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Roger Patterson

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Filmmaker

The Resume

    (February 14, 1933-January 15, 1972)
    Born in Wall, South Dakota
    Shot slightly less than a minute of film showing either a Bigfoot or a person in an ape suit near Bluff Creek in Northern California (October 20, 1967)

Why he might be annoying:

    His estimate of the creature’s height grew by a foot (from 6’6 to 7’6) as he retold the story.
    Bob Gimlin, his partner in tracking Bigfoot, successfully sued, claiming he had been promised a third of the profits from the film and had not been paid (1974).
    He also got sued over the years for unpaid bills by more than twenty creditors.
    He sold rights to the Bigfoot film to multiple parties, producing messy legal entanglements.
    The original footage was lost, so later analyses have had to rely on copies.
    The film was dismissed by special effects artists Rick Baker (‘It looked like cheap, fake fur.’) and Stan Winston (‘It’s a guy in a bad hair suit. Sorry.’).
    Two former supporters of the film’s authenticity claimed that computerized visual analysis revealed a zipper-like fastener at the creature’s waist (1999).
    Costumer Philip Morris claimed to have provided a gorilla suit to Patterson and Bob Heironimus claimed to have been the person in the suit.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Morris and Heironimus did not come forward with their claims until decades after the fact and neither provided verification for their stories.
    Some primatologists who have watched the film note that the creature’s gait is distinctly non-human and would be difficult to fake convincingly.
    John Chambers, who won an Oscar for his work on ‘Planet of the Apes,’ asked about rumors that he created a costume for Patterson’ film, replied, ‘I’m good, but I’m not that good.’
    He spent almost all the money he earned from the film on further efforts to prove Bigfoot’s existence.
    He passed a polygraph exam denying having perpetrated a hoax. (Although Heironimus also passed a polygraph exam for his claim.)

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 88.89% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying