*ALL GUEST APPEARANCES 
are subject to last-minute cancellation due to work commitments (or health). This is unavoidable when booking guests who are in-demand, current industry professionals. Cancellations, if any, will be immediately reported in the "Hot News" section of this web site.

 

Guest-related
questions?
E-mail Donnie Waddell

Meet the creative talents behind your favorite books, movies, TV shows and comics!

Most of our guests will have scheduled autographing times.  Most will also be giving talks. See a tentative list of Guest Presentations.

Veronica Cartwright

A television and screen legend, Veronica’s early film roles include classics like The Children’s Hour with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley McLaine, and Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Her modern genre roles include Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Invasion, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh, The Witches of Eastwick, The Right Stuff, and, of course, Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking 1979 thriller ALIEN.  She made her mark as a child actress in legendary shows like the original Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond, Leave it to Beaver and Daniel Boone and continues to appear in roles in some of the top-rated shows of today like The X Files, ER, Six Feet Under, Nip/Tuck, Boston Legal, Cold Case, Law & Order and CSI.  WonderFest is thrilled to have her hear this year to celebrate 30 years of ALIEN!

Veronica Cartwright's appearance is sponsored by CultTVman!

Angela Cartwright

Great news for classic Sci-fi TV fans!  Angela Cartwright, “Penny Robinson” from the original Lost in Space series will be joining her sister and fellow thesp Veronica for this year’s ‘Fest!  Angela’s film and TV career began at the age of 3 (!) when she found herself co-starring with Hollywood legends like Paul Newman and Rock Hudson, and the following year she was cast in the classic Danny Thomas comedy show Make Room For Daddy, which ran for a full seven seasons.  Irwin Allen came calling afterwards with the fan-favorite Lost in Space and Angela literally grew up on American television!  Her role as “Brigitta” in Robert Wise’s The Sound of Music spread her fame to the big screen as well in 1965.  Angela is now a proud mother, author and highly successful multimedia artist and photographer  in Los Angeles, and occasionally takes time out to visit with her fans at shows like ours! 

Many thanks to Louisville Lost in Space fans Jeff Baete and Joe Tingley for their sponsorship of Angela’s appearance at WonderFest!

Tom Woodruff Jr.

WonderFest is thrilled to welcome the ALIEN himself, Oscar-winning FX artist, creature designer and performer Tom Woodruff Jr.!  Tom’s credit list is the stuff of legend:  Aliens, Predator, Pumpkinhead, Death Becomes Her, The Monster Squad, Starship Troopers, Alien3, Tremors, Alien: Resurrection, Alien vs Predator and AVP: Requiem, just to name a few titles.  Co-founder, with Alec Gillis, of Amalgamated Dynamics Incorporated, Tom and his talented team have crafted some of our favorite screen characters.  Dedicated to the highest standards of quality in animatronics and special makeup effects, ADI is one of the busiest and most sought after FX companies in the industry, and Tom’s gone beyond the level of creature creator to actually performing in most of his films!  He’s been inside the lead xenomorph suits in every film in the ALIEN franchise since Alien3, portrayed the Gillman in The Monster Squad, Pumpkinhead, the alien in The X Files movie, Goro in Mortal Combat  and the Metaluna Mutant in Looney Tunes: Back in Action!  In addition to being an accomplished creature creator and performer, Tom is also a writer/director and will be showing his recently completed film My Cousin’s Keeper at the show!

Steve Wang

It’s hard to believe it’s been over a decade since Steve Wang has appeared at a ‘Fest and we’re extremely happy to welcome him back.  One of the most original and talented FX artists, designers and sculptors in Hollywood, Steve’s also a legend in the figure kit world and a busy producer/director  as well!  You’ve seen his creature design work in everything from the original Predator and The Monster Squad to recent genre blockbusters like Hellboy, Underworld, Blade: Trinity, The Cave and AVP: Requiem and his action film directing skills on display in Guyver, Kung Fu Rascals and Drive.  Steve and his brother Mike have recently joined forces to produce and direct the new American tokusatsu series Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight and he'll have plenty to show and tell about at this year’s WonderFest! 

