Just six years after making his big screen debut in John Carpenter‘s iconic 1978 slasher Halloween, actor Adam Hollander tragically died. The young star, who portrayed the character Keith in an iconic scene regarded by some fans as the “most startling” and one of their “favorite scenes” in the Halloween franchise, was tragically killed when he was hit by a car while riding his bike in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He passed away at the Rehabilitation Hospital of New Mexico on September 24, 1984, less than a month shy of his 20th birthday, according to his IMDb profile and online sources.
The young actor was just 13-years-old when Halloween premiered. Scored and directed by Carpenter, who wrote the film with producer Debra Hill, the independent slasher film was set in the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night 1978 after murderer Michael Myers escapes the psychiatric hospital where he had been committed following the murder of his sister, Judith Myers, 15 years earlier. The movie notably marked Jamie Lee Curtis’ big screen debut, the actress starring as Laurie Strode. Halloween also starred Donald Pleasence as Dr. Samuel “Sam” Loomis and Nick Castle as The Shape.
Hollander had a small but memorable role in the movie as Keith, one of the three children who are seen in one of the first scenes of the movie bullying Tommy Doyle, portrayed by Brian Andrews. The kids notably knock a pumpkin out of Tommy’s hands. The scene serves as one of the first introductions to Michael Myers’ return to Haddonfield, as the youngsters are among the first to run into The Shape.
The scene has long been a favorite among fans. On a Halloween fan page, one person said it was “probably my fave scene in ‘Halloween’ (1978) – the scene that startled me the most anyways.” Another person recalled how that specific scene “is really what scared me as a kid.”
Although Hollander would not go on to appear in any of the Halloween sequels – the 1978 slasher was followed by the direct sequel Halloween II in 1981 and the anthological addition Halloween III: Season of the Witch in 1982, and has gone on to include a total of 13 films – he did continue acting. His first acting credit was as Kenny in the 1977 TV movie The City, and after following it with his role in Halloween, he went on to appear in a 1978 episode of the ABC sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter and 1983’s The Sting II, where he portrayed a delivery boy. His final acting credit, according to his IMDb profile, was in an episode of Hotel in 1983.