LOS ANGELES (WXIA) – Horror fans were saddened Sunday to learn of the passing of "taller than life" actor Angus Scrimm, best known for his role as the villainous Tall Man in the 1979 flick Phantasm and its sequels.
Scimm died Saturday in Los Angeles at the age of 89.
According to Entertainment Weekly, word of Scrimm's death came from filmmaker Don Coscarelli, who had directed the first four Phantasm movies and was co-writer of the upcoming fifth film, Phantasm V: Ravager, in which Scimm will appear. Release of that film is expected later this year.
Those who worked with Scrimm described him as a soft-spoken gentleman, and delivered the highest tributes to him and to his long body of film work -- much of it in the horror genre -- which stretched back to 1973.
Prior to his film start, according to the Los Angeles Times, Scrimm was a print journalist, writing for TV Guide and the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. In addition, Scrimm wrote a wide variety of liner notes for Capitol Records, winning a Grammy Award in 1974 for his notes on the classical album "Korngold: The Classic Erich Wolfgang Korngold."
PHOTOS: Notable Deaths in 2015
