RIP Jack Taylor 1926-2026

RIP to native Oregonian George Brown Randall, the man who in his gifts and singularity became the grand Spanish actor Jack Taylor. 

I first became aware of him in my early days of cable TV discovery, circa 1983, when I caught a WOR-TV broadcast of Amando de Ossorio's HORROR OF THE ZOMBIES, the US cut of the third Blind Dead picture, which only became apparent to me as I got drawn into it. He also turned up in subsequent FRIDAY NIGHT FRIGHTS broadcasts, like Léon Klimowsky's DR. JEKYLL AND THE WEREWOLF and Carlos Aured's THE MUMMY’S REVENGE (both with Paul Nasty), and I found myself wondering with amusement how much time he spent each morning styling his distinctive mustache. Fast forward to sometime in the late 80s/early 90s, and he turned up in Jess Franco’s EROTIKILL (later FEMALE VAMPIRE) and, to my amazement, Franco took care to include a scene of Jack in his bathroom preparing to meet the new day by trimming his famous mustache. Apparently he had thought of the same thing, years before I did.

I later discovered that Jack had been around, working under another name in Mexico since the early 1960s and had appeared in some of the NEUTRON and NOSTRADAMUS vampire films. As time went on, I got to see him in many more Franco films - EUGENIE - THE STORY OF HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION, BRAM STOKER’S COUNT DRACULA, SATANIC SISTERS, and of course SUCCUBUS… just a handful, really, but his presence in them stood out so that he was nevertheless a prominent figure in Franco’s filmography. He was Franco’s Dr. Mabuse, his Quincey Morris, his Devil-dealing Bill Mulligan, his Baron von Rathony, the poet who followed his Dark Lady muse beyond the mist. Later on, he also got to work with such luminaries as John Milius (CONAN THE BARBARIAN), Monte Hellman (IGUANA), Roman Polanski (THE NINTH GATE), and Ridley Scott (1492). 

Around 1993, Jack and I were both contributors to the first book on Jess Franco, OBSESSION: THE FILMS OF JESS FRANCO, and Donna designed a special bookplate that the various contributors signed - it was a pleasure to see our names signed on the same plate, which some collectors got into the hands of Jess and Lina, as well. One of my greatest regrets about my VIDEO WATCHDOG years is turning down a lengthy, in-depth interview with Jack, which was excellent but more than I felt the magazine could handle, even as a two- or three-part feature; the interviewer was offended and withdrew it from offer when I later changed my mind.

Whenever I see one of his interviews in Blu-ray extras, he always comes across as so placid, so thoughtful and courtly, so gentlemanly, that I regret never meeting him or communicating with him directly. Then again, in some ways I think we did, because in interviews he has commented on moments in his career which I addressed in my own writings - for example, the way he helped Soledad Miranda into her coffin in COUNT DRACULA (a sweet moment), which I noted in the OBSESSION book. He also admitted in another interview that he felt an extrasensory vibration while on the road one day and realized he had just driven past the spot where she had suffered her fatal car accident - and now that moment is part of the lore composing Cristiana Astori’s novel ALL THAT BLACK (TUTTI NEL BUIO), forthcoming in English translation from Sticking Place Books. 

Like any working actor, I’m sure that Jack had frustrations about the limitations of his career, but actors like him are so rare that they always stand out in the work they managed to do, and even moreso in the special way they are remembered. With respect, sometimes with sympathy, always with love. And to think that he passed away, at age 99, on the birthday of his old friend Jess Franco, whom he felt sometimes abused his trust but gave him a context that one cannot help but hold tight. 

He would have turned 100 on his next birthday in October, and he recently published an autobiography in Spanish (see photo). 

Fond salutations to a fine and fearless man of our cinema. 

(c) 2026 Tim Lucas. All rights reserved.