Departures of note

In 1969, Carmen Nigro, a retired chef, surfaced with an extraordinary claim: he had been the man inside the gorilla suit for the iconic 1933 film King Kong. Under the professional name Ken Roady, he told reporters he was paid $150 a week for the role and that he performed the stunts atop the Empire State Building. He also said he played gorillas in many other movies, including Mighty Joe Young and Tarzan and His Mate, and that he had been a Hollywood stuntman for three decades. His claims attracted renewed attention in 1976, when a King Kong remake was in production.

Nigro's story was accepted by some journalists, including Bob Greene of the Chicago Sun-Times, who interviewed him several times. However, film historians and critics largely rejected his account. They pointed out that the giant ape in King Kong was an animated model created by Willis O'Brien, and that documented roles for other actors, such as Charles Gemora and Ray Corrigan, accounted for the gorilla performances Nigro claimed. The film's star, Fay Wray, and production assistant Zoe Porter also reportedly denied his involvement. Writer Donald F. Glut called the claim 'simply fraudulent.'

Born in Chicago in 1905, Nigro said he had ridden in rodeos as a youth. He worked as a dining-car chef for the Santa Fe Railway for 32 years, retiring in 1970, and then became a security guard. During his retirement, he spoke to schools and Boy Scout meetings about his alleged King Kong experiences. In 1983, he said he had thrown away his gorilla suit because it was mildewed and his wife was allergic to it, though a 1990 obituary noted that he had bequeathed the head of the costume to a nephew. He died in Speedway, Indiana, on September 24, 1990, at age 84.