Who Plays The Headless Knight In Disney's Haunted Mansion?
Disney has often been deemed the home where nearly anything imagined can magically come to life. While this idea usually connects to meeting with Disney's assortment of beloved wholesome characters, it also extends to spookier creations from the House of Mouse, like the Haunted Mansion. For decades, the ghastly attraction has brought plenty of fun frights at some Disney parks. And based on the recent star-studded trailer for "Haunted Mansion," plenty of family-friendly scares will also feature on the big screen this summer in the upcoming film. At the center of all the ghostly havoc is the Hatbox Ghost (Jared Leto), who seems driven to add more unfortunate souls to his home. But the Hatbox Ghost isn't the only spirit lurking around.
"Haunted Mansion" will also have the Headless Knight, who is played by Bryan McClure. He is one of the ghostly characters that appear during the graveyard scene in the original Haunted Mansion attraction. Created by animator Marc Davis in 1964, the Headless Knight (also known as the Beheaded Knight) has, for decades, treated many to his memorable singing, despite his severed head. The Headless Knight's original actor for the attraction was Ernie Newton, whose voice could also be heard throughout other Disneyland attractions like the Enchanted Tiki Room. As for McClure, he should likewise seem familiar to many as he's appeared on numerous hit TV shows.
McClure's credits include The Walking Dead and Magnum P.I.
Bryan McClure will likely scare the pants off the rest of the cast of "Haunted Mansion" as the Headless Knight. But fans will probably scratch their own heads, wondering where they might have seen the actor before. That's because, during McClure's career in acting, he's made appearances on some of the most well-known TV shows. For instance, McClure has appeared twice in Peter M. Lenkov's universe of interconnected CBS reboots. In 2010, he guested on a "Hawaii 5-0" episode. And in 2022, he followed that up with an appearance as a different character for an episode of "Magnum P.I."
McClure has made appearances on "Atlanta," "Doom Patrol," and most recently on FX's "Class of '09." In 2019, the actor also played an Atlanta Police Officer for three episodes of Netflix's "Mindhunter." However, "The Walking Dead" fans may best remember him as a Commonwealth Outpost member held at gunpoint by Maggie (Lauren Cohan) in the 2022 episode "Outpost 22." During his "TWD" appearance, McClure portrayed Engineer Wilson, who has little choice but to help out Maggie's group, despite possibly incurring the wrath of the Warden. His fear of the Warden's possible consequences even forces the character to make a fatal sacrifice in the hopes of saving his family.
Although McClure has experience appearing in spooky projects, horror isn't his favorite genre. In an interview with We Are Movie Geeks, the actor noted that he prefers comedy. So, the supernatural comedic hijinks of "Haunted Mansion" should be the perfect type of project for the actor.