When one thinks of iconic slasher villains, three names come to mind: Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, and Michael Myers — and horror actor Tom Morga has played all three. Tom Morga is mainly known for his various Star Trek roles, as he's technically the most-seen stuntman on the series. It's not hard to believe, considering he's performed stunts in six different Star Trek productions, including The Next Generation and The Final Frontier. The stuntman has also turned into a stunt coordinator for several projects, such as Big Time Rush and Dead Air. In 2007 Tom Morga was awarded the Taurus World Stunt Award for "Best Fight" in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
To be a proper horror villain is no easy feat. One can't be too expressive when shielded by a mask or heavy prosthetics. So, actors like Tom Morga have had to rely on their body language alone to bring terror to the screen. While Tom Morga may not be as well known in the horror world as, say, Kane Hodder or Robert Englund, he still wins the prize for portraying the most slasher villains on the big screen. Morga hasn't been active in stunt work since 2012, with his last horror movie being Toolbox Murders in 2004, but the horror icon did have a 36-year career leading up to that point. Here's who the venerable horror actor Tom Morga is, and when he played these three iconic slashers.
Who Is Horror Actor Tom Morga
Tom Morga has been doing stunt work since the 1970s, and is known for horror movies in the 70s, 80s, and 1990s as well as big-budget blockbusters. Alongside his roles in horror movies, Tom Morga has done stunts for the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, the Star Trek movies, and other genre favorites that include Ghostbusters, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and The Shawshank Redemption. Although his other work in horror includes Child's Play 3, The Exorcist 3, Army of Darkness, and Jaws: The Revenge, Morga's definitely earned a very rare place among horror fans for playing three of the most well-known slashers in movie history.
Tom Morga Played Jason, Michael, and Leatherface
Although Tom Morga had the biggest role as the fake Jason Voorhees, Roy Burns, he still technically counts as donning the slasher's hockey mask. For the majority of the movie, he was made out to be the same killer. The reveal that he wasn't moved Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning to the bottom of many fans' list for that reason. Morga not only portrayed "Jason" in A New Beginning, but he also flexed his acting muscle as paramedic Roy Burns. Burns started killing people — while wearing a hockey mask — after his son Joey's death; this plot arguably mirrored that of the original movie. Pamela Voorhees was the original killer in Friday the 13th, and murdered the counselors at Camp Crystal Lake to punish them for her son Jason's death. However, the move to make another movie in the popular franchise without actually involving Jason was an unpopular choice.
In Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Tom Morga was cast as Michael, though only a few of the scenes he shot made it to the movie's final cut. He was later replaced with George P. Wilbur, so the only scenes where he is Michael are the ones in the ambulance and at the gas station, where Michael is wearing bandages over his face instead of his iconic William Shatner mask. The much lower-rated sequel to Tobe Hooper's classic, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, featured Tom Morga in one scene at the beginning of the movie — the bridge scene. While some of his involvement in these movies was arguably small, Tom Morga accomplished a feat that no other actor has to date and, as such, has become a major part of horror movie history.
Has Anyone Played More Slasher Icons Than Tom Morga?
Unlike slasher franchises like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Child's Play, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Leatherface are known for being played by multiple actors throughout their respective movies. Robert Englund is the only actor other than Jackie Earle Haley in the 2010 remake to play Freddy Krueger and Brad Dourif is synonymous with Chucky. Similarly, Doug Bradley's portrayal of Pinhead in some of the Hellraiser movies have made him the fans' favorite—and often only—choice for the role. Stuntman Kane Hodder, as of this writing, currently holds the title for having played Jason Voorhees most of any actor. Hodder even came close to Tom Morga, as he has portrayed Leatherface as well, in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3.
Despite not being as recognizable a name as Kane Hodder or recent Stranger Things actor Robert Englund, Tom Morga still deserves credit for his contribution to the horror genre. As of today, he's still the only one to play the most major slasher villains of all time. If that's not enough, he has a nearly 4-decade career of stunt work and stunt coordinating to his name for tons of box office smash hits like Independence Day and Spider-Man. He's the only actor in history to play Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, and Leatherface, and he deserves some recognition for it. Tom Morga may not be returning to the big screen any time soon, but his legacy can still be enjoyed, as his name is attached to 118 different projects.