I got in contact with Bob Burns and forwarded everything from this topic to him.

Here is Bobs response :

"Now about Mr. Nigro/Ken Roady. He was a complete fraud. I actually talked to all of the remaining people connected to KONG years ago about this phony. He "might" have been a stuntman at some point. However, all of the stunt guys I knew had never heard of this guy.

By the way, his gorilla suit looks very much like some that Western Costume had many years ago in the late 30s and 40s. They used to sell them to the public. Maybe he bought one (?).

According to Nigro he played about every gorilla in the movies. I feel he was a sociopath (spelling) who really wanted to be famous for something. Why he chose a gorilla I'll never know. I sure wish there was some footage of him in his suit. He might have done some gigs at parties but I'm sure that was about it.

Van Horn used to do the "lady and the ape" thing at sleazy night clubs. I guess that's where Nigro picked up that story. "


( Special thanks to Bob, for sharing his input.)