chongajuly — 15 years ago(May 02, 2010 11:15 AM)

In 1982,I was browsing through the Los Angeles phone book and saw the number of actor Michael Pataki,whom I had seen in "Grave of the Vampire" and "Dracula's Dog." Deciding to give him a call,I was stunned to hear him say he was born in Youngstown,Ohio,where I've lived my entire life,and he was absolutely delighted to hear from a fan,especially one from Youngstown.Nowadays,with the internet providing instant access to all kinds of personal information,this would be common knowledge,but in those daysit's just a shame that I never made a followup call at the time,I was still in my teens.Now he has passed on,and to this day,Youngstown has never had anything in its newspapers about Michael Pataki.I know he moved away long before he became an actor,but I do remember him mentioning that he still had relatives in the area,though time has dimmed my memory about them.I'm shocked that there are no topics written about an actor with 45 features and nearly 100 TV appearances to his credit.After back-to-back roles in "The Young Lions" and "Ten North Frederick" in 1958,he did an unbroken string of guest spots on television for over 10 years,his third feature being 1969's "Easy Rider." His feature film career remained in the low budget category,with occasional exceptions such as "Airport '77," with Jack Lemmon,James Stewart,and Christopher Lee.One unusual credit is "Night Shift," in which he remains unbilled in the cast listing on screen,but by exposing his backside in his brief appearance,he earns a special credit-'Buns by Pataki.' Horror films were numerous: "The Andromeda Strain," "The Return of Count Yorga"(strangled by Robert Quarry's Count),"The Baby," "Grave of the Vampire"(now the star vampire,more vicious than Quarry's,or even Christopher Lee's),"The Bat People," "Dracula's Dog"(as a good-guy descendant of Dracula,not the vampire,opposite Reggie Nalder and Jose Ferrer),"Love at First Bite,""Graduation Day," "Dead and Buried," "Death House," and "Halloween 4:The Return of Michael Myers." On television,I remember him on BATMAN,playing Amenophis Tewfik to Victor Buono's King Tut,STAR TREK,playing a Klingon in "The Trouble with Tribbles," HAPPY DAYS,playing the Count in the famous Pinky Tuscadero 3-parter,KUNG FU,ELLERY QUEEN,ALL IN THE FAMILY.Perhaps his relationship with father and son directors Albert and Charles Band led them to allow Pataki to direct both of his features from 1976-77,"Mansion of the Doomed" and "Cinderella."In the former,Richard Basehart plays a surgeon trying to restore his daughter's vision through several now blind subjects kept locked in his cellar,with Gloria Grahame as his faithful nurse.In the latter,Cheryl 'Rainbeaux' Smith starred in a soft core porn version of the old chestnut,with plenty of music and comedy(the fairy godmother was a black guy!) He never directed a third feature,but continued to perform on television for the remainder of his life,and coached acting on the side in his spare time.His cult should continue to grow,because horror fans never forget,and his Caleb Croft in "Grave of the Vampire" is his greatest starring role.