In the Child’s Play films, Brad Dourif gave Chucky, the killer doll, his voice. The body that ran, stabbed and climbed through the action scenes often belonged to Ed Gale, a 3-foot-4 actor and stunt performer. Gale died in hospice care in Los Angeles on May 27, 2025. He was 61. His niece, Kayse Gale, announced his death. His representative, Cindy Osbrink, said he had been admitted to hospital a few days earlier with difficulty breathing.
Howard the Duck
Gale’s acting debut was in George Lucas’s 1986 production Howard the Duck, as one of several performers who wore the duck costume while Chip Zien provided the voice. The film was a famous flop, but it started a long career in roles that needed a small performer able to do physical work. A year later he appeared in Mel Brooks’s Star Wars parody Spaceballs.
Chucky
In 1988 he performed Chucky in the first Child’s Play, working alongside the puppeteers who operated the doll’s face, and he returned for Child’s Play 2 in 1990 and Bride of Chucky in 1998. His filmography included more than 130 films, television shows and commercials, among them the Coen brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? and episodes of 3rd Rock from the Sun and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Investigation
In 2023 the Los Angeles Times reported that Gale had admitted to a child advocacy group that he had tried to solicit sex from minors online, and that he was under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. He had not been charged at the time of his death. Most obituaries published after his death did not mention the case.
Gale’s best-known screen work was done inside costumes and behind other actors’ voices, which meant that many people who know Chucky and Howard never saw his face.