Dr. Carrington of The Thing Dies

The mad scientist, Dr. Carrington, in the 1951 Howard Hawks’ horror thriller, The Thing, has died.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Robert Cornthwaite, 89, “a character actor whose more than 50-year career in theater, films and television included roles in classic thrillers and thrilling classics…died of natural causes Thursday (July 20, 2006) at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills.”

The “Thing” turned out to be a creature frozen in a block of ice, and in many ways, foreshadowed the Minnesota Iceman. There are several differences, of course, such as alleged origin and the Minnesota creature never waking up. But the cinematic memory was there for a generation weaned on that movie.

Cornthwaite was once interviewed about how Howard Hawks had specifically picked him for the role in The Thing: “I suppose I’m proudest of that film because Hawks chose me,” he said.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

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