Glenn Shadix
William Glenn Shadix (born April 15, 1952 in Bessemer) is an actor best known for his role as "Otho" in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice and for his southern baritone voice.
Born in Bessemer, Shadix's family moved frequently in Alabama and around the Gulf Coast. He was fascinated with the power of film and television from his childhood when the family would gather rapt for nightly television programs. By high school age the family had settled in Jasper and Shadix was appearing on stage for every production of Walker County High School's drama club. After graduating he spent one summer studying under Peggy Cass at Florence State Community College. In 1973, after a couple of years of active work in the Birmingham theater scene he moved to Atlanta and earned his Equity card playing Sancho Panza in a production of Man of La Mancha at the Alliance Theater.
He attended Birmingham-Southern College on scholarship for two years, studying with Lynda Linford and absurdist playwright-director Arnold Powell. When Stay Hungry came to town in 1975 he worked as an extra in scenes at the Country Club of Birmingham.
Shadix lived in New York City prior to moving to Hollywood in the late 1970s. Although his debut was a bit part in The Postman Always Rings Twice, he got his breakthrough film role in Beetlejuice while doing a stage play, portraying Gertrude Stein at the Ensemble Theater West in Los Angeles in October 1986. His agent warned against taking such risky role, but, as fate would have it, the play was a success, Shadix won an L. A. Weekly award, and audience-member Tim Burton decided to cast him in Beetlejuice.
Since then he and Burton have become friends and Shadix is frequently cast in Burton's projects. He was offered his role in The Nightmare Before Christmas while swimming in Burton's backyard pool. He has gotten steady work as a voice artist for various animated series and continued to work as a character actor in smaller films. His first starring role was as "Peter" in 2002's Shut Yer Dirty Little Mouth, an independent film version of the play "Shut Up, Little Man!", which was inspired by audio-verite recordings made of arguments between San Francisco roommates Peter Haskett and Raymond Huffman in the late 1980s.
Shadix underwent gastric bypass surgery in April 2000 and has since lost over 100 pounds. His second cousin, John Rothman, is also an actor.
Films
- The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)
- Beetlejuice (1988)
- Heathers (1989)
- Meet the Applegates (1990)
- Sleepwalkers (1992)
- Demolition Man (1993)
- The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
- Dunston Checks In (1996)
- Planet of the Apes (2001)