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John Amplas

American actor

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ6218915
Source-derived summary

John Amplas (born June 23, 1949) is an American actor known primarily for his work with director George A. Romero, particularly his appearances in the title role of Martin (1977), as well as Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Creepshow (1982).

Biography

Amplas's first film with George A. Romero was the cult film Martin (1977), in which he played the title role of a man who believes himself to be a vampire. The character of Martin was initially an older man but after Romero saw Amplas in a Pittsburgh production of Philemon he decided to rewrite the part to suit Amplas and cast him in the role.

Thereafter, he appeared in a number of other films directed by Romero, including Dawn of the Dead (1978), Knightriders (1981), Creepshow (1982), and Day of the Dead (1985), as well as Toxic Zombies (1980), and Midnight (1982), directed by John Russo.

He acted in a horror concept teaser entitled The Three (2011) directed by filmmaker Scott Goldberg which also features co-lead from Day of the Dead Lori Cardille. He starred also in the feature film adaption of the Rob Steigert short film Ombis.

Filmography

References

Sources

Allbright, Brian (2012). Regional Horror Films, 1958-1990: A State-by-State Guide with Interviews. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786472277.

Editorial summary

“John Amplas” enters the record as american actor. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what John, Amplas and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1949, 1977, 1978, 1982—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1949-06-23. Its strongest next move is a source search built around John, Amplas and American.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“John Amplas” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, John, Amplas and American provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6218915. VIAF identifies the subject as 51980189. The Library of Congress control number is nr00032711. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1949, 1977, 1978 and 1982.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “John Amplas”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow John Amplas primary sources, John Amplas archive and John research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “John Amplas”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from John Amplas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.