The story of Charles Gemora (Carlos Cruz Gemora, 1903-1961) represents a confluence between two of our previous content streams: gorilla suit movies and animal impersonation (see posts on Fred Woodward, George Ali, and Alfred Latell). Unusual in our annals, he was both a visual artist for films, specializing in make-up, prop and set design, and special costumes; as well as a performing artist, donning the very costumes he designed.
Originally from the Philippines, Gemora stowed away on a cargo vessel and made his way to Los Angeles, where he hoped to put his skills as a visual artist to use. Initially he set up a stand outside the gates of Universal Studios, sketching drawings and caricatures of passers-by for tips. His talents quickly grabbed the attention of the people who worked at the studios. Initially his niche was devising original sculptures and set elements for films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), The Thief of Bagdad (1924), and The Phantom of the Opera (1925), The Black Pirate (1926), Noah’s Ark (1928) and and the jungle drama Stark Mad (1929).
Gemora’s earliest gorilla assignment appears to have been the Lloyd Hamilton comedy Goose Flesh (1927). Asked to create a gorilla costume, it was quickly realized that, at just under 5’5″ his own stature was ideal to play the part himself. His skills as a pantomime were so terrific that he was to portray simians (and occasionally other creatures) in five dozen films. These skills put him at the center of many classic comedies, among them The Chimp (1932) and Swiss Miss (1938) with Laurel and Hardy; At the Circus (1939) with the Marx Brothers; Africa Screams (1949) with Abbott and Costello; So This is Africa (1933) with Wheeler and Woolsey; Road to Zanzibar (1941) and Road to Utopia (1945) with Hope and Crosby; Two Weeks to Live (1943) with Lum and Abner; Gildersleeve’s Ghost (1944) with Harold Peary; Rain or Shine (1930) with Joe Cook; the original The Gorilla (1930) with Joe Frisco and Harry Gribbon; The Cohens and the Kellys in Africa (1930); as well as lesser known comedies starring the likes of Our Gang, Edward Everett Horton, Charley Chase, Andy Clyde, Bobby Vernon, Thelma Todd (with both Zasu Pitts and Patsy Kelly), Joe McDoakes, Beatrice Lillie, Max Davidson, Tyler Brooke, et al.
Gemora played apes in nearly as many horror and mystery classics: The Leopard Lady (1928), Seven Footprints to Satan (1929), Where East is East (1929), the 1930 remake of The Unholy Three, Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), Island of Lost Souls (1932), The Monster and the Girl (1941), White Witch Doctor (1953), and Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954). He’s in Tarzan and Charlie Chan films, and a couple with real life big game hunter Clyde Beatty. In War of the Worlds (1953) and I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958), he played aliens.
All the while he continued working steadily as a make-up artist in dozens of Hollywood classics across all genres. His last turn in the gorilla suit was in Flight of the Lost Balloon (1961). A heart attack finally felled him whole working on Jack the Giant Killer (1962).
For more on early film and classic comedy please check out my book: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube.
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