George P. Wilbur was the second stuntman to play the role of Michael Myers. He is also the first person to play Michael Myers in more than one film. Tyler Mane is the second. In addition to Halloween 4, George also played Michael in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.
He wasn’t the first choice though. Tom Morga was initially hired to play Myers and did so in a few scenes. However, Morga wasn’t quite capturing Myers the way producers had liked and Wilbur was brought in to replace him.
Wilbur (like Dick Warlock) has enjoyed a very long and impressive career in Hollywood as both a stuntman/coordinator and as an actor. In fact, Wilbur worked alongside Dick on two of John Carpenter’s film; Escape from New York and Firestarter.
“Playing Michael was an acting role, a matter of creating an illusion,” he said in a Fangoria interview. “Michael hasn’t gotten into my personality, but looking back on all the evil things I’ve done in that film, I was worried what my friends and family would think when they saw it.” Regarding Wilbur’s performance as Myers, Dwight H. Little wanted him to be thinking and have some kind of consciousness and not be a robot. He wanted him to act as if he didn’t have the mask on.
Over the years George has still remained active doing stunts, and has become a fan favorite appearing at horror conventions around the world.
Halloween 4 – © 1988 Trancas International Films