He was pure lumbering and scary at first. Whoever thought of it was a genius. There must have been some precedent for it in Vaudeville. The only precursor I can think of is Joe Besser of the 3 Stooges. Not exactly though ...
... and Joe wasnt a monster of course
The late Boris Karloff's portrayal of the monster in the original "Frankenstein" film was very child like.. The sitcom just showed us the comedic side if it. I agree about the ingenuity of the character. The contrast of a spooky monster who has the personality of a sweet 10 year old is just perfect. I must admit, though it is sometimes difficult for me to enjoy the show because I now know what Mr. Gwynne was going through in the hot, heavy costume. He had to drink gallons of lemonade and lost a lot of weight. It is generally accepted that, as much as he loved the character, Mr. Gwynne was rather thankful the show was canceled.
"tard" suffix 🚀 "Tard" ain't cool, folks.
They said when Glenn Strange played The Monster and took off his headpiece, there was enough sweat under it to fill a glass.
Annoying the world since 1960!
Ah, yes. The wonderful Glenn Strange. I don't doubt what you said about the headpiece for a second. Whether it was scaring Abbott silly on a mysterious island or serving beer & keeping the Greener ready in Dodge City, Mr. Strange was a trooper.
In a world of vampires,one must be careful not to say "Bite me" to the wrong individual Good ol' Sam
I'm sure the character just developed over time. In the earlier episodes he was more spooky but with a gentle adult side. I think as the show progressed the producers and actors saw that Gwynne had a real talent for playing a hammy, overgrown child and they started writing that into the scripts more.
shareI think the first episode where he officially morphed into an overgrown child may have been "If a Martian Answers, Hang Up". With his ham radio he was like a big kid with a new toy. Herman's interaction with the kids playing spaceman while he was playing with his new "toy" and then his little "playground incident" with the bully father may have planted the seeds.