With Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro about to be seen on the big screen as The Wolf Man (2009), let's take a look at who has gone before him...

Excluded here are werewolves (that's a whole nother list) and teenage werewolves (another list, but only very short).




THE WOLF MAN (1941)
Played by Lon Chaney Jnr.
As Lawrence Talbot the Wolf Man

The Original Wolf Man. Chaney Jnr's make-up apparently took six-hours to apply - and another three to remove. It's a wonder he got any filming done. Those long hours in the make-up chair didn't deter him from making a career out of playing the hairy one though, also featuring in follow-ups Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula and ...




ABBOTT & COSTELLO
MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948)
Played by Lon Chaney Jnr
As Lawrence Talbot the Wolf Man

Playing the same character as appeared in the earlier films, Larry Talbot, this vehicle for the legendary comedy duo Bud Abbott and Lou Costello obviously comes with a lighter tone. Chaney Jnr even filled in for the guy playing Frankenstein's Monster, Glenn Strange, after he busted his ankle. The Wolf Man's features changed a touch for this movie, his hair looking a little more combed.


THE FURY OF THE WOLFMAN (1972)
Played by Paul Naschy
As Waldemar Daninsky the Wolf Man

Made in Spain, it was there called La Furia del Hombre Lobo. A dark-looking Wolf Man is played by Spanish screen legend in Naschy, who also appeared as Count Dracula, Mr. Hyde, a mummy, and a hunchback in various creepy films of the time. It is the same Naschy who once alleged the Fury of the Wolfman's director, José María Zabalza, was drunk during most of its filming.



TRANSYLVANIA 6-5000 (1985)
Played by Donald Gibb
As Lawrence Malbot the Wolf Man

One of those real hidden gem totally B-grade low-budget trashy films of the '80s. Well, I thought so anyway. Described as a behemoth, a six-foot-four Gibb was easily the biggest Wolfman to grace the big screen. He's kept busy over the years appearing in various TV shows, including The Young and The Restless. Not a lot of effort in the Wolf Man's features, but a lot of hair.




THE MONSTER SQUAD (1987)
Played by Carl Thibault

Cult kids movie, which followed in the Ghostbusters' footsteps. It pits a bunch of kids against Dracula and co. This Wolf Man was actually kinda scary-looking. It was Thibault's first movie, before he went on to play other big roles, 'Workman' in Woman Undone (1996) and 'Lab Guard' in Perfect Assassins (1996), before making a return in The Garage (2006) as 'Local Cop'.


VAN HELSING (2004)
Played by Will Kemp
As Velken as the Wolf Man

A flashy up-dated version of the mythical characters from Transylvania. Kemp's Wolfman was more werewolf-looking, and not really Kemp at all since this incarnation is full CGI, which kinda takes the fun out of it. There's some consolation in the fact Hugh Jackman got hair extensions to play the title role. Not quite Wolf Man length. Not quite Wolverine either.




THE WOLFMAN (2009)
Played by Benicio Del Toro
As Lawrence Talbot the Wolf Man

The Wolf Man finally gets his own movie again in this up-date on the traditional Larry Talbot story. Del Toro plays the cursed main character who returns home to his father, played by Anthony Hopkins. The look of the Wolf Man also harks back to the old days of the legendary Chaney Jnr.





Also
CASTAWAY (2000)
Played by Tom Hanks

The story of a delivery guy who gets stranded on a deserted island for several years, and turns into a really really hairy man who could've passed for the Wolf Man - and befriends a soccer ball.