Veteran film actor, Kevin McCarthy, who became famous for playing the leading role in the original, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, movie in 1956, has died of natural causes over the weekend, he was 96. He wasn’t that big and popular of an actor, but he did became more well known with movies such as,”Innerspace”, and, “UHF”, which are his two most recognizable roles. He played the villain in both of those films. He also had roles in the first “Piranha” film, “The Howling”, “Twilight Zone: the Movie”, and many more.

To me, it was the films, “Innerspace” and “UHF” when I first discovered this guy. He really did play a good badguy in movies and he does a good job on getting people to hate this guy. I remember when I used to watch, “Innerspace” and “UHF” as a kid, I used to really hate him and used to think he was a big jerk in those movies. I know he’s not that kind of guy in real life, but man, imagine if he was that kind of person in real life. I don’t think you want to meet this guy in person, ha!

RIP Kev! He was a talented actor!

Edit to add: On another Kevin McCarthy note, that one scene in UHF when R.J. Fletcher was measuring things in the UHF station. Notice when Stanley comes out in the room, he looks at the TV. If you look closely at the TV during that scene, what movie is playing? Why, that’s none other than the original “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. It’s kind of funny when the young Kevin McCarthy is on screen, when the old one is in the same room. Ha! I never noticed that after all this time!

Kev