Carl Ciarfalio
Carl Nick Ciarfalio was an American actor and stuntman. In a career spanning over four decades, he appeared in over 300 film and television projects. He is best known for portraying the Thing in the Roger Corman produced, but unreleased film The [Fantastic Four (unreleased film)|The Fantastic Four].
Life and career
Ciarfalio started his career as a plumber's associate when he was invited by one of his wrestling associates to join him at Knott's Berry Farm, as they were looking for big and tall actors to perform for audiences. Ciarfalio took the job for the summer, but he found himself enjoying it. "ithin a couple of months I had a cowboy hat and a gun and I was on stage and people were applauding and laughing, and I told my parents, 'I'll go back to school one day'." Ciarfalio never returned to school. He began appearing in numerous film and television projects over the years such as Fight Club, Mission: Impossible III and The [Amazing Spider-Man (film)|The Amazing Spider-Man].The most notable role of his career occurred in 1993, when Ciarfalio received a call from his agent to appear in a Roger Corman produced film adaptation of Marvel Comics Fantastic Four. "They were looking for a stunt man. They were looking for somebody about six feet tall and weighed about 220 pounds or so...So, I went to the audition and we talked a little bit and they thought I was the guy, which was, you know, very cool." While the actor who was playing Ben Grimm was tall, he was unable to fit in the Thing suit. Ciarfalio was brought in to wear the costume, which he found "the hottest fucking thing" he ever wore.
On October 20, 2014, Ciarfalio launched a Kickstarter campaign to have a biography book published. He reached his goal at $11,055 and in September 2015 published Stars, Stunts and Stories: A Hollywood Stuntman's Fall to Fame. The book was co-written by Teri Ryan.
On November 19, 2025, it was announced by Ciarfalio’s wife Teri Ryan that Ciarfalio had passed away at the age of 72 in Huntsville, Alabama.