Happy Birthday Peter Cushing!

Very few actors had the kind of impact that Peter Cushing had on genre cinema. With a career that spanned nearly five decades, Peter Cushing had the chance to play Van Helsing, Victor Frankenstein, Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes and dozens of other memorable characters, including Star Wars' Grand Moff Tarkin. Today would have been Peter Cushing's 101st birthday and I thought it would be a great opportunity to highlight a number of his films, especially some of his lesser-known films, for new horror fans who may just be getting into Hammer films and other cult classics.

Born on May 26th, 1913 in Surrey, England, Peter Cushing would take on his first movie role in 1939's The Man in the Iron Mask. His big splash in horror movies, and a long-time friendship with Christopher Lee, started with 1957's The Curse of Frankenstein and continued for nearly forty years. While his role is Star Wars is arguably his most famous, I immediately think of his very moving segment of Tales From the Crypt or his long run as Baron Victor Frankenstein and Van Helsing.

Check out some of the classic trailers below and I strongly suggest picking up any Peter Cushing movies that you haven't seen. While many horror fans get excited about what's coming up, there are so many films from actors like Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, and Boris Karloff that can provide hundreds of hours of horror entertainment.