Byrne's inspiration for Wolverine

A COOL ACTOR AS AN INSPIRATION FOR BYRNE'S WOLVERINE
A special collaboration with Patrick from Montreal.
In Back Issue #4, John Byrne revealed that a particular actor was an inspiration for his take on Wolverine: "I know Frank [Miller] based his Wolverine heavily on Eastwood. My Wolverine is an actor whose name I don't even know, whose on camera for all of five minutes in a Paul Newman hockey movie called Slap Shot.  (...) he just had the look. He had the crazy eyes. And that's Wolverine needs to have."

The actor's name is Paul D'Amato, and it is amazing to see that he still has some features attributed to Logan even while getting older! (Byrne found the actor's name later and mentioned it on the Byrne Robotics forum). The character he played in Slap Shot is Tim "Dr Hook" McCracken. Take a look at him with his sideburns... And his eyes which had the same intensity that Wolverine had during the famous Byrne/Claremont era.

But this is not all: In The Deer Hunter, he did the famous scene where, as a veteran, he says "Fuck it" to Robert DeNiro at the wedding's bar. The scene itself could have been a classic Logan moment.

In Heaven's Gate (again by director Michael Cimino), you can see him with a full beard in this period movie which take place in the same era of the Origin mini-series.

Finally, on his official website, recent pictures shows him as what could be an "Old Man Logan" !   (or in the Days of Future Past... or the Barry Windsor-Smith pin-up from the back of Wolverine #4).

We salute you, "Dr Hook".

- Patrick

References:

- http://www.drhookonline.com/