The 2014 Fantastic Horror Film Festival has come to a close and the winners of this year’s celebration have been announced. Included in this year’s awards, Bill Oberst Jr. has won a Lon Chaney Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Independent Horror Films.” With over a hundred film credits, Bill Oberst Jr. continues to take the horror film world by storm, with upcoming appearances and performances in: Slay Utterly, Squeal: Blood Harvest and the upcoming At Granny’s House – Love Hurts.
Ron Chaney, the great-grandson of Lon Chaney and the grandson of Lon Chaney Jr., was on hand along with Lon Chaney’s great-great-granddaughters Jaclynn and Jennifer to present Oberst with this first-ever award.
Festival organizers kept the award a secret to surprise Oberst, who has often cited Lon Chaney as a major influence and expressed a desire to play The Man Of A Thousand Faces on stage or screen. The actor was nearly speechless as Ron Chaney called him forward at the FHFF Awards Banquet. “My inner 14 year-old horror kid is in overdrive right now,” he said. “Without the Chaney family there would be no horror genre.”
Ron Chaney, speaking for the family, thanked the FHFF crowd for helping to keep the Chaney cinematic legacy alive. “We are honored to be here tonight to present this first ever Lon Chaney Award in the spirit and in the memory of my grandfather and great-grandfather,” he said.Chaney is President & CEO of Chaney Entertainment, Inc. which manages licensing rights to the two Lons, and maintains The Official Chaney Site and store
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