RETRO INTERVIEW
Strange Relations Julie Ann Ream, the Niece of
Frankenstein
If you are a fan of classic film and television, then no doubt the name Glenn Strange is well known to you. Glenn wore many hats before he got into acting. He worked as a stuntman, musician, and cowboy before getting into the film business. Most actors are lucky if they can count one iconic role to their name, but Strange is best remembered for at least three. To Western fans, he was the Lone Ranger’s first nemesis, Butch Cavendish, and he was Sam the Bartender on Gunsmoke. To fans of classic horror, he was the last actor to play the Frankenstein Monster during Universal’s Golden Age of Horror. Recently I had the honor of interviewing Julie Ann Ream for RetroFan. Ms. Ream spent ten years as an investigative agent on the TV series Unsolved Mysteries and has worked for NBC, CBS, and Lifetime. She is also a producer of live events and Western award shows, most notably the Western Legends and Silver Spur Awards. She also co-produces the Roy Rogers Festival.
by Dan Johnson
Julie also comes from a very famous Hollywood family, and Glenn Strange was her “uncle.” “Glenn was my grandfather, Taylor Curtis ‘Cactus Mack’ McPeters,’ first cousin,” says Ream. “They were closer than any two brothers could be. They were born one week apart to sisters in Weed, New Mexico, in 1899. They lived together from birth, moved back to Texas where they were raised, and then worked side-by-side all of their careers. “After I was born, I was brought home from the hospital to my grandfather’s little ranch house,” Ream recalls. “It was in North Hollywood, and sat behind the infamous Palomino Club, and was near Republic Pictures. By this time my grandfather and Glenn had a good deal of their careers under their belts, but Glenn was [TOP] Glenn Strange’s first turn as the Monster in 1944’s House of Frankenstein, also starring the original Frankie, Boris Karloff, as the mad scientist Dr. Niemann and Lon Chaney, Jr. as Larry Talbot (the Wolf Man). © 1944 Universal Pictures. Lobby card courtesy of Heritage. [INSET] Julie Ann Ream. Facebook.
RETROFAN
November 2020
57