Dukey Flyswatter
Flyswatter in 2013.
Born	Michael David Sonye (1954-04-22)April 22, 1954 (age 71)
Occupation(s)	Actor, screenwriter, musician
Years active	1975–present

Michael David Sonye (/ˈsʌni/; born April 22, 1954), best known by his stage and screen nameDukey Flyswatter, is an American actor, screenwriter, and musician, recognized for his work on numerous low-budgetB movies and as singer for the Los Angeleshorror punk bandHaunted Garage.

Flyswatter first began acting as a teenager incommunity theatre, where at one point he receivedimprovisation lessons fromDel Close.^[1] His earliest screen credit came in 1975, when he worked as ascript doctor on a draft of the screenplay for the horror filmFrozen Scream, which was famously listed as one of the original "video nasties"; though the film was not banned outright, it still remains unreleased in the United Kingdom.^[2] Nearly a decade later, Flyswatter struck up a partnership with prolific low-budget directorFred Olen Ray. With Ray, Flyswatter penned the screenplays for his filmsPrison Ship andCommando Squad, both of which he acted in, and appeared in minor roles in films includingThe Tomb,Cyclone andHollywood Chainsaw Hookers.

In 1987, Flyswatter wrote the screenplay for the campy horror comedyBlood Diner. A loose remake of the 1963Herschell Gordon Lewis filmBlood Feast,Blood Diner has since been dubbed a "cult classic" by horror fans and websites such asDread Central,^[3] HorrorNews.net^[4] and GeekNation.^[5] The same year, he appeared in a co-starring role as the villainous Mengele in the infamousTroma-producedSurf Nazis Must Die, itself also considered a "cult classic", albeit as one of theworst movies ever made.^[6] In 1988, Flyswatter provided the voice of Uncle Impie, the primary puppet antagonist ofDavid DeCoteau'sSorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama.

Since the 1990s, Flyswatter has mostly played cameos in smaller-budgeted independent horror films, though also appeared in a string ofadult films playing comedic non-sex roles such as "The Clit Master" in theExtreme Associates filmTerrors from the Clit and "P. T. Bone 'Em" in the superhero parodySuper Quick 2, the latter of which earned him a nomination for "Best Non-Sex Performance – Film or Video" at the 2002AVN Awards.^[7] In 2004, Flyswatter had a major role playing fetish filmmakerIrving Klaw in theBettie Page biopicBettie Page: Dark Angel.

In 1985, Flyswatter formed thehorror punk/heavy metal bandHaunted Garage in Los Angeles, where he filled the role of lyricist and lead singer at the behest of the band's bassist – as he recalled in a 2013 interview, "I hadn't done any singing, except [while] being drunk".^[8] It was during the formation of the band that he created his Dukey Flyswatter nickname and stage persona. Wanting to be an "Isaac Hayes/Escape from N.Y./Duke of LA-type character", he adopted the name "Dukey", while "Flyswatter" was suggested by a bandmate. As he said in a 2012 interview, "Michael Sonye was gone and Dukey Flyswatter stayed...Michael Sonye was the reserved one and Dukey Flyswatter was the persona, the artist, and he was really out there".^[1]

Noted for their bloody and prop-filled live shows, irreverent B movie-inspired lyrics and Flyswatter's manicshock rock stage antics, Haunted Garage became a prominent fixture in the Los Angeles underground throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, recording music for and appearing onscreen in several low-budget horror films includingCyclone andNightmare Sisters before eventually signing toMetal Blade Records to release their sole LPPossession Park in 1991.^[9] Following their disbandment in 1993, Flyswatter sang in several other groups including the cross-dressingriot grrrrl parody band Fox Twat,^[10] theDead Kennedystribute Hemorrhoid in Cambodia and theDead Boys tribute Moronic Reducer, the latter of which was showcased in the 2001 tribute band documentaryTributary: A Study of an American Pop Culture Subculture.^[11][12] During the 2010s, Flyswatter fronted another Dead Kennedys tribute band, the zombie-themed Undead Kennedys, which, in 2015, was ranked 14th onLA Weekly's list of the top 20 tribute bands in Los Angeles.^[13]

After a series of one-off reunion shows spanning from 1995 to 2008, Haunted Garage re-formed in 2013 with an all new line-up, featuring Flyswatter as the only original member. In 2016, with producerPaul Roessler, the band released the EPSlenderman and Other Strange Tales, their first studio release in twenty five years. The EP was re-issued on vinyl in 2020, featuring two newly-recorded tracks.

In 1991, Flyswatter made a cameo appearance in the music video forGreen Jellÿ's "The Misadventures of Shitman", which was later released on their video tapeCereal Killer. In 1992, he appeared with Haunted Garage onThe Montel Williams Show alongside Sean Brennan ofLondon After Midnight in a special aboutgothic rock and thevampire subculture.^[14] Flyswatter's eyeball is featured as the cover ofTransmissions from Planet Awesome, a 1998 album by punk rock band ADZ, a side project ofAdolescents singerTony Cadena. ADZ additionally recorded a song called "Flyswatter" in tribute to him which appeared on the 1999 compilationOdz 'n' Sodz.

Flyswatter has also appeared in numerous projects by the comedy punk band theRadioactive Chicken Heads, including a cameo appearance in their 2013 music video "Atom the Amazing Zombie Killer" and portrayingElvis Presley in their 2015 stage playThe Radioactive Chicken Heads Tanksgiving Special atThe Steve Allen Theater. For the release of the band's 2017 concept albumTales From The Coop, Flyswatter played the role of the narrative's antagonist Dr. Baron von Kluckinstein, contributing vocals to the album and playing the character in the Chicken Heads' accompanyingtelevision pilotThe Radioactive Chicken Heads Show.

Flyswatter is an avid fan and collector of vintage horror andexploitation cinema, and served as a creative consultant on Fred Olen Ray's 1985Sleazemania!, a video compilation of exploitation trailers from the 1930s through the 1960s. He has written articles about horror and Halloween-related media and events forThe Los Angeles Beat,^[15] and has also written several unproduced scripts and projects.^[1][8]

At one point, a nude portrait of Flyswatter as the godPan painted bylowbrow artistStacy Lande was hung in the home ofClive Barker.^[1][16]

In late 2018, it was announced that Flyswatter would receivebrain surgery to remove a tumor near hisvisual cortex, for which Haunted Garage performed abenefit show nine days prior to his surgery.^[17] As detailed on the band's social media, the tumor was successfully removed and declared benign, and Flyswatter returned to performing live with Haunted Garage just six months later with a show in Los Angeles on May 18, 2019.

All with Haunted Garage.

SeeHaunted Garage#Discography

• Dukey Flyswatter atIMDb
• Haunted Garage on Facebook
• Undead Kennedys on Facebook

• 1954 births
• 20th-century American male actors
• American heavy metal singers
• American male film actors
• American punk rock singers
• Horror punk musicians
• American male screenwriters
• Jewish American screenwriters
• Male actors from Los Angeles
• Living people
• Screenwriters from California
• 21st-century American Jews

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