View source for Larry Blamire

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{{Infobox artist
| name             = Larry Blamire
| birth_date       = <!-- {{Birth date and age|1984||}} -->
| birth_place      = [[Massachusetts]], U.S.
| education        = [[Art Institute of Boston]]
| known_for        = 
| notable_works    = 
| style            = Illustrator, filmmaker
| module           = 
}}
'''Larry Blamire''' is an American filmmaker, writer and artist best known for the independent film ''[[The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra]]''.

== Biography ==
Blamire was raised in [[Massachusetts]] and studied [[illustration]] at the [[Art Institute of Boston]].

=== Comic author ===
He dabbled briefly in [[underground comics]], writing and drawing the Predator, a vigilante character, in Ace of Spades and Blazing Violence.  After several years of various blue collar jobs, Blamire started working as a [[science fiction]] [[illustrator]] for [[Galileo (magazine)|Galileo]], and later [[Aboriginal Science Fiction]], among others.

=== Stage acting career ===
In the 1980s Blamire began acting on stage on a whim, landing roles at various [[Boston]] theatres; the Open Door Theatre, the Alley Theatre, as well as a season at the [[Boston Shakespeare Company]]. It was with the Open Door Theatre that he found a home, particularly in their outdoor summer productions at [[Jamaica Pond]] by the [[Pinebank Mansion]] in a natural formation known as the Kettlebowl. His first play, ''In the Nations'', a dark [[Western (genre)|western]] which he also directed, received critical and audience acclaim<ref>{{cite news |last1=Edelstein |first1=David |title=Dust to dust - In the Nations: How the West was lost |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_boston-phoenix_1982-07-27_11_30/page/n62/mode/1up |access-date=September 9, 2024 |work=The Boston Phoenix |date=July 27, 1982}}</ref> and was followed by his version of [[Robin Hood]] in which he played the title role but did not direct. It was later published by Bakers Plays, continuing to be performed worldwide. In 1984 he wrote and directed ''Interface,'' a science fiction thriller based on the alleged [[Philadelphia Experiment]] featuring ambitious effects and sound design. Performed indoors, it played well with audiences but, like [[Robin Hood]], received a mixed reaction from the press.{{fact|date=May 2025}}

=== Writing and directing movie career ===
In 1985, however, Blamire wrote and directed ''Jump Camp'', a surreal dark comedy about a writer searching for a missing psychiatrist in a ghost town that took the quirky dialogue suggested by ''In the Nations'' and elevated it to heights of absurdity.  The play was an instant hit with audiences and critics alike, ending up on the year's ten best lists in the ''[[Boston Globe]]'', ''[[Boston Herald]]'' and ''[[Boston Phoenix]]''.  Moving outdoors again, Blamire's next play, ''Bride of the Mutant's Tomb'', was a comedy about a hapless [[Ed Wood]]-inspired director trying to make his low-budget [[science fiction movie]] in the 1950s with a group of misfits.  Despite less than complimentary reviews, it proved to be another crowd pleaser.  In 1987 Blamire next wrote ''Whyo'', a [[revenge tragedy]] about [[Irish mob|Irish gangs]] in 19th Century New York.  It received a grant from the [[Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities]] and an ambitious staged reading at [[Gloucester, Massachusetts#Arts#Points of Interest|Gloucester Stage Company]].  This led to [[Israel Horovitz]] commissioning a play, ''The Chroma Line,'' a partly autobiographical look at life in a wallpaper warehouse.  His last play of the '80s was ''Ha'nt'', a one-act performed as part of a horror anthology.  During this period, Blamire received critical acclaim for a series of leading stage roles, including MacMurphy in ''[[One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (play)|One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest]]'', [[Henry Percy (Hotspur)|Hotspur]] in ''[[Henry IV, Part 1]]'', John Proctor in ''[[The Crucible]]'', Tilden in ''[[Buried Child]]'' and Al in ''[[In the Boom Boom Room]]'', for which he won The Boston Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Actor.  He also played the rapist in the Boston premiere of ''[[Extremities (play)|Extremities]]''.

In the 1990s, despite revivals of ''In the Nations'' and ''Jump Camp'' (the latter at the Alliance Repertory Company in Los Angeles) and a lead role as the country DJ host in the hit show ''[[A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline]]'' at the [[Charles Playhouse]], Blamire found himself moving away from theatre. In 1992 Blamire's comedy sketches were chosen for the HBO Writers Search, and he directed several at the [[Stella Adler Theatre]] in L.A.  They were also collected in an evening called ''Larry Blamire's Sketch-O-Rama'' by a new Massachusetts company, Theatre 9.  Towards the end of the '90s, Blamire was writing more and more screenplays on spec, several of which were quarter- and semifinalists in the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] [[Nicholl Fellowship]].

