Philip Morris, the one-time circus ringmaster who made gorilla suits in his basement as he built the world's largest costume distributorship, died late Sunday at his Mooresville home.

His time on the road included working as a ringmaster and costumer for the three-ring Royal Hanneford Circus. A sideshow needed a costume for a girl-to-gorilla act, and a specialty was born. [...]

Once on a "ghost show" tour in Canada, Philip Morris somehow got arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police -- while wearing a gorilla suit. Charges were dropped, Scott Morris recalled, but "he wouldn't take the head off the costume until we got to the police agency because he didn't want anyone to know it was him."

In 1967, the company says, a customer named Roger Patterson bought a custom gorilla suit that was used to film the famously grainy footage of a hairy "Bigfoot" striding through the northern California woods. [...]

With Halloween approaching, it's the company's busiest time of year. The 250 employees are shipping costumes all over the world. "I don't know what he was thinking, leaving us at this time of year," Scott Morris joked. "He just passed away last night and at 8 o'clock this morning, I was at work. We have to do what we have to do, and he just loved what he was doing."

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Dr. Kingfish

OMG

Right? There had better be a statue to this great American.

Obviously he should be buried in a gorilla suit... and the pall bearers should be similarly attired.

Yesss

Ideally in a banana shaped coffin

Ook ook!

Also he made THE Bigfoot suit!!

Loved that

Hmm... Bigfoot, huh? Lemme just people-up this gorilla suit a little and I'll be right with ya...

"Custom".

Always go to a professional... it'll save you money in the end.

And he didn't snitch! You know he knew! He saw that Super-8 movie and he was like, "Yeah, that's mine."

Right?? That's gorilla suit integrity, that is.

But who would have believed him. He'd have been the guy saying he installed two-way mirrors in John Wayne's house.

True. Still... you gotta admire it. The world must hear his story.

Follow your dreams, kids. And keep the gorilla mask on until you get to the police station. Always.

And out of. And remember, it's like a tuxedo. Once you own one, you find occasions to wear it.

Wise words that I repeat often!

And let's face it, what are you gonna do, rent every time you need one?

Pfffff

That's just bad financial sense.

Don't monkey around.

Heyyo!

O

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