or who they are. Instead we should embrace the difference. Because I'm pretty sure that there's a Grossburger out there somewhere. In fact, there's one everywhere you go! "Stir Crazy" taught me that and for that I thank them. I also thank this blog. I would be nowhere without you guys. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHe stole every scene he was in- especially in The Wanderers.
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