![]() ![]() ![]() To bring the characters of Rondo and Bob fully to life, scenes from Burns’ and Hatton’s lives have been recreated using actors. Along the way it examines vital touchstone films of the horror genre and tells the true stories of two of its important players. The film mixes interviews with archival film footage and rare video of Burns and the people he tried desperately to love. The Creeper becomes a metaphor for Burns’ lifelong belief in his inner ugliness, a lack that left him unable to feel true love. The documentary weaves together the stories of Burns and Hatton and delves into their horror filmographies and personal life stories. He died of a heart attack brought on by his medical condition. Together they went to Hollywood where Hatton became the Creeper in a series of films starting with the Sherlock Holmes story The Pearl of Death. It caused the former athlete and All-American kid to close himself off from the outside world until he met his second wife Mae. While attending the University of Texas he edited the Texas Ranger humor magazine and discovered Rondo Hatton, a former Tampa, Florida, sports reporter, who contracted acromegaly, a condition that caused his face, hands and feet to grow out of proportion to the rest of his body. In high school and college he studied drama, which he later utilized in films including Confessions of a Serial Killer. From a young age he showed signs of being a genius and could create complex designs all in his head, draw detailed cartoons and create outrageous puns. “Bob” Burns is a significant name in horror film art direction for his work in the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, Re-Animator, The Howling. Photos: University Libraries Archives and Special Collections Department and the Office of Alumni Relations.‘Bob’ Burns is searching for cult movie star Rondo HattonĪward-winning documentary Rondo and Bob, fixing on Texas Chain Saw Massacre art director Robert Burns and his obsession with cult actor Rondo Hatton, will be released on streaming platforms this June. This interview is available in its entirety in the Northeastern University Archives. ![]() I really think that the seeds and the germ that grows to the desire for a college education begin in the elementary and the high schools.” On the importance of education: “College educations are terrific and I think they’re good, but I think it really begins at the lower level. I think it hasn’t tried to isolate itself from the city that it’s an integral part of, and I think that’s some of the keys to its success.” On the evolution of Northeastern: “I’m impressed by the campus, and the grounds and environment. That goes with the territory of being a military officer.” On teaching in the military: “I think the military really is a teaching institution…I can almost say all the way through, almost 35 years in the military, at one time or another I was a teacher, a counselor, or a mentor. That intellectual curiosity was born at Northeastern.” On how his Northeastern education prepared him to teach cadets: “I had some great instructors…they lit the fire of intellectual curiosity on my part, and as a result I’ve become a student of history and I’m an avid reader. General Neal speaking at the Veterans Memorial groundbreaking ceremony. I can remember the class I was in when we got the word that it had occurred.” On significant moments as a student and the evolution of the campus: “The defining moment during my time at Northeastern was the assassination of President Kennedy and the impact that had on the student body, on all of us individually and collectively. So I started out as a typical intern in the administrative office and then matriculated into the classroom, and basically had some pretty significant teaching experience the last couple years of my internship.” On co-op experiences: “I was assigned down to a school in the south of Boston, Silver Lake Regional High School and I stayed there for my whole four years. A lot of similar backgrounds…All of the kids that I know now as young kids, and all of the folks that I was with during my tenure, all turned out to be pretty good people.” On his fellow students: “I think there was kind of a unique blending of folks there at that particular time. In the early 1960s, Northeastern had the largest ROTC unit in the country with well over 2,000 volunteers. ![]()
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