Halloween star Nick Castle has been pictured on a rare outing in Los Angeles, looking markedly different from the masked figure that made him a horror icon.
The 78-year-old actor and filmmaker was seen wearing an orange T-shirt, cargo trousers, a baseball cap and sunglasses. A full white beard further obscured his appearance.
Castle played Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s 1978 film Halloween, appearing for much of the film behind the character’s expressionless mask.
The mask was created from a commercially available Captain Kirk design based on William Shatner’s face. Production designer Tommy Lee Wallace altered it by widening the eyeholes, removing the eyebrows and sideburns, and painting it white.
Castle was a former classmate of Carpenter’s at the University of Southern California and was asked to take on the role while visiting the film’s set. He was paid $25 a day for playing the silent killer.
Although Michael Myers became his best-known acting role, Castle later established himself as a director. His credits include The Last Starfighter, The Boy Who Could Fly, Dennis the Menace and Major Payne.
He also co-wrote the screenplay for Carpenter’s 1981 science-fiction thriller Escape from New York and later returned to the Halloween series in cameo appearances.
