Ben Chapman Video | Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi

Benjamin F. Chapman, Jr. (October 29, 1928 – February 21, 2008) was an American actor best known as playing the Gill-man on land in the 1954 horror film Creature from the Black Lagoon. A distant relative of fellow actor Branscombe Richmond, he also appeared in Wake of the Red Witch in 1949. Born in Oakland, California, he spent much of his childhood in Tahiti and moved to San Francisco at age 12 or 13. A Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War, he was believed to have earned a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts for battle injuries. However, after his death, the Marine Corps... MORE

Benjamin F. Chapman, Jr. (October 29, 1928 – February 21, 2008) was an American actor best known as playing the Gill-man on land in the 1954 horror film Creature from the Black Lagoon. A distant relative of fellow actor Branscombe Richmond, he also appeared in Wake of the Red Witch in 1949. Born in Oakland, California, he spent much of his childhood in Tahiti and moved to San Francisco at age 12 or 13. A Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War, he was believed to have earned a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts for battle injuries. However, after his death, the Marine Corps Times began an investigation of these claims based on the improbability of the claim of receiving Purple Hearts in the Chosin Reservoir campaign. Information from Marine Corps records, which were received a month after obituaries with the claims awards of valor and of serving at the Chosin Reservoir, reveal that Chapman did serve in Korea. The Marine Corps Times reports that, "according to Marine Corps officials and a copy of Chapman’s military Report of Separation", Chapman never received the Silver Star, Bronze Star or Purple Hearts. Before he became the Creature he worked as a real estate LESS