Remembering late actor David Emge's (77) best roles
David Emge had a brief acting career which lasted from 1975 to the early '90s. Before beginning his career as an actor, he worked as a chef in New York City. He passed away at the age of 77 in Indiana on January 20. Although the cause of death hasn't been revealed, his family confirmed his demise. Here's remembering him through his best roles.
'The Booby Hatch'
Not a full-fledged role but Emge began his career as an actor with a cameo appearance in Rudy Ricci and John A. Russo's 1976 directorial, The Booby Hatch. The sex comedy, which also came to be known as The Liberation Of Cherry Jankowski, was written by Russo. Both the co-directors, Russo and Ricchi, previously worked together on Night of the Living Dead.
'Dawn of the Dead'
Emge's most iconic role is that of Stephen "Flyboy" Andrews in the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead. Helmed by George A Romero, it's a zombie horror film, co-starring Ken Foree, Gaylen Ross, and Scott Reiniger. Emge's picture as a blood-shedding zombie from the film became such a hit that it was used heavily for its promotional posters.
'Basket Case 2'
A multi-starrer film, Basket Case 2 featured Emge as Half Moon along with Kevin Van Hentenryck as Duane Bradley, Annie Ross as Granny Ruth, Kathryn Meisle as Marcie Elliott, Heather Rattray as Susan Smoeller, and others. The comedy-horror film was released in 1990 and was written and directed by Frank Henenlotter. It is a sequel to 1982's film Basket Case.
'Hellmaster'
Starring John Saxon in the lead as Professor Jones, Emge as Reporter, Jeff Rector as Jesse, and others, Hellmaster is a horror film that was released in 1992. Written and directed by Douglas Schulze, it follows the story of a psychopathic professor who uses his students as his guinea pig to turn them into brutal killers by injecting them with drugs.
