A feast of cinematic monsters and science fiction villains gathered by a former child actor turned director whose collecting hobby grew to blockbuster proportions will be Hollywood’s newest attraction, aimed at attracting millions of annual visitors.
Rich Correll amassed a $15 million collection of props, costumes, and other memorabilia as a regular on the legendary boomer sitcom “Leave It to Beaver,” which he has plucked for Icons of Darkness, a new pop-up attraction at the Hollywood & Highland centre that he hopes to turn into one of the country’s top-drawing entertainment museums. Correll’s vision: a place for horror, science fiction, and fantasy aficionados on par with the venerable Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for music fans.
Correll guffawed as funhouse air blasts frightened spectators of Freddy Kruger, Jason Voorhees, and other nightmare-inducing creeps dressed in their movie-worn costumes on a recent evening as he showed off his collection to guests with childlike excitement.
Margaret Hamilton’s tiny black witch robes from “The Wizard of Oz,” Lon Chaney’s suit from “The Phantom of the Opera,” and Boris Karloff’s monster costume from “Frankenstein” are among them.
Correll’s collection began while he and “Beaver” director Jerry Mathers worked on the Universal Studios lot together and “were major monster enthusiasts” who liked horror movies and were “thrilled” by visits to the studio’s makeup lab where monsters were produced, according to Correll.
The youngster was astounded to witness items and costumes that he considered valuable being discarded, including a garment for the man who played the monster in “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” Correll claims that when he was 12 years old, he plucked a costume head from the 1953 horror comedy “Abbot and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” from the garbage and began a lifetime passion with collecting science fiction, fantasy, and horror film memorabilia.
