Kenneth M. Peters
Ken Peters portrayed a flesh-eating ghoul in the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. He can be seen by the gas pump as Ben wards off the ghouls with his torch after the truck explosion. Ken is also in the day-for-night ghoul scenes that didn't make it into the movie, but are the most well known and recognizable photos from the movie.
As an advertising client of The Latent Image, Ken was a familiar face in subsequent films, appearing as a TV host interviewing Richard France in THERE'S ALWAYS VANILLA and as the real estate agent from in JACK'S WIFE (aka SEASON OF THE WITCH).
Ken Peters, that’s me, is a resident of Monroeville PA, a suburb of Pittsburgh, not too far from Evans City. I spent most of my working career in advertising as a writer/producer and creative director. My two fondest memories of that career? First, I came up with the name: for I.C. Light Beer. (The former agency had named it Iron City Light, which to me was a disgusting oxymoron!) And then, more significantly, I met George Romero. George produced many successful commercials for me over a few years, and I was so blessed to also call him my friend. I’ll never forget the long editing sessions that often lasted far into the early morning hours. George munched on hot peppers to keep himself awake! (I didn’t.) He realized that I was seriously into show business after I appeared as Lieutenant Cable in the Pittsburgh Playhouse production of South Pacific for 18 weeks. So he cast me in three of his movies: Jack’s Wife, There’s Always Vanilla and, of course, NOTLD.
During that time, I also appeared on stage in original cabaret shows produced by my friend, local comedian and show-biz entrepreneur, Don Brockett, who also played the role of “Chef Brockett” on the TV show, Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood. I also wrote a a lot of musical material for Don’s shows. My earliest dream was to sit under a weeping willow tree and write lyrics for the rest of my life. But --- oh well.
The last ten years of my working career were spent producing corporate meetings and event for companies and organizations such as Westinghouse, Exxon, AMOCO, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Knoll Furniture, Textron Inc, Carnegie Museums and & Library, Dow Plastics, etc., etc., etc. At least, the live shows we did for many of those events allowed me to indulge in my so-loved pastime of writing lyrics.
My retirement has been full of activities, including being president of my condo association, (I refer to it as running a daycare center!) as well as travelling, attending great plays and musicals every summer at the Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake, Canada, and, oh yes, enjoying “happy hours” with good friends and neighbors.
I’ve been a lucky ghoul!
