Rowdy Roddy Piper Dies, May He Rest In Peace

The entertainment world has lost a true icon - and a genuinely quality person - with word that wrestling superstar and lead actor in John Carpenter's They Live, Rowdy Roddy Piper, passed away in his sleep last night from cardiac arrest.

This sort of news is never fun to write but this one comes with a more personal sting than most. It must have been nearly two years ago now that Toronto based director Vivieno Caldinelli reached out to me saying that he and a friend (Matt Watts) had been sitting around talking about how much they loved They Live and, hey, why didn't anybody make movies like that any more. So they'd written one, a short film titled Portal To Hell. And having written it they were wondering if they should maybe try to get it to Roddy himself because, hey, why not? So we did.

Rod was scheduled to come through town for a charity gig a couple weeks later, so while Caldinelli went to work reaching out direct to the man himself via social media, I took a run at his official agent and between the two of us we found ourselves sitting down face to face with the man in a Toronto hotel lobby just a little while later. He was sweet and kind and generous, incredibly giving with his time - he sat with us for a solid couple hours - and a natural story teller,  basically everything that you would hope a childhood hero would be should you get the chance to meet them in person.

He agreed to do the film and throughout the shoot did nothing but confirm that initial impression. He was gracious with fans, very giving with his co-stars and just a pro in every sense. He was all in and game for everything. Our hope was to build the short forward into a feature - again with Roddy in the lead - and now, instead, it appears that Portal is his final on screen work. I'm glad to have met him. I'm sorry I won't be able to again. I can only imagine what the loss must feel like to his family, who he clearly adored, and if there's any consolation to be found it's that he lived one hell of a life while he was on these shores and I can't imagine there's a whole lot he left undone.

We've lost a good one.