Brett Apartment Raid

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Lore & Background

Wood's films are notable for their campy aesthetics, technical errors, unsophisticated special effects, use of poorly-matched stock footage, eccentric casts, idiosyncratic stories and non sequitur dialogue. They remained largely obscure until he was posthumously awarded a Golden Turkey Award for Worst Director of All Time in 1980, renewing public interest in his life and work. Some film critics, like Will Sloan, have argued against the Worst Director label, making the case that Wood was creative in working with the financial and cinematic limitations he faced. A biography, Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood Jr. by Rudolph Grey, was released in 1992 and adapted into the film Ed Wood (1994), directed by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp as Wood and Martin Landau as his frequent collaborator Bela Lugosi.

In Their Own Story

In 1953, Wood wrote and directed the semi-documentary film Glen or Glenda (originally titled I Changed My Sex!) with producer George Weiss. The film starred Wood (under the alias 'Daniel Davis') as a transvestite, his girlfriend Dolores Fuller, Timothy Farrell, Lyle Talbot, Conrad Brooks and Bela Lugosi as the narrator/scientist. Fuller was shocked when she learned soon afterward that Wood actually was a cross-dresser. In 1955, Wood produced and directed Bride of the Monster (originally titled Bride of the Atom or The Monster of the Marshes), starring Bela Lugosi as the mad scientist, Swedish wrestler Tor Johnson as mute manservant 'Lobo', Paul Marco, Billy Benedict, Harvey B. Dunn and Loretta King. Soon after the film was completed, Bela Lugosi committed himself to the Norwalk State Hospital for three months to be treated for drug addiction.

Reader's Guide

In late 1956, Wood co-produced, wrote, and directed his science fiction opus Plan 9 from Outer Space (his screenplay was originally titled Grave Robbers from Outer Space), which featured Bela Lugosi in a small role. Although Lugosi died in August 1956 before production began, Wood used footage he had shot of Lugosi in 1955–1956. The film also starred Tor Johnson. Wood's films are known for their technical errors, unsophisticated special effects, and use of poorly-matched stock footage. The biography Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood Jr. by Rudolph Grey (1992) provides extensive details on Wood's life and career, including his military service in the United States Marine Corps from 1942 to 1946, where he reached the rank of corporal.

Did You Know?

• Wood's mother Lillian would dress him in girl's clothing when he was a child because she had always wanted a daughter.
• Wood's first movie camera was a Kodak 'Cine Special', received as a gift on his 12th birthday in 1936.
• One of Wood's first pieces of footage showed the airship Hindenburg passing over the Hudson River at Poughkeepsie, hours before its disastrous crash at Lakehurst, New Jersey.
• Wood used the pen name 'Ann Gora' in reference to Angora, his favorite textile.
• Wood's wartime dental extractions were carried out over several months by Navy dentists, unconnected to any combat.