Rocky Horror Preservation Foundation

Tuesday, 13-May-2008 15:57:40 PDT

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	The Missing Tony December 15th, 2002 By Jim "Cosmo" Hetzer As most die hard Rocky Horror fans know when it comes to the cast of The Rocky Horror Picture SHow, there were 21 total Transylvanians. 18 + 3 = 21. Eighteen Transylvanians in the movie and you must include Riff-Raff, Magenta, and Frank-n-Furter since they came from Transylvania also. Well actually there were 22 Transylvanians. There is one missing from the count. Tony Cowan. When it came time to shoot the Time Warp interior Ballroom scene (November 24th - December 6th, 1974). Actor Henry Woolf was until to be at Bray Studios due to another commitment. So they enlisted the skills of a young jewish actor named Tony Cowan to fill in those small shoes for him. Tony stood slightly taller than Henry did and had a slightly thinner build. (Henry Woolf of course being the shortest adult male actor in the film, he also played the cameraman in the wedding scene) Strangely, instead of throwing Tony to the back of the shot to minimize the appearence that Henry Woolf wasn't there and that they were using another actor to fill his place. The filmakers put Tony Cowan right in front. Tony can clearly be seen as second in line on the right as Frank comes out of the elevator and walks toward the thrown. He is wearing the tuxedo jacket with the red lapels. Recently in the book, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, from Concept to Cult. The authors contact Tony for an interview but he only grants them a few lines. Judging by the few lines he gave it is apparent that he wants nothing to do with The Rocky Horror Picture Show because he is upset because he feels they should have been compensated more from the success of the film. Regarding his comments, I am not sure what exactly he is expecting. After all he is in maybe 9 minutes of the film. Infact, I had to look quite closely to find him. In fact, I asked a few of my more knowledgeable Rocky Horror friends and none of them could tell me who he was or what scene he was in. At least he got credited. Rufus Collins acted in it and also assisted with dance choreography and he wasn't in the original credits nor were Gina Barrie, Petra Leah, Frank Lester, or John Marquand. And Annabel Leventon was a Transylvanian and they didn't even spell her first or last name correctly. So getting back to the topic. If it ever comes up in a game of Rocky Horror Trivia remember there were 22 Transylvanians. 19 + 3 = 22.
Click on the thumbnails below for pictures of Tony Cowan.
This is a gallery of selected news stories and commentary regarding The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The comments written here do not necessarily represent those of the board members of The Rocky Horror Preservation Foundation or any sites or causes it supports. The comments written in these articles reflect only those of the individual authors.