Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Novaseminary (talk | contribs) at 03:22, 2 October 2012 (→High school basketball career: put in chron order; now makes sense this way). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Douglas Tait is an American actor, stuntman, and independent filmmaker. Tait played “monster” and creature characters in Star Trek, Zathura: A Space Adventure, Thor, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and Land of the Lost.

High school basketball career

Tait attended Bishop Alemany High School in Los Angeles, California where he played on the high school's basketball team.

He missed much of his sophomore season (1990-1991) because, among other injuries, he broke both wrists in December 1990 by punching a brick wall, twice, during practice when a teammate's errant shot hit him in the face as Tait attempted a slam dunk. At the time, he had been the third-leading scorer averaging 14 points per game. Two months later in February 1991, Tait scored 18 points, all on three-pointers, in a division tournament game.

As a junior, in January 1992, Tait was suspended for one game for fighting. Earlier that month, he had scored 13 points in his team's first home loss.

By December of the 1992-1993 basketball season, his senior year, Tait was the team's leading scorer. That month, he and three other teammates sat out one game as a result of conduct at a girl's basketball game. Their coach noted the "three were using vulgarities and abusive language toward the players" at the girls game and that Tait and the others were "trying to test" the coach. A week prior, Tait had led all scorers in double figures in an opening-round tournament game.

Entertainment career

Basketball commercials

According to Tait, he was subsequently cast as a teen basketball player in television commercials because of of his high school basketball experience. During a 2011 interview, Tait said: "I started doing extra work in high school. I knew I wanted to perform, but was clueless about how to make it into a career. I got a job at Universal Studios playing Frankenstein and performing in shows, then got a manager right out of high school. I was an All Star basketball player so she sent me on basketball commercials, which quickly got me in to S.A.G., and I made a living doing basketball commercials in the early years while I was honing my acting skills. I have been in the business for 15 years, but have only started working consistently for the past 2 years."

Creature character roles

Tait's first creature character role was at age 16, when he was hired to perform as "Frankenstein" in the live stage shows at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Tait later played creature characters in film. He was one of three individuals who played the role of a "Zorgon" in Jon Favreau’s Zathura. He also played the role of "Abominog" in The Knights of Badassdom and a "Frost Giant" in Thor. Tait also played "Head Sleestak" in Land of the Lost and the "Long Face Bar Alien" in J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek.

In 2009, Tait was a member of the stunt ensemble for the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull that was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award in the category of "Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture".

Independent film work

Tait was executive producer, along with Isabel Cueva, of "In The Name of Freedom", a short film that appeared at the 14th Annual LA Shorts Fest in 2010. It was an Official Selection of the New York International Latino Film Festival, won in the category of "Best Drama Short" at the 2010 Los Angeles Women's International Film Festival, and won the "Best Fiction Short" category at the 2010 CINE Film and Video Competition.

Tait starred alongside Sally Kirkland and Tony Todd in, and was also producer of, the independent film One by One: Death's Door which, as re-titled Jack The Reaper, was picked up for distribution by American World Pictures. Tait also acted in the independent film, The Season.

References

1. Garrett, Tommy Lightfoot (October 28, 2011). "Douglas Tait's Happy Halloween To You, An Exclusive". Highlight Hollywood. Retrieved 2012-9-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
2. Garrett, Tommy (September 19, 2010). "This Week In Hollywoodland". Canyon News website. Retrieved 2012-9-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
3. Garrett, Tommy (June 19, 2011). "Hollywood's Famous And Special Fathers". Canyon News website. Retrieved 2012-9-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
4. "Movies & TV: Douglas Tait: About This Person". New York Times website. Retrieved 2012-9-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
5. ^ "Agoura Needs Points From Other Sources". Los Angeles Times. December 19, 1990. Retrieved 2012-5-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
6. "Southern Section Basketball Preview: Mission Leage: Alemany". Los Angeles Times. December 4, 1991. Retrieved 2012-9-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
7. "Division Iii-aa Roundup". Los Angeles Times. February 16, 1991. Retrieved 2012-10-1. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
8. ^ Elling, Steve (February 2, 1992). "Notre Dame's Trying Times on the Court Spare No One". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-5-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
9. Elling, Steve (January 09, 1992). "Alemany Fades in Late Going of 65-57 Loss". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-10-1. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
10. ^ Fletcher, Jeff (December 8, 1992). "4 Alemany High Players Kicked Off Team". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-5-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
11. ^ Fletcher, Jeff (December 11, 1992). "Thousand Oaks Tournament: Foster Twins, Thousand Oaks Dismantle Oxnard, 89-36". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-5-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
12. ^ "Behind The Mask with Douglas Tait". Inkless Magazine. February 9, 2011. Retrieved 2012-9-30. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
13. ^ Garrett, Tommy (September 3, 2010). "Douglas Tait, A Man Of Many Faces". Canyon News website. Retrieved 2012-9-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
14. "Zathura (2005) - Cast & Crew". Yahoo Movies. Retrieved 2012-9-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
15. Coratelli, Carlo (March 19, 2011). "Movie Comics: Intervista a Douglas Tait - Thor". Comicus. Retrieved 2012-9-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
16. "The 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild. Retrieved 2012-5-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
17. "In the Name of Freedom: Isabel Cueva". LatinoLA. LatinoCities, Inc. August 10, 2011. Retrieved 2012-9-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
18. LA Shorts Fest. LA Shorts Fest 2010. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
19. IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM HBO's New York International Latino Film Festival. 2010 Retrieved March 15, 2012
20. Los Angeles Women's International Film Festival Los Angeles Women's International Film Festival 2010. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
21. Fall 2010 CINE Golden Eagle Award Recipients Cine 2009. Retrieved March 15, 2012
22. "AFM 2010: Knock Knock! American World Pictures Scores One by One: Death's Door". Dread Central. November 8, 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2012. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Check |first= value (help)
23. Powers, Tom (November 11, 2010). "American World Picks Up 'One By One'". Cinefantastique. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
24. Gingold, Michael (November 9, 2010). "American World is at "DEATH'S DOOR"". Fangoria.
25. Borys, Kit (November 18, 2009). "Kilo scaring up 'One by One' film: Horror movie to star Douglas Tait, Tony Todd, Sally Kirkland". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2012-9-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
26. NYIFF official announcement: The Season New York International Independent Film & Video Festival April 8, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2012

External links

• Official website
• Douglas Tait at IMDb

Template:Persondata

• Articles created via the Article Wizard
• American film actors
• American television actors
• American stunt performers
• Actors from California
• People from Tarzana, Los Angeles
• Article Feedback 5