type	monarch
name	Edward VII
imgw	210
reign	22 January 1901 – 6 May 1910
coronation	9 August 1902
cor-type	britain
coronation1	1 January 1903
cor-type1	Imperial Durbar
succession	King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, Emperor of India
moretext	(more...)
predecessor	Victoria
successor	George V
reg-type	Prime Ministers
regent	''See list''
spouse	Alexandra of Denmark
issue	Prince Albert Victor, Duke of ClarenceGeorge VLouise, Princess Royal and Duchess of FifePrincess VictoriaMaud, Queen of NorwayPrince Alexander John of Wales
full name	Albert Edward
house	House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
father	Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
mother	Queen Victoria
birth date	November 09, 1841
birth place	Buckingham Palace, London
death date	May 06, 1910
death place	Buckingham Palace, London
date of burial	20 May 1910
place of burial	St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
signature	EdwardVII Signature.svg }}

Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. He was the first British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which was renamed the House of Windsor by his son, George V.

Before his accession to the throne, Edward held the title of Prince of Wales and was heir apparent to the throne for longer than any of his predecessors. During the long widowhood of his mother, Queen Victoria, he was largely excluded from political power and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite.

The Edwardian era, which covered Edward's reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including powered flight and the rise of socialism. Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet, the reform of the Army Medical Services, and the reorganisation of the British army after the Second Boer War. He fostered good relations between the UK and other European countries, especially France, for which he was popularly called "Peacemaker", but his relationship with his nephew, Wilhelm II of Germany, was poor. Edward presciently suspected that Wilhelm would precipitate a war, and four years after Edward's death, World War I brought an end to the Edwardian way of life.

Early life

Edward was born at 10:48 am on 9 November 1841 in Buckingham Palace. His parents were Queen Victoria and her husband and first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was christened Albert Edward (after his father, and maternal grandfather Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn) at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 25 January 1842. His godparents were the King of Prussia, his paternal grandfather's wife the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (for whom the Duchess of Kent, his maternal grandmother, stood proxy), his great-uncle the Duke of Cambridge, his great-grandfather's wife the Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Altenburg (for whom the Duchess of Cambridge, his great-aunt, stood proxy), his great-aunt the Princess Sophia (for whom Princess Augusta of Cambridge, his first cousin once-removed, stood proxy) and his great-uncle Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was known as Bertie to the family throughout his life.

As the eldest son of a British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth. As a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. Queen Victoria created her son Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 8 December 1841. He was created Earl of Dublin on 17 January 1850, a Knight of the Garter on 9 November 1858, and a Knight of the Thistle on 24 May 1867. In 1863, he renounced his succession rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in favour of his younger brother, Prince Alfred.

Education

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were determined that their eldest son should have an education that would prepare him to be a model constitutional monarch. At age seven, Edward embarked on a rigorous educational programme devised by Prince Albert, and under the supervision of several tutors. However, unlike his elder sister, Edward did not excel in his studies. He tried to meet the expectations of his parents, but to no avail. Although Edward was not a diligent student—his true talents were those of charm, sociability and tact—Benjamin Disraeli described him as informed, intelligent and of sweet manner.

After an educational trip to Rome, undertaken in the first few months of 1859, he spent the summer of that year studying at the University of Edinburgh under, amongst others, Lyon Playfair. In October he matriculated as an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. Now released from the educational strictures imposed by his parents, he enjoyed studying for the first time and performed satisfactorily in examinations. In 1861, Edward transferred to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was tutored in history by Charles Kingsley, Regius Professor of Modern History. Kingsley's efforts brought forth the best academic performances of Edward's life, and Edward actually looked forward to his lectures.

Early adulthood

In 1860, Edward undertook the first tour of North America by an heir to the British throne. His genial good humour and confident ''bonhomie'' made the tour a great success. He inaugurated the Victoria Bridge, Montreal, across the St Lawrence River, and laid the cornerstone of Parliament Hill, Ottawa. He watched Charles Blondin traverse Niagara Falls by highwire, and stayed for three days with President James Buchanan at the White House. Buchanan accompanied the Prince to Mount Vernon, to pay his respects at the tomb of George Washington. Vast crowds greeted him everywhere. He met Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Prayers for the royal family were said in Trinity Church, New York, for the first time since 1776. The four-month tour throughout Canada and the United States considerably boosted Edward's confidence and self-esteem, and had many diplomatic benefits for Great Britain.

Upon his return, Edward hoped to pursue a career in the British Army, but this was denied him because he was heir to the throne. His military ranks were honorary. In September 1861, Edward was sent to Germany, supposedly to watch military manoeuvres, but actually in order to engineer a meeting between him and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, the eldest daughter of Prince Christian of Denmark and his wife Louise. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had already decided that Edward and Alexandra should marry. They met at Speyer on 24 September under the auspices of his elder sister, the Crown Princess of Prussia. Edward's elder sister, acting upon instructions from their mother, had met Princess Alexandra at Strelitz in June; the young Danish princess made a very favourable impression. Edward and Alexandra were friendly from the start; the meeting went well for both sides, and marriage plans advanced.

From this time, Edward gained a reputation as a playboy. Determined to get some army experience, Edward attended manoeuvres in Ireland, during which an actress, Nellie Clifden, was hidden in his tent by his fellow officers. Prince Albert, though ill, was appalled and visited Edward at Cambridge to issue a reprimand. Albert died in December 1861 just two weeks after the visit. Queen Victoria was inconsolable, wore mourning clothes for the rest of her life and blamed Edward for his father's death. At first, she regarded her son with distaste as frivolous, indiscreet and irresponsible. She wrote to her eldest daughter, "I never can, or shall, look at him without a shudder."

Marriage

Once widowed, Queen Victoria effectively withdrew from public life. Shortly after Prince Albert's death, she arranged for Edward to embark on an extensive tour of the Middle East, visiting Egypt, Jerusalem, Damascus, Beirut and Constantinople. As soon as he returned to Britain, preparations were made for his engagement, which was sealed at Laeken in Belgium on 9 September 1862. Edward and Alexandra married at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 10 March 1863. Edward was 21; Alexandra was 18.

Edward and his wife established Marlborough House as their London residence and Sandringham House in Norfolk as their country retreat. They entertained on a lavish scale. Their marriage met with disapproval in certain circles because most of Queen Victoria's relations were German, and Denmark was at loggerheads with Germany over the territories of Schleswig and Holstein. When Alexandra's father inherited the throne of Denmark in November 1863, the German Confederation took the opportunity to invade and annex Schleswig-Holstein. Queen Victoria was of two minds whether it was a suitable match given the political climate. After the couple's marriage, she expressed anxiety about their socialite lifestyle and attempted to dictate to them on various matters, including the names of their children.

Edward had mistresses throughout his married life. He socialised with actress Lillie Langtry; Lady Randolph Churchill (mother of Winston Churchill); Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick; actress Sarah Bernhardt; noblewoman Susan Pelham-Clinton; singer Hortense Schneider; prostitute Giulia Barucci; wealthy humanitarian Agnes Keyser; and Alice Keppel. At least fifty-five liaisons are conjectured. How far these relationships went is not always clear. Edward always strove to be discreet, but this did not prevent society gossip or press speculation. One of Alice Keppel's great-granddaughters, Camilla Parker Bowles, became the mistress and subsequently wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, one of Edward's great-great grandsons. It was rumoured that Camilla's grandmother, Sonia Keppel (born in May 1900), was the illegitimate daughter of Edward, but she was "almost certainly" the daughter of George Keppel, whom she resