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Golden Valley High School English Teacher Former Addams Family, Children Of The Corn Star

A teacher at Golden Valley High School did not always start out wanting to educate students, he spent 19 years as a professional actor and writer.


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Best known for his role in Children of the Corn, John Salapatek now teaches English, Shakespeare and screenwriting at Golden Valley High School and is a resident of Castaic.

He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1983 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater and earned a Master of Fine Arts in screenwriting from National University.

As a child, Salapatek was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency, or GHD, which is responsible for his youthful appearance and 5-foot stature.

Specializing in playing characters younger than his real age, at age 24 he portrayed Isaac Chroner in the 1984 movie version of Stephen King’s “Children of the Corn.”

John Salapatek, in Stephen King's "Children of the Corn," 1984. Photo courtesy of SCV History.

John Salapatek in Stephen King’s “Children of the Corn,” 1984. Photo courtesy of SCV History.

Salapatek also perfected the silly noises of Cousin Itt in both of the “Addams Family” movies in 1991 and 1993.

“I was very happy that they kept my ‘Itt speak,’” said Salapatek. “I was worried that my voice would be dubbed over with something else. You can’t see me, but you can hear me.”

He later starred and co-wrote the sixth installment of the “Children of the Corn” series with a sequel that went direct to video in 1999: “Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return.”

He also appeared in several TV shows, including Star Trek Voyager and Chicago Hope.

“My favorite role of all time is a guest star spot I did on Michael Landon’s ‘Highway to Heaven.’ I portrayed a mentally handicapped runaway teenager,” said Salapatek. “Michael was so kind and supportive. He even submitted me for an Emmy nomination. Michael had class, humility and was a one of a kind human being. I don’t know if I’ll ever top that experience.”

John Salapatek (right) with star Michael Landon in "Highway to Heaven" Season 2, Episode 13: "Alone" (Jan. 8, 1986).

John Salapatek (right) with star Michael Landon in “Highway to Heaven” Season 2, Episode 13: “Alone” (Jan. 8, 1986).

However, it was the events before and after 9/11 that made Salapatek rethink show business.

“The summer before 9/11 a dear friend of mine was murdered. She was four months pregnant and was so supportive of my writing career,” said Salapatek. “A few months later my agent of 19 years passed away from cancer. She was like a second mom to me. And then 9/11 hit.”

Salapatek began to think of his legacy as he watched the tributes to the lost heroes who rushed into buildings to save others or helped to down a plane ensuring their deaths, he said.

“Would I only be remembered as Cousin Itt or the creepy kid from “Children of the Corn,” Salapatek asked. “Suddenly going on auditions to be a talking pickle seemed so silly.”

Salapatek saw a news segment on TV about the Teaching Fellows program, interviewed and was among a handful chosen.

Salapatek has been a teacher for the past 14 years, three of them teaching at Sylmar High School and 11 of them at Golden Valley High School.

Along with teaching English and Shakespeare at Golden Valley High School, Salapatek also teaches a screenwriting class.

John Salapatek

Salapatek is a professional screenwriter having written “Children of the Corn 6” for Miramax/ Dimension Pictures and also having an eight-year development deal with the actress Connie Stevens.

Louise Davies, a friend of Salapatek’s, found out that he had a Master’s degree in Screenwriting and stated, “With your talents, you must create a screenwriting class for the Hart District. Think about how much the students will learn from an actual professional screenwriter.”

Salapatek created the class from scratch, had it unanimously approved by the district and now is the only Screenwriting class in the Hart District, he said.

Students will have a 30-page script by the end of the first semester and, if they chose to continue to take the class for a second semester, they’ll have a 60 to 90-page script. Some students even have 110 to 120-page scripts by the end of May, he said.

“The goal is to expose students to film and the way to write the screenplays that are behind every great film. I am so pleased every year when students tell me that they have decided to become screenwriters and are going to major in that field in college,” Salapatek said. “It is very gratifying to know that I have opened a new creative chapter in a young person’s life that perhaps they had never thought about. It’s so much better than auditioning to be a pickle in a commercial.”

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KHTS AM 1220 - Santa Clarita Radio

Golden Valley High School English Teacher Former Addams Family, Children Of The Corn Star

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About Heather Harbin

Heather grew up in the Santa Clarita Valley and graduated from West Ranch High School in 2012. She recently graduated from College of the Canyons with an Associate's Degree in New Media Journalism. She was involved in College of the Canyons' "Cougar News" for two years, where she became the senior producer. She will be studying for her Bachelor's Degree at Cal State Northridge in the spring. Heather became a staff writer at KHTS AM-1220 following her internship in the newsroom. She has been writing news and feature articles for the KHTS website since May 2015.