Steve Johnson

Special makeup FX legend Steve Johnson joins the ‘Fest’s guest roster!  One of Rick Baker’s original protégé’s , Steve cut his fangs on the likes of An American Werewolf in London, Videodrome and Greystoke  before heading up Boss Film’s Creature Department in the 80’s for hits like Ghostbusters, Fright Night, Big Trouble in Little China and Poltergeist 2.  As a freelance artist and owner of his own company (Steve Johnson’s XFX) his work has been showcased in The Abyss, Roswell, Species, Virus, Innocent Blood, Spiderman 2 and more titles too numerous to catalog!  As a frequent film collaborator with ALIEN designer H.R. Giger, Steve joins a unique pool of FX talent focused on the ALIEN / Predator franchise appearing at this year’s show, and we thank Solid Thought Corportion and FAB Gear USA for making his appearance possible.

Ken Kelly

Ken Kelly, fantasy artist extraordinaire, will be making his first-ever WonderFest appearance this coming May! Ken’s amazing paintings have graced countless paperback covers over the years including the Tarzan and Conan series, and he’s also illustrated for major toy companies such as Mego for their Micronauts toys line. Ken’s artistic versatility knows no boundaries as evidenced by his two award winning album cover paintings commissioned by the legendary rock band KISS for their classic Destroyer and Love Gun albums. His early work may be more familiar to fans of classic monster and horror illustration due to his long association with Warren Publishing that began in 1968. Ken has painted over 150 magazine covers for Vampirella, Eerie, Creepy, and of course, Famous Monsters of Filmland, and he’s currently at work on a book showcasing his horror paintings.  WonderFest is extremely pleased to welcome Ken to the show!

John Eaves

WonderFest is very happy to report that conceptual designer/fx modelmaker /California cowpoke  John Eaves will be joining us again for 2009!  Always a fan favorite, John has been busy since his last ‘Fest appearance two years back with concept illustration duties on films ranging from Tropic Thunder and Valkyrie to upcoming blockbusters G.I. Joe, Star Trek and Iron Man 2!  John is best known as a hardware, set and starship designer for several of the Star Trek films and series and a modelmaker of fantastic ability whose work has been showcased in everything from  Top Gun and The Hunt for Red October to Alien3, Batman Returns and X-Men: The Last Stand and he’ll have plenty to show-and-tell for us in May!

William Stout

Fan favorite William Stout will once again be joining the ‘Fest in ’09! Bill is one of the finest paleo-artists in the business and the late Michael Crichton credits Bill’s book, The Dinosaurs, as the inspiration
for Jurassic Park. He has also contributed production and conceptual designs for such films as Conan the Barbarian, Men in Black, Return of the Living Dead, and Pans Labyrinth to name but a few. Some of Bill’s recent projects include designing and illustrating a Guillermo del Toro poster for a Spanish exhibition, writing a forward to the upcoming Turok Son of Stone archive collection from Dark Horse, designing the CD packaging for the Smithereens Tommy CD, and a new book: William Stout: Prehistoric Life Murals showcasing his wonderful large-scale work for the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Disney World’s Animal Kingdom and the San Diego Natural History Museum.  We’re grateful to Bill for taking time out from his busy schedule to be a part of our 20th anniversary – it wouldn’t be the same without you!

Mark Schultz

Mark Schultz, the creator of the ever-popular Xenozoic Tales franchise will be returning to Louisville to help celebrate our 20th in a big way!  Mark is a true modern master of illustration and has worked on such iconic franchises as Superman, Alien, Predator, Star Wars, Tarzan, and Conan. Mark is also the current writer for the legendary Prince Valiant Sunday newspaper strip (with art provided by WonderFest alum Gary Gianni). He continues to stay busy having already released three volumes of Various Drawings collecting his jaw-dropping artwork and new projects including a stunning new art print celebrating the 21st anniversary of Xenozoic Tales, and the eagerly awaited illustrated novella Storms at Sea.  Welcome back Mark!

Frank Dietz

WonderFest alumni, Rondo-award-winner and ‘Fest fave Frank Dietz will be back with us to premier his 8th(!) volume of classic horror and sci-fi caricatures and drawings in Sketchy Things Have Risen From The Grave, and continues his animation work on Disney’s Timon & Pumbaa's Safety Smart video series.  In addition, his art will be featured in the upcoming revised edition of Bill Warren's Keep Watching The Skies for McFarland Books. Frank recently joined forces with film maker Larry Blamire's Bantam Street Productions, starring in The Lost Skeleton Returns Again as good-guy government agent "Reet Pappin" and worked on their Dark and Stormy Night horror-mystery parody as well! He has two comedy screenplays in development, Best Laid Plans and I Hate Kids, and will help us welcome the gang behind the cult comedy hit The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra to their very first ‘Fest!

