Glenn Shadix (pronounced with a short "A" sound, as in "had") may not be a household name, but his face will be recognizable to most moviegoers, especially Tim Burton fans.

Glenn Shadix was born in 1952 and began acting in theater in Atlanta, Georgia. Moving to California in 1977, he won a Dramalogue Award for his work in a production of "Tom Jones" and appeared in a production of "The Circus of Dr. Lao" in 1985.

Soon after, Shadix began studying at the Ensemble Studio Theater. In 1986 he performed in a series of four plays at the Ensemble, including "Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights" in which he portrayed Gertrude Stein, winning an L.A. Weekly Award. The same year he made a guest appearance on the television series "The Golden Girls" and was seen in a short-subject film, "Inconvenience." The versatile actor also played the role of Fatty Arbuckle in Blake Edwards' motion picture Sunset.

(Thanks to Shaun Fleming of GlennShadix.com for supplying this info.)

Shadix's first major film part came in 1988, with his role in Beetlejuice. He played Otho, the interior decorator / paranormal expert. His dry wit is a sharp contrast to the slapstick around him, and he is one of the highlights of the movie.

The next year Shadix again starred alongside Winona Ryder, this time in Michael Lehmann's acclaimed black comedy, Heathers. One of Shadix's other indeliable film roles was as a personal assistant in the Sylvester Stallone/Wesley Snipes action movie Demolition Man. His distinctive hairstyle and hyper-nice personality made the character stand out, and again he is one of the highlights of the movie.

Beetlejuice has been (to date) the only time Shadix has appeared with his own face in a Burton film, but it's certainly not the only project he has been involved with with Burton. Shadix did the voice of the Mayor of Halloweentown in The Nightmare Before Christmas (even did his own singing...unlike Chris Sarandon, who only provided Jack Skellington's speaking voice). He also recorded several voices for Burton's Stainboy animated series. He is the voice of Stainboy's boss at the Burbank Police Department, Sgt. Glen Dale.

Shadix also appeared in Burton's Planet of the Apes. But, of course, he was underneath Rick Baker's makeup as an orangutan, Senator Nado. The role required that he spend around three hours in a makeup chair before the start of filming each day.

Since then Shadix has appeared mostly in smaller films and TV shows. He also provided his voice again for the Mayor in the videogame "The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge". Hopefully we can look forward to another collaboration between the actor and Burton in the future.

Arran McDermott and Mike Jackson 2005

 

Links:

IMDB Filmography
Official Site