Super fan helping keep Peter Cushing's memory alive

Christopher Gullo, seen here with a photo of the actor taken by photographer Colin Bourner, runs the Peter Cushing Association

An American super fan is writing a Peter Cushing biography for an upcoming exhibition in Kent.

The exhibition is expected to open in June at the Whitstable Museum and Gallery in the town where the actor lived for 35 years.

New Yorker Christopher Gullo runs the Peter Cushing Association and has written a book previously about the actor.

"He was known in Whitstable for riding around town on his bicycle with the locals and stopping by the local establishments and talking to the residents of Whitstable," he said.

Cushing first visited Whitstable in 1945, according to Mr Gullo

Mr Gullo told BBC Radio Kent he began looking for the actor in TV guides as a child after watching him in the film The Evil of Frankenstein.

"It didn't matter what he was in. I would just look for 'Peter Cushing' and I would circle it and I would make sure to ask my parents to tape record it for me," he said.

The history teacher said he became a fan of the actor, who portrayed Sherlock Holmes and featured in Star Wars, because of his quality on screen.

"I knew these films were make-believe and fantasy or horror but his characters made it believable."

Mr Gullo said he soon began collecting recordings of Cushing's films and writing articles for a fan club's magazine.

"It's great to be in touch with fellow fans from around the world, it's really amazing," he said.

One of Mr Gullo's favourite items in his own Cushing collection is a pair of the Hammer horror film legend's smoking gloves.