Oliver Bodnar & Robert “Dog” Thomas, AKA Zippy The Chimp

Dust To Dust was the second episode of Freddy’s Nightmares that I was in, both done in the early 90’s. The first one I did was when I got into the Screen Actor’s Guild. I played a Gestapo officer and had one line, “Sieg Hile”. I’m still trying to find that clip, I don’t remember the name of the episode. If any of you Freddy fans know which episode it is, please let me know.

I keep thinking it’s “Dreams That Kill”. The photo to the left is from the set. You’ll recognize the man in the dress as Captain R. D. Thomas from the clip below. His name is Robert “Dog” Thomas, he was the Dolly Grip on the show. A great guy!!!

They asked Dog how he wanted to be listed in the credits and he said “Zippy The Chimp.” When you see him in the clip, you may hear me laughing…I forgot the screen recorder also picks up sound from the laptop mic.

The picture above is of me and “Zippy”, the day I got into S.A.G. The uniform was pretty authentic, as far as I could tell. Dog is in the dress because he was in that episode as well, in the same scene. I worked on the crew as well. Initially, I started as Freddy Krueger’s (Robert Englund) stand-in/double in A Nightmare On Elm St 5: The Dream Child. Then when the second season of Freddy’s Nightmares started up, they called me to be his stand in/double for the season.

What’s A Dolly Grip?

Incase you’re wondering what a Dolly Grip does. He’s in charge of moving the Camera Dolly backward or forward, to follow the actors or some sort of event on a TV or movie set. This isn’t from Freddy’s Nightmares, it’s from some movie set. The guy in the back with his hands on the bar is the Dolly Grip.

That dolly looks homemade, but if it works, it works. The dolly that Dog operated on Freddy’s was more of a standard type of dolly, like the one below.

The cool thing is, I have been a Freddy Krueger fan since the first movie, A Nightmare On Elm St, which came out in 1984, long before I moved to Hollywood. A good example of how we “manifest” things in our lives. I used to have one of his Fedora’s that was used in a scene where he squeezes his head and green slime would come out. I think that was from the TV show, not the movie. I’m not sure what happened to it.

The first movie came out a little less than a year after I moved to California in 1983…I was 18 years old. Five years later, I moved to Hollywood to start my “Illustrious” acting career.

Christopher Lloyd Had Lunch With Me

On a different note, one of the coolest and funniest things that happened to me while in Hollywood, is when I was a bartender at The City restaurant before they moved downtown LA, I was working the lunch shift one day and in strolls Christopher Lloyd who played “Reverend Jim” on the TV show “Taxi” and he played “Doc” in the “Back To The Future” series. He came in and sat at the bar and proceeded to polish off a bottle of whiskey…I forget the brand, but it was good whiskey.

He started telling me about a movie he was working on in the San Fernando Valley somewhere. They were filming a night scene and completely wet the street down when all of a sudden this car comes speeding down the street and tries to make the corner, but because it was wet, they spun out and crashed…that was not part of the movie.

Right as he told me they crashed, he started laughing hysterically, which made me start laughing. That was a fun encounter…unfortunately, cell phones weren’t that common and were the size of cinder blocks, so I couldn’t take a selfie with Reverend Jim Ignatowski.

80’s Portable Phone

I also worked on the pilot for 90210 and I remember one of the producers came on set with a “portable phone.” He had a strap on his shoulder so he could carry it like a bag…the thing was huge comparatively speaking to cell phones today. It was a huge battery pack with a normal phone receiver and cord.

A Nightmare On Elm St 5 The Dream Child

This photo is from The Dream Child movie, when Freddy is feeding Gretja her guts…it’s actually me doing it, they just dressed me the same, gave me the Freddy glove and I shoved that goo in her face.

This shot is at the end of the movie when the souls are coming out of “Freddy’s” back. That was me as well. The set was really cool. The “sound stage” was on Venice blvd, above a U-Haul place…it was a U-Haul back then anyway; we shot it in 1989. We also shot at the old VA Hospital in Westwood, that’s where the shots for the Asylum hallways were done. This last shot is just of the credits of the movie.

Freddy’s Nightmares Dust To Dust

The clip below is from season 2 of Freddy’s Nightmares, the episode is “Dust To Dust”. Tony Dow who played Wally on “Leave It To Beaver” and Sandahl Bergman who was in “All That Jazz” & “Conan The Barbarian”. Martha Smith, who you might recognize as “Babs” from “Animal House” was also in it.

This was a great time in my life, I miss it, but my life got greater…even after my motorcycle accident. It’s good to Live Life!!

A Couple Other Oliver Bodnar Acting Clips

Melrose Place – No Strings Attached

I played a gas station attendant that helps Jake at the gas station.

Cause ‘N Defect

Oliver Bodnar portraying the character “Wacko” in the movie “Cause ‘N Defect”. Wacko is a long haired homeless man in Los Angeles…yes, that hair is real!

Unsolved Mysteries Stahl Paintings

I was in this episode of Unsolved Mysteries, the title was Unsolved Mysteries Stahl Paintings. I was the “lead” thief who stole the paintings of Ben Stahl. Ben Stahl was an American painter with fifty national awards who created fifteen paintings depicting scenes of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Please, Love &Blessings To All!

Oliver