Larry Blamire
& Jennifer Blaire

Author, playwright, director, actor and silly man Larry Blamire— the crazed imagination behind the cult horror/sci-fi send-up The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is headed for WonderFest with his lovely wife, actress and creative partner Jennifer Blaire!  That’s right! Stalwart action-scientist Dr. Paul Armstrong and the entrancing, dangerous, cat-suited “Animala” herself!  They’ve cooked up a hilarious sequel and are ready to unleash another tale of evil scientists, aliens, mutants and reanimated skeletons on WonderFest attendees with The Lost Skeleton Returns Again.  We’ll be screening the new film (starring some very familiar faces) and the original, take a peek at new projects in the works, and welcome other Skeletorama personalities like Producer Mike Schlesinger, Production Designer Anthony Tremblay (Army of Darkness, The Devil’s Rejects, Halloween) and cameramen A.J. Rickert-Epstein and Noah Applebaum, too!  Cripes!  It’s an invasion!

Bob & Kathy Burns

A big part of our show-- and nearly every WonderFester’s life-- for most of the last 20 years, Cinema Archivists and Super-fans Bob and Kathy Burns return to commemorate our very special birthday!  No one else embodies the warmth, heart and Fest Philosophy of Imagination, Celebration and Wondrous Fun quite like they do, and we’re happy to have them back.  Bob’s role in the preservation of props, models, miniatures and creatures from the ALIEN franchise—from the original film’s costumes and gear to the Sulaco and Queen Alien’s formidable  full-sized head—is unequaled, and he’ll be bringing along some terrific props and costume pieces from the films, presenting a tribute to his late friend Mike Minor’s work on Star Trek: The Motion Picture and joining WonderFest’s Donnie Waddell in a fun screening of Paul Blaisdell’s 1953 monsterpiece IT! The Terror From Beyond Space, the direct inspiration for ALIEN.  No slacker is he! Thanks so much for being a part of our family for so many years, Bob and Kathy…

Cortlandt Hull & Dennis Vincent

Cortlandt & Dennis, co-directors of the new documentary, Legends Of Film & Fantasy, return to raise our classic monster-movie obsession to new dizzying heights!"  As creator of one the country’s longest running Halloween attractions and Classic Movie Museums. Cortlandt Hull has been a highly visible “Monster Kid” to generations of readers of Famous Monsters, and continues his preservation and celebration of genre actors, creators and FX artists in his series of ambitious and heartfelt documentaries.  He and Dennis recently interviewed the legendary and reclusive artist James Bama, creator of the original Aurora monster model box art as well as many other images that defined the monster culture of the 60’s!  They will present their interview with Mr. Bama as a WonderFest exclusive premier event and reveal a man who loves his art and his fans!  In addition, they’ll be sponsoring a special award in the Amazing Model Contest that will give some lucky and talented modelers a chance to give something back to a man who’s had an incredible influence on our hobby.  They’ll also be bringing in some new full-scale “guests” of their own in the person of their skilled classic monster recreations for “The Witch’s Dungeon”!

Patrick McClung

After too long an absence, special effects legend Pat McClung returns to WonderFest!  He’s had a good excuse for missing the last two years as he’s been the Effects Supervisor on 20th Century Fox’s epic production of Wolverine, and he’ll be telling us all about the latest installment of the X-men saga as well as recounting his involvement with ALIENS as the chief modelmaker of the Sulaco and the drop ships!  Pat’s career in effects and miniature work stretches from The Empire Strikes Back and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (also celebrating a 30th Anniversary at this year’s ‘Fest) to the Die Hard series, The Abyss, True Lies, Apollo 13, Armageddon, The Day After Tomorrow, Mr. Brooks and X-Men: The Last Stand and he’s one of the nicest guys in the business of making things go BOOM!  Welcome back Pat!

Kenny Miller

Fan-favorite Kenny Miller returns to WonderFest to help celebrate our 20th! Kenny has enjoyed an amazing career in film, television, theater,& radio and has some great stories to share with fans. Kenny has worked on dozens of television shows including Dragnet, The Cisco Kid, The Rat Patrol, and Flash Gordon. His film credits include Touch of Evil, The Buccaneer, Attack of the Puppet People, and the B-movie classic I Was a Teen-Age Werewolf. We're pleased to welcome Kenny back to WonderFest!!