I remember watching Children of the Corn on its release, way back in 1984 when a lot of you might not have even been born. It was back in a time when there hadnt been too many film adaptations of the works of author Stephen King. Yes there had been Salems Lot Carrie,The Shining, Cujo, Christine and The Dead Zone(to date still one of my favourite King adaptations) So for any adaptation of a Stephen King novel, it was an exciting time for film fans to see how the story would fare in travelling from the page to the screen.

I still like to go back and watch 1984’s Children of the Corn now and again and my main reason for that (other than the creepy story) is the central performance by Courtney Gains as Malachi, the ‘leader’ of the cult group who take down the adults of the small American town and this end up ruling the town and the corn fields with a strict hand.  Actor Courtney Gains in his feature debut is fantastic and perfect casting in the role, not only for his look but also the way he handles the cult leader role. He takes a character that could so easily have been an over the top finger pointer, to that of a realistic and damn right scary character that not only instills fear in the other characters, (as well as loyalty) but also creeps out the audience to a wonderful degree.

But what happened to Courtney Gains?   A few people asked me  ‘I wonder what happened to the guy from Children of the Corn?’ and so here you are. Well before you think that he somehow dropped off the ;map; Courtney most certainly didnt and has been working ever since that screen perfection back in the 80s.  You just might not have recognized him in a different role but the guy is busy!

Since 84’s Corn movie, Courtney has at least 127 credits listed on the IMDB page, and has appeared in TV shows such as 21 Jump Street, Tales From The Crypt E, JAG, Brooklyn South, Charmed, Alias, Monk, CSI, and Bones, to name just a few shows that he has shown up in. Film wise he has been just as busy if not busier, Did you know for example that Courtney appeared in such classics as Back to the Future and The Burbs Courtney seems to have been the busiest when it comes to indie films and to list them would take up a very long list indeed,  ,  As well as films, Courtney has also been part of cast lists for video games such as Wing Commander, and LA Noire. Multi tasking talented guy that he is!

So the next time you are watching  Children of the Corn and think ‘I wonder what happened to that guy’  then now you know. He was, is, and will always been a very busy actor So if somehow you happen to read this Courtney, keep up the great work and thanks for entertaining film fans over the years!.

You can check out Courtney;s filmography here

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0301381/?ref_=tt_cl_t5

Courtney did join Twitter in 2013, but sadly that account seems to not have been used in several years   ( https://twitter.com/CourtneyGains ) But you can find his Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063431727264

Many months after I wrote this article, I did actually get the chance to video chat with Courtney Gains and we had a blast! Hes always super busy and the nicest guy!  Heres that chat