10 Wrestlers Who Appeared In Genre Fare

Ed Wood isn't quite a genre film - it's more like a film about a genre film, or a genre film maker. Wood, known for producing low-budget genre fare like Plan 9 From Outer Space, was almost ignored while alive, died broke, and was later remembered as possibly the worst director of all time - which brought him, posthumously, a new level of infamy.

That infamy skyrocketed when director Tim Burton decided to make a film about Wood. 1994's Ed Wood starred Johnny Depp and Martin Landau, the latter playing horror icon Bela Lugosi. Also in the cast: George "The Animal" Steele, portraying wrestler-turned-actor Tor Johnson, who had small roles in a number of films, most notably the Bing Crosby/Bob Hope picture Road to Rio, and Abott and Costello in the Foreign Legion. 

He also took part in numerous genre films, often working with Wood. Plan 9 From Outer Space, Night of the Ghouls, Bride of the Monster - Johnson was in all of them.

Steele happens to be something of a dead ringer for Johnson (real name: Tore Johansson), and given that both were professional wrestlers, the casting makes perfect sense. In the end, Steele did an admirable job in the supporting role.