19 Facts About Tom Graeff

Thomas Lockyear Graeff was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, film editor and cinematographer.

Tom Graeff is best known for writing, directing, producing and starring in the 1959 B-movie Teenagers from Outer Space.

Tom Graeff was born in Ray, Arizona, to an engineer father and homemaker mother.

Tom Graeff's next film was a 16-minute recruiting film for Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California.

Tom Graeff began production on his first feature, The Noble Experiment, in the summer of 1954.

Around this time, Tom Graeff produced a short art film, Island Sunrise, starring Chuck Roberts.

In 1956, Tom Graeff was hired as Roger Corman's assistant on Not of This Earth.

When filming wrapped, Tom Graeff decided to pen a science-fiction feature of his own and look for funding.

Bryan Pearson eventually sued Tom Graeff to get his original investment back.

Critics were not kind to the film, though Tom Graeff was applauded in some publications as a director with talent and a creative approach to a minimal budget.

In 1959, Tom Graeff placed an ad in the Los Angeles Times proclaiming that he was to be called Jesus Christ II, and that God had shown him truth and love.

The next year, Tom Graeff filed to have his name legally changed to Jesus Christ II.

Tom Graeff returned to Los Angeles in 1964 and worked as an editor on David L Hewitt's 1964 ultra low-budget film The Wizard of Mars.

In 1968, Tom Graeff took out an ad in Variety, announcing that his screenplay, entitled Orf, was for sale for the unprecedented sum of $500,000.

When Tom Graeff insinuated that a number of high-profile people were attached to the project, Haber outed him as "Jesus Christ II", putting the final nail in his career.

Unable to find work, Tom Graeff moved to La Mesa, California, near San Diego.

Tom Graeff committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage on December 19,1970, at age 41.

For over 25 years, major publications, including Leonard Maltin's movie guide, had erroneously written that Love and Tom Graeff were the same person.

Tom Graeff is the subject of several media projects, including a biography called Smacks of Brilliance, and a documentary entitled The Boy from Out of This World.