Mel Welles (February 17, 1924 – August 19, 2005) was an American actor, writer, and director with a Ph.D. in psychology, forever immortalized in cult film history as the cantankerous, money-grubbing flower shop owner Gravis Mushnik in Roger Corman’s original dark comedy classic, The Little Shop of Horrors (1960).
Welles brought a unique intellectual background to his B-movie career. After serving in World War II, he worked as a clinical psychologist and radio DJ before turning to acting. He became a familiar face in low-budget films of the 1950s, often playing intense or villainous characters.
In the 1960s, he moved to Europe, where his fluency in five languages allowed him to work extensively as an actor and director in a number of cult horror films, including Maneater of Hydra (1967) and Lady Frankenstein (1971). Late in his life, he came full circle, taking to the stage to reprise the role of Mushnik in a community theater production of the Little Shop of Horrors musical, a fitting tribute to the role that cemented his legacy.
