Jack Prescott



Jack Prescott is an eccentric and noble professor of palaeo-anthropology at Princeton in the 1976 remake of the classic King Kong film. Jack's ambition was to discover the legendary Kong Island and, hopefully, its even more legendary dweller, the giant ape Kong. He was portrayed by Jeff Bridges.

King Kong 1976
When an associate of Jack's tipped him that the Petrox Corporation was undertaking an expedition to a newly-discovered island in the part of the South Pacific, the young professor quickly took it upon himself to sneak aboard their ship, the Petrox Explorer, stowing away.

Jack revealed himself to the crew when he chimed in during a speech being given about the island by Fred S. Wilson, the Petrox executive who financed the expedition. He quickly told them all that he knew of the island, apparently hoping that his vast knowledge would make him indespensible to them and that they'd allow him to stay aboard. Unfortunately, the unreasoning and paranoid Fred Wilson was convinced that Jack was a spy sent by another oil company, and ordered him locked up in the brig. Luck was with Jack though, for as he was being led to the brig he spotted a life raft on the horizon. The raft turned out to contain Dwan, the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Figuring that Jack's training as a zoologist made him qualified to look after the unconscious woman, Wilson let Jack off the hook. It was also agreed between the two that Jack would be the expeditions photographer, as the professor happened to have a camera among the meager possessions he'd managed to sneak aboard.

Dwan eventually came to, and during the remainder of the voyage to the island she and Jack became fast friends, and by the time the Petrox Explorer reached Kong Island, the two were in love with one another. Jack accompanied Wilson in the first landing party, with Dwan in tow. Soon it was discovered that the island was inhabited (a fact Jack was already aware of), and although Jack did not speak the natives' language, he could tell by the tone in the high priest's voice that they didn't like the landing party intruding upon their ceremony. Jack, in turn, didn't like the fact that the priest obviously wanted Dwan to give to Kong, and refused his offer of several native women in exchange for Dwan as politely as possible. Not taking no for an answer, the natives paddled out to the Petrox Explorer that night and kidnapped Dwan. Jack, finding one of their bracelets left behind in the struggle, alerted Wilson and soon a rescue operation was mounted. Unfortunately by the time they arrived in the native village, the natives had already given Dwan to Kong, who carried her off into the jungle. Jack took Carnahan and several sailors - Joe Perko, Boan, Garcia and Timmons - and quickly began to pursue Kong in the hopes of getting Dwan back.

The search party had the bad luck to catch up to Kong while they crossed a deep canyon bridged by a fallen log. Kong, after being fired upon by the panicky sailors, seized the log and shook most of them off and to their deaths in the canyon below. Jack lived, and after sending the only other survivor, Boan, back to inform Wilson of the tragedy, he continued following Kong alone. He finally got his chance to get Dwan away while Kong was busy wrestling with a giant snake, and together they ran back to the wall with the enormous ape chasing them, unaware that Wilson had now hatched a scheme to capture Kong.

Wilson's plan worked and soon, stuffed into the hold of the Petrox Explorer, Kong was shipped to New York. Part of the deal with Wilson was that Jack would be Kong's keeper and be allowed to study him, but Jack eventually backed out of the arrangement when it became clear that Wilson planned to exhibit Kong like a sideshow attraction. He asked Dwan to come with him, but Dwan, intoxicated by the idea of being a big star (as she was to appear alongside Wilson at the unveiling of Kong), declined. Heartbroken, Jack turned to leave, but before he could go however, Kong naturally broke free of his supposedly escape-proof cage, and after seeming to stomp Wilson flat, began to pursue Dwan. Jack grabbed her and together they fled across town with Kong following. Eventually, Jack noticed that the World Trade Center towers looked eerily similar to some rock formations on Kong Island, and deduced that that was where Kong would go. He phoned the Mayor of New York, offering to tell him where Kong was going, in exchange for the Mayor's promise that the National Guard would capture Kong alive so that he could be returned to the island.

But while Jack was on the phone, Kong appeared and once more picked up Dwan and carried her to the World Trade Center, which he proceeded to climb. Much to Jack's horror however, the Mayor had lied to him. As soon as Kong reached the roof and set Dwan down, the National Guard attacked with helicopters and slew Kong in a volley of machine gun fire. Jack was last seen trying to push himself through a crowd of reporters to comfort Dwan, but he was unsuccessful. It is not known what became of Jack after this.