In 1997 Blamire began working with an internet start-up called Bali Hai Interactive, given carte blanche to develop new cutting edge entertainment.  What resulted was ''The Wise Eye Guys'', a quirky [[interactive]] nonlinear animated adventure for which he did thousands of drawings and directed the voice actors (which included his wife, actress [[Jennifer Blaire]]).  Months after the company moved its offices to Los Angeles, it went under in the [[dot com crash]] of 2000.  Trying unsuccessfully to raise money for the floundering Bali Hai, Blamire, having recently read about developments in digital video, got the idea of shooting an ultra-low-budget spoof of 1950s bargain basement science fiction movies, incorporating elements from ''Bride of the Mutant's Tomb''.  The resulting film, ''[[The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra]]'', premiered at the [[Mill Valley Film Festival]] in 2002.  Picked up by Michael Schlesinger for [[Sony]], the film was released in 2004.

That same year, Blamire wrote and directed ''Johnny Slade's Greatest Hits'' (now ''Meet the Mobsters''), produced by and starring John Fiore and some of [[The Sopranos]] cast.  In 2005, he wrote and directed ''[[Trail of the Screaming Forehead]]''.  Though continuing the retro science fiction spoof theme, the film had a different look and feel, in widescreen and color, under the [[Ray Harryhausen]] Presents banner, with a title song composed by Blamire and sung by [[The Manhattan Transfer]].  After festival screenings, it was picked up by [[Independent Film Channel|IFC]], playing [[Video on demand|VOD]] in 2009, slated for DVD release in 2010.  In 2007, Blamire formed a company, Bantam Street, with his core group of actors and technicians.  Their acclaimed web series ''Tales From the Pub'' launched that same year.  In 2008, Bantam Street made two films back-to-back; ''[[The Lost Skeleton Returns Again]]'', a sequel to ''[[The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra]]'', and ''[[Dark and Stormy Night (film)|Dark and Stormy Night]]'', a stylistically authentic takeoff on 1930s "old dark house" movies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fangoria.com/home/news/16-dvd-a-blu-ray/4517-dvd-horror-news-1-pontypool-hard-revenge-milly-lost-skeleton-etc.html|title=DVD horror news #1: PONTYPOOL, HARD REVENGE MILLY, LOST SKELETON, etc.|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091114110529/http://fangoria.com/home/news/16-dvd-a-blu-ray/4517-dvd-horror-news-1-pontypool-hard-revenge-milly-lost-skeleton-etc.html|archivedate=November 14, 2009}}</ref>  Both feature Bantam Street's ever-increasing pool of veteran character actors, including [[Betty Garrett]], [[H.M. Wynant]] and [[James Karen]].

=== Writing career ===
In 2009, Blamire published two books; ''Tales of the Callamo Mountains'', a collection of his western horror short stories, and ''I Didn't Know You Came With Raisins'', a collection of his surreal cartoons. He also completed a screenplay of ''Steam Wars'', an ambitious longtime project with copious illustrations. Blamire continues to keep his hand in graphics, working in both [[Photoshop]] and acrylic paint. His paintings tend toward [[surrealism]].

Blamire has contributed writing and art to a number of the ''[[They Came From...!]]'' TTRPG books, including ''They Came from Beneath the Sea!'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blamire |first=Larry |date= |title=They Came from Beneath the Sea! |url=https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/300642/They-Came-From-Beneath-the-Sea?affiliate_id=182989 |website=DriveThruRPG}}</ref> ''They Came from [CLASSIFIED]!'' and ''They Came from the Cyclops's Cave!''

== Personal life ==
Blamire is the nephew of British actor Bert Edgar. Blamire has two sons—Cory, by his first marriage and Griffin, by wife Jennifer Blaire, whom he married in 1998.

== Releases ==
* ''[[The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra]]'' was released on DVD by [[Sony Pictures Home Entertainment]] on June 22, 2004.
* ''Meet the Mobsters'' was released on DVD by Salient Media on May 20, 2008.
* [[Shout! Factory]] released both ''[[Dark and Stormy Night]]'' and ''[[The Lost Skeleton Returns Again]]'' on DVD on August 17, 2010. A free DVD of ''Tales from the Pub'' was given to those who preordered the DVDs on Shout! Factory's website.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bantam.tumblr.com/post/778364215/preorder-at-shout-with-tales-from-the-pub-dvd|title = Preorder at Shout with TALES FROM THE PUB DVD}}</ref>
* ''[[Trail of the Screaming Forehead]]'' was released on DVD in the [[United Kingdom]] by 4 Digital on June 20, 2011.

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{IMDb name|1117507}}

{{Underground comix cartoonists|state=collapsed}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Blamire, Larry}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American male composers]]
[[Category:21st-century American composers]]
[[Category:American male stage actors]]
[[Category:Film directors from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:American comics writers]]
[[Category:American special effects people]]
[[Category:American science fiction artists]]
[[Category:American illustrators]]
[[Category:Underground cartoonists]]
[[Category:American voice directors]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:People from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Lesley University alumni]]
[[Category:21st-century American male musicians]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Larry Blamire|access_date=2026-03-04}}