I would be seriously remiss if I didn’t mention that today is the birthday of one of the great horror/scifi actors, Ron Perlman!  He’s been involved with so many cool projects it’s hard to do them all justice: He’s probably most well-known these days for his portrayal of Hellboy (and his upcoming portrayal in the sequel, Hellboy II : The Golden Army).  The earliest role I had seen him play was the sinister hunchback Salvatore in the excellent murder mystery The Name of the Rose.  One of his longest-running roles was as ‘The Beast’ in the 1980s Beauty and the Beast television series.  He’s played a vampire mercenary in Blade II and a demonic sheriff in the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s Desperation.  His deep, authoritative voice has earned him many voice-over roles playing, amongst others, Hellboy, Conan, Clayface (a Batman villain), Jax-Ur (a phantom zone criminal), and The Incredible Hulk.

The future looks pretty bright for Perlman, as well: besides his starring role in the next Hellboy film, he is slated to voice-over Conan in the excellent animated version of Red Nails, which promises to be one of the truest adaptations ever made of the barbarian.  The most intriguing bit of news is that he is rumored to have a part in an upcoming adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness!  Normally, I would be horrified to see anyone trying to adapt this story to the screen, but the director is Guillermo del Toro, and if anyone can adapt it properly, he can.

In any case, happy birthday to Ron Perlman, and best of luck for his future endeavors!