Chapman was 24 years old when he got the part at Universal Pictures that turned him into a horror film icon.

"The Creature from the Black Lagoon" came out in 1954.

The film looks pretty cheesy now, but back when I (KGMB9's Terry Hunter) first saw it as a young boy, it really scared me.

And Ben Chapman beneath a grotesque rubber suit was the main reason for that.

"So how many minutes would you be in that suit?," asked a man.

"I've spent 14 hours in it. But we would do. If we were on a sound stage, I had a gentleman off to the side with a hose, and he would just hose me off. If we were on the back lot, I would just jump in the lake and swim," Chapman said.

"He cherished that part. He created his own Web site. He would travel the country every Halloween going to tribute horror shows to the Creature from The Black Lagoon," said film historian Steve Fredrick.

Chapman's friend, Steve Fredrick, said that the actor was a tahitian dancer in Hollywood before he was hired at Universal.

Chapman also saw plenty of action as a marine in Korea.

After retiring as a realtor in Hawaii, he really embraced his role as the last surviving classic horror film monster.

"Lagosi was Dracula. Carloff was the Frankenstin monster and the mummy. Lon Chaney Junior was the wolf man, and Ben Chapman was the Creature from the Black Lagoon," Fredrick said.

Chapman love to tell stories about his time in Hollywood when he rubbed elbows with such stars as Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson.

"He was always a joy and always a kick. We're going to miss him. We're going to miss him greatly," Fredrick said.

He was 79 years old.

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