 James
Pickett was born on December 17th
1949 in Kentucky and made a name
for himself in the horror
community for his roles in three
of William Girdler’s
Louisville filmed flicks. He was
an actor in local theater when he
was first cast as a zombie in
Girdler’s 1971 flick ‘Asylum
of Satan’ -- in
which he also helped with make-up
effects. Impressed with his
acting talents Girdler chose him
to star in his next film -- the
following year James Pickett
achieved horror film icon status
in Girdler’s ‘Three
on a Meathook’
(1972) playing the sensitive yet
psychotic killer Billy Townsend,
a character vaguely modeled after
the notorious Ed Gein. The next
year he gave another great
performance as Mac, another
insane murderer, in
Girdler’s ‘The
Zebra Killer’
(1973). After these three films
for Girdler, Mr. Pickett never
made another film. Shortly
thereafter he moved to Los
Angeles where he gained a very
different and perhaps more
enduring reputation as an
award-winning playwright in the
gay community, thereafter
adopting the name James Carroll
Pickett. He was the writer in
residence at The Beverly Hills
Playhouse. His 1986 play
‘Dream Man’ about a gay
phone-sex host was filmed as a
theatre-on-video presentation in
1991 starring Michael Kearns. His
other plays include the
one-man’s night at the baths
tour de force ‘Bathhouse
Benediction’. Other
plays followed. His 1994 play
‘Queen of Angels’
is considered on of the most
potent AIDS dramas ever staged.
As an AIDS
and gay activist in the theatre
community Pickett was the
co-founder in 1984 (along with
Michael Kearns) of STAGE –
The Southland Theatre Artists
Goodwill Event that raised
consciousness, understanding,
support (and funds) about the
disease and helped support AIDS
Project Los Angeles. He started
the Gay Men’s Writer’s
series at A Different Light
Bookstore and was also cofounder
of Artists Confronting AIDS.
Sadly,
this great
humanitarian/writer/actor passed
away from HIV complications on
July 4th, 1994 in Los
Angeles.
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