Ed Gale, the stunt actor who physically played the killer doll Chucky in the first two “Child’s Play” movies and “Bride of Chucky,” has died, his family announced. He was 61.
“Ed Gale has taken his final bow and is now headlining in the afterlife,” Kayse Gale, his niece, said Tuesday on Facebook.
Gale was hospitalized a few days before he died and was having difficulty breathing, Cindy Osbrink, his representative, told NBC News on Wednesday. He was being moved into hospice care when he died Tuesday morning in Los Angeles.
One of Gale’s closest friends traveled from the East Coast to meet with him one more time before his death. “I think he was waiting for the friend,” Osbrink said.
Born in Plainwell, Michigan, in 1963, Gale went to California when he was 20 “with $41 and a dream, and he never looked back,” his niece wrote.
Gale made his acting debut as one of multiple actors to physically play Howard T. Duck in the 1986 sci-fi comedy “Howard the Duck,” followed by another role in the sci-fi spoof “Spaceballs” in 1987.
In 1988, Gale first physically portrayed Chuck in “Child’s Play,” then took the stunt role again for the 1990 sequel, “Child’s Play 2.” He continued with the franchise in the 1998 film “Bride of Chucky.” Actor Brad Dourif has voiced the character since its debut.
Gale appeared in more than 130 movies, television shows and commercials, according to his niece’s post. He was credited with roles in “Chopper Chicks in Zombietown” (1989), “The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle” (2000) and most recently “Pandemonic” in 2020.
“With this wide ranging body of work, he leaves behind a legacy full of questionable lighting and amazing one-liners,” Gale’s niece wrote.
