C.J. Graham, the general manager at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln (Placer County), is perhaps best known for a role of a different kind: He played the title creep, Jason Voorhees, in the 1986 movie "Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives."

Graham, 53, is one of nine actors who has played Voorhees over the years, and he says it remains one of the best experiences of his career.

"For at least one movie, I was the face of a billion-dollar franchise," he said. "It's a Cinderella story, but from a horror perspective."

The hulking Seattle native (he's 6 feet 3) didn't set out to become a movie star; Graham actually got his start in the casino business. He broke in selling change in the slot department at Del Webb's Sahara Tahoe. Then he moved to Reno and dealt blackjack, roulette and craps at Circus Circus.

After nearly four years of wearing the casino's famous pink shirts, Graham decided it was time for a major change. So he moved to Los Angeles and began managing nightclubs.

One of the first clubs he managed was the Original Tramp of London. There Graham met the man who changed his life - a producer who promised to make him a movie star.

"Some guy comes in and says that with my large physical structure, I'd make a great Jason," Graham remembered. "I was like, 'Yeah, right.' But eventually, he was right."

Voorhees didn't have speaking lines, so Graham technically was hired as a stunt man, which means he got paid for every one of the stunts he did. The highlights: being set on fire and running through walls. He also did a number of "shotgun jerk-backs," Voorhees' onscreen reactions to taking shotgun blasts to the chest.

After the "Friday the 13th" flick, Graham did some commercials and signed up for another movie - "Highway to Hell" (1991), with Chad Lowe and Ben Stiller. In this film, Graham played Hellcop, one of the officers who, instead of arresting people, took them to hell.

His most memorable experience: smacking a young Stiller on camera.

Graham returned to the casino industry after "Hell" and made a beeline for Las Vegas. Between 1990 and 2009, he worked at the (now-defunct) Marina Hotel & Casino, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and, most recently, Palms Casino & Resort. He joined Thunder Valley in June 2009.

In his current position, Graham is responsible for day-to-day operations of the casino and has overseen construction of the new 297-room hotel that opens next month. Of course he's also in charge of forthcoming Halloween promotions.

"We'll do something to celebrate Jason," he said. When asked if that meant he'd don the mask again, Graham laughed and said, "We'll see."