- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRobert James Zdarsky
- Height6′ 2″ (1.88 m)
- Robert Z'Dar was born Robert James Zdarsky on June 3, 1950 in Chicago, Illinois. He caught the acting bug while attending Proviso West High School in Hillside. He received a BFA from Arizona State University. Prior to acting Z'Dar was a singer/keyboardist/guitar player for the Chicago-based rock band Nova Express, which performed as an opening act for such groups as Jefferson Airplane, The Who, and The Electric Prunes. Other early jobs included a jingle writer for the Leo Burnett and J. Walter Thompson ad agencies, a Chicago police officer, and even a brief stint as a Chippendales dancer.
Big, brawny and imposing, with an enormous face, gigantic jaw, and a massive, muscular physique, the hulking 6'2" Z'Dar projected a strong, aggressive, and intimidating screen presence that was ideally suited for the steady succession of mean, nasty, and extremely scary larger-than-life villains he often portrayed throughout a career that spanned over three decades. Z'Dar acted in his film debut in the mid-1980's. He achieved his greatest and most enduring cult movie fame as the vengeful, relentless, and seemingly indestructible undead New York City police officer Matt Cordell in the immensely entertaining "Maniac Cop" pictures. Among Z'Dar's other memorable roles were a prison guard in the enjoyably sleazy "Hellhole," a crazed prostitute-murdering serial killer in "The Night Stalker" (this part directly led to Z'Dar being cast as Matt Cordell), a vicious criminal who savagely beats up Sylvester Stallone in "Tango and Cash," the Angel of Death in "Soultaker," a smooth drug dealer in the delightfully outrageous "The Divine Enforcer," and Linnea Quigley's abusive husband in "The Rockville Slayer."
A popular frequent guest at horror film conventions, Z'Dar also produced several movies and continued to act with pleasing regularity in a slew of features up until his death from cardiac arrest at age 64 on March 30, 2015.- IMDb mini biography by: woodyanders
- ParentsRobert Cyril ZdarskyDolores Marie Herman
- RelativesWilliam George Zdarsky(Sibling)
- Enormous face and gigantic jaw
- Suffered from a genetic disorder called Cherubism which causes excessive bone growth in the lower face, which was the cause of his enormous jawline.
- A former Chicago police officer.
- Suffered a serious back injury while doing a stunt on a movie set in 2002. He was forced to use a cane or motor scooter to get around until he made an almost-complete recovery by 2006.
- Began his career as a singer/keyboardist/guitar player for the Chicago-based rock band Nova Express. The band performed as an opening act for such groups as Jefferson Airplane, The Who. and the Electric Prunes.
- Suffered a heart attack while appearing at his last fan convention Pensacon on February 28, 2015 and was rushed to a nearby hospital where he spent four weeks under observation for an enlarged heart. He never recovered and died there from cardiac arrest one month later.
- It's important for a villain to be as threatening as possible, whether physically, mentally or emotionally ... however you want to do it. If you can combine all three, well that's the ultimate villain.
- People come up to me and say, 'You are such a great BAD guy.' The fact is that the antagonist in a movie is usually the most fun to play. You can stretch the role and do so much with it. You can be boisterous. You can be insane. You can have a temper. You can do nothing but sit there and give a look and still be the bad guy. It's open to so much creativity. I try to change my physical appearance for every role.
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