Bill Hinzman

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title: "Bill Hinzman" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1930-births", "2012-deaths", "male-actors-from-allegheny-county,-pennsylvania", "american-male-film-actors", "people-from-coraopolis,-pennsylvania", "deaths-from-cancer-in-pennsylvania", "film-directors-from-pennsylvania"] description: "American actor (1936–2012)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Hinzman" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actor (1936–2012) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
image	Bill Hinzman.jpg
caption	Hinzman as the cemetery zombie from Night of the Living Dead (1968)
birthname	Samuel William Hinzman
birth_date
birth_place	Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Darlington, Pennsylvania, U.S.
years_active	1967 - 2011
occupation	Actor, director, cinematographer, producer, editor and writer
::

| image = Bill Hinzman.jpg | caption = Hinzman as the cemetery zombie from Night of the Living Dead (1968) | birthname = Samuel William Hinzman | birth_date = | birth_place = Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Darlington, Pennsylvania, U.S. | years_active = 1967 - 2011 | occupation = Actor, director, cinematographer, producer, editor and writer

Samuel William Hinzman (October 24, 1936 – February 5, 2012) was an American actor and film director.

Career

Hinzman's first role was the cemetery zombie in the popular horror film Night of the Living Dead (1968). He reprised the role in new scenes that were filmed for the 30th-anniversary edition of the film. Hinzman also played roles in the films Legion of the Night (1995), Santa Claws (1996), Evil Ambitions (1996), and The Drunken Dead Guy (2005).

His final role was in River of Darkness (2011), where he played a lead role alongside Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash and Sid Eudy. He later directed the films The Majorettes (1986), and Flesheater (1988). His name is spelled "Heinzman" in the original Night of the Living Dead credits. During filming of Night of the Living Dead, crew member Gary Streiner accidentally caught himself on fire while attempting to ignite a prop with gasoline. Bill Hinzman managed to put out the fire, saving Streiner's life.

Death

Hinzman died on February 5, 2012, from cancer. His death occurred the same day as that of Josephine Streiner (1918–2012), a crew member who played a zombie in Night of the Living Dead.

Filmography

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1968	Night of the Living Dead	Zombie #1
1971	There's Always Vanilla	Drunk Guy in Bar
1972	Season of the Witch	The Intruder
1973	The Crazies	Crazie shooting at doctor's office	Also cinematographer
1974	O. J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose		Cinematographer
1981	Knightriders	Mustachioed Archer in Tree	Uncredited
1987	The Majorettes	Sergeant Sanders	Also director
1988	Flesheater	FleshEater	Also director
1995	Legion of the Night	Dr. Bloom
1996	Santa Claws	Director
1996	Evil Ambitions	Miles Bishop
1999	Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition	Zombie #1	New scenes; Also cinematographer, editor, and co-executive producer
2005	The Drunken Dead Guy	The Experienced Zombie
2006	Shadow: Dead Riot	Romero the Zombie
2009	The Spookshow	Bartender
2009	It Came from Trafalgar	Zombie #1
2011	River of Darkness	Harvey Hix
2011	Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead	Zombie
::

References

References

1. Various. (September 16, 2017). "Night of the Living Dead 30th Anniversary Edition". homepageofthedead.com.
2. (September 15, 2012). "Early Art and Trailer: Kurt Angle's River of Darkness". DreadCentral.
3. J.C. Maçek III. (June 15, 2012). "The Zombification Family Tree: Legacy of the Living Dead". [[PopMatters]].
4. Jackson, Matthew. (13 October 2017). "10 Facts About ''Night of the Living Dead''".
5. Kane, Joe. (2010). "Night Of The Living Dead: Behind the Scenes of the Most Terrifying Zombie Movie Ever". [[Kensington Books]].
6. (February 6, 2012). "Rest in Peace: Bill Hinzman". DreadCentral.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::