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Ken Foree
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kentotis Alvin Foree (born February 29, 1948 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American actor. He is remembered by many fans for having starred in George A. Romero's horror movie, Dawn of the Dead as well as Kenan & Kel on Nickelodeon. In 2004, he had a cameo appearance in the Dawn of the Dead remake as a televangelist, in which he quotes the original film's tagline, "When there is no more room in hell the dead will walk the earth". Foree has recently appeared in 2005's The Devil's Rejects, and wrapped his new movie Brotherhood of Blood in December 2005. In February of 2007 Foree was on set filming for his role in Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007 film) .
Born in Indiana, Ken Foree has been starring on the big screen for years. Growing up, his family is noted for their academic and political achievements, so his entry into show business was unplanned to say the least and quite surprising to his family members.
Foree's story begins in the summer of 1974 on his opening of a photography studio in Manhattan. Three months later, the studio was broken into and was robbed of everything. Foree was trying to figure out his next move when a few days later, he bumped into an actress friend, who was on her way to an audition for the off-Broadway production of James Baldwin's Blues for Mr. Charlie. He was invited to come along with her, so he did. The director asked him to audition for the play and he landed the lead role. After six weeks of rehearsal he was hooked on acting.
With some formal training at renowned Michael Shulman's Performing Gallery in New York, within a short time Foree had landed roles in the films The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings opposite Richard Pryor and James Earl Jones, and a guest starring role in the television series Kojak. In the meantime, Foree took a position as an assistant manager for a restaurant in Greenwich Village, New York while he was also trying to perfect his craft by doing off-Broadway theatre at La Mama. An actor friend told Foree about an audition that he might be right for on a new indie horror picture that was generating a lot of underground buzz. Foree called, went in and landed the role of Peter Washington in George A. Romero's 1978 film Dawn of the Dead, which proved to be a cult classic. In the 2004 Universal Pictures remake, Foree reprised his role of Peter Washington (The Televangelist).
While Foree is most widely known for his work in the last two installments of Dawn, he has quite a few other horror films to his credit which include The Dentist, Sleepstalker, Joshua Tree, Hangfire, Night of the Warrior, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3.
A tribute was also made to Ken Foree in the comedy Shaun of the Dead where his last name was used for the store 'Foree Electric'.
In addition to his horror roles, viewers saw a softer side of Foree in Nickelodeon's hit show Kenan and Kel as Roger Rockmoore. His past guest starring television roles include The X-Files, General Hospital, Babylon 5, and Brothers.
When Foree isn't acting he enjoys several sports including weightlifting, surfing, boxing, and watching Hoosier basketball. He also enjoys travelling and history.
Foree currently resides in Los Angeles.
