Bob Burns

Bob Burns was an American actor, producer, archivist and collector who gathered props, costumes and memorabilia from science fiction, fantasy and horror movies. Born in Oklahoma, he assembled Bob's Basement, which the New York Times described as the leading film museum in the Los Angeles area, even though it stayed closed to the public. Its contents included the last surviving 18-inch armature model from the 1933 film King Kong, costumes from 1940s Republic Pictures serials, masks by Rick Baker and the original Time Machine, and he built a large private collection of Alien memorabilia. He played Tracy the Gorilla on the 1975 television show The Ghost Busters and assisted special effects technician Paul Blaisdell on films such as Invasion of the Saucer Men. He co-published the magazine Fantastic Monsters of the Films and recorded audio commentaries for The Creature Walks Among Us, The Fly II and The Mummy.