Jason vs. Jason

It seems there’s been some controversy on the convention circuit. At the recent Necrocomicon 25th Anniversary Friday the 13th Convention in Hollywood (where my own Jason fanfilm played a part), Dread Central’s Sean Clark sat down with the “real” Jason from F13 Part 2 to get the whole story. (Read the entire interview at DreadCentral.com)

According to actor/stuntman Steve Dash, the actor who has been making appearances as Jason from Friday the 13th Part 2 (Warrington Gillette) may only have been in one scene. If this is true, it’s unfortunate for a couple reasons. For one thing, Gillette was a good interview subject in the Friday box set documentaries. I thought he had a strong personality, and he came across as a good guy. If he’s been lying, that’s a slap in the face to fans.

Secondly, it calls into question the “cult of the autograph” which often fuels fan conventions. It’s one thing for an actor with a huge body of work to inspire fans to stand in line for a meet and greet. It’s a stranger thing (to me anyway) for someone who worked for a few days on one movie twenty years ago to try to make a living at conventions. I wonder if some convention guests come to define their lives by a small role in a successful movie. True, many such actors have well-rounded lives and do the appearances as a fun way to meet the fans. But to stretch the truth to either make a buck or feed the ego? Ouch.

So what exactly is the beef between Dash and Gillette? Well, allegedly Gillette was no good as a stuntman, and Dash came in to take his place. According to Dash, it was him behind the mask and Gillette only did the one scene where you see Jason’s deformed face.

Says Steve Dash:

‘Warrington and I had a confrontation yesterday as a matter a fact. He signed a picture for a lady that was actually of me coming through the bathroom window at Amy. The lady said to me that she had a picture of him going through the window and I asked if I could see it. She showed it to me and it was my picture. So I went over to Warrington and I confronted him. I basically said, “Who the hell are you to steal my thunder and sign a picture of me with your name?” And he said, “Well, I didn’t know that was you. Look, I’m only here for the fun of it.” I said, “No, let’s get this s#$% stopped right now. Don’t ever say you did something of mine. You did nothing in that movie. I’ll tell you exactly what you did if you don’t remember. You did one scene in the movie where you went through the window and that was it. Period. You got it? That is the only scene you ever did. You wanna show a picture of you in the make-up; fine do it. You wanna show a picture of YOU going through the window with Amy; fine do it. But don’t show my pictures and sign your name on my pictures ever again.”

…Warrington came over and apologized to me last night, saying …he had a skiing accident and hit his head and lost his memory and can’t remember what he did on the movie.

My jaw hit the floor when I read this. I can almost imagine a slapfight breaking out between the two Jasons.

At this point, it’s one man’s word against another’s. Perhaps Peter Bracke’s upcoming book, Crystal Lake Memories will be able to clear up some of the facts.