Lock Martin (aka Junior Martin) could not help but make a big splash in Hollywood.  At 7' 7" tall, he was, at the time, one of the Screen Actors Guild's tallest members.  Although his film credits are few,  his career ranged from comedy to science fiction to childrens programs.  He is best known for his portrayal as the robot Gort from 'The Day the Earth Stood Still', still considered by many as one of the finest science fiction films ever made.  This web site honors the memory of Lock Martin.

Joseph Lockard Martin Jr. 
Date of birth 
October 12, 1916 
Date of death 
January 19, 1959 
Buried at Forest Lawn Cemetary, Glendale, CA

Twin brother, Donald, died at birth

Married to Ethel Babcock - June 7, 1946

Employment:
Ardens Dairy, CA - Cowboy for PR
Knotts Berry Farm, CA - Cowboy
Graumans Chinese Theater, Hollywood CA - Doorman 
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Lost in a Harem (1944) .... Bobo [as J. Lockard Martin]
 The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) .... Gort 
 Invaders from Mars (1953) .... Mutant Serving "Intelligence" 
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) .... Giant  (scenes deleted)
The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas (1957) .... Yeti (uncredited)
The Gentle Giant.... Childrens TV Program

Susan Svatek, granddaughter-

He was called the "Gentle Giant" which he most definitely was.  He
also had a T.V. program for a while in the L.A. area called "The
Gentle Giant".  He read children's stories to groups of children on
the set.  When I was 12, I lived in Montana with my Mother's twin
sister's family.  We were quite poor and the only heat we had in the
tiny house was the gas cook stove.  So it got very cold at night.  My
2 cousins and myself slept in one bed.  Our heaviest cover was the
sheeps' skin lining of the costume that G-daddy Locks wore.  It tied
at the shoulders, so when opened up it was flat and HUGE!  Quite a
warm blanket. 
 

Robert Wise, director-

One of the challenges was the Gort character himself. We knew we had to have some kind of suit that somebody could be in. This was before we had such a great number of 6'8", 7'2" basketball players, and we were searching all over for a very tall man, going to extra casting people and casting departments. Somebody remembered that the Graumanâs Chinese Theater had in those days a terribly tall doorman. He was 7'7" and we hired him to be in that suit. He was not a very strong man, and that suit was heavy. He could only stay in it for about half an hour at a time. He couldnât pick up Pat Neal. For the shot where she falls against the chairs and heâs coming toward her, I panned to let him go behind a door, stopped filming and held on the door. With the help of a crane, we picked Pat up, turned him around and put her in his arms. So when we started the camera again, he walked out of the frame with Pat being carried all the way by a wire. Then, on the reverse shot, we put a lightweight dummy in his arms. Just one of the little tricks we had to do to make the robot believable. And we had to have two suits for him. One with a zipper down the back for when he had his front to the camera, another with a zipper up the front for the shots of his back.

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