by Hal Erickson
biography
British actor Michael Ripper labored in relative obscurity until the late 1950s. With the formation of Hammer Studios, Ripper became, in the words of horror-film historian Bill Warren, "almost the Hammer equivalent of Dwight Frye." Cast as cockney coachmen, nervous peasants, cretinous lab assistants, gravediggers and general hangers-on, Ripper enlivened the proceedings of such frightfests as The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), Brides of Dracula (1960), Secret of Blood Island (1965) and Plague of the Zombies. Michael Ripper was married to actress Catherine Finn.
