Chess with Death

Chess with Death – The Grim Reaper in Film

You may be familiar with the Monty Python bit found in the final act of “The Meaning of Life” in which “death” aka the Grim Reaper crashes a country cottage dinner party, or perhaps the segments featuring he (or rather, it) that are found in Woody Allen movies “Love and Death” and “Deconstructing Harry.” And whether you’ve seen the film or not, you are certainly familiar with the famous imagery in Ingmar Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal” showing a medieval knight partaking in a game of chess vs. the dark-cloaked one.

But here are some interesting facts about “Death” in film that you probably don’t know…

1) According to information I gathered from IMDB.com (Did you know “death” has its own IMDB page? See http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0035562/), death was first portrayed onscreen in the 1913 silent film appropriately titled “The Angel of Death.” Acting the part was Herbert Brenon an actor and director from Dublin, Ireland. Alas, I could not find a photo of Mr. Brenon in costume and, in general, I could not find much information online concerning “The Angel of Death.” Apparently the film was produced in Germany, a land that became known for its bold abstract expressionist films such as “Nosferatu” and “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.”

2) Death has a name…several, in fact.
AKAs for death in film = The Grim Reaper, The Angel of Death, Mr. Death/Mr. De’ath, Abuela muerte, Raver, Angelo della morte, Death Angel ‘Azrael’, Der Tod, Devil’s Reaper, Kuolema, La mort, Gregg, Lucy, Michelle

3) Many noteworthy actors have portrayed death over the years.  Among them are…
• Unsurprisingly, Vincent Price (in “General Electric Theater’s “The Ballad of Mender McClure”)
• Christopher Lee, who stands next to Vincent Price as a master of the macabre played death on an SNL skit from 1978 and again in the 1996 movie “Welcome to the Discworld” and in the 1997 TV series “Wyrd Sisters” and “Soul Music” Typecasting? Or does death have a name: Christopher?)
• Orson Welles (in “The Hearts of Age” an 8 minute short from 1934)
• Jim Carrey (uncredited, in “High Strung” from 1991)
• Dan Castellaneta, famous for giving voice to Homer Simpson, also lent his vocal talents to the voice of death in episodes of the TV show “Earthworm Jim.”

4) Death has picked up steam.
Of the 554 film credits to his name on IMDB.com, 397 are from year 2000+. Of those, 135 are from years 2010 – 2015.

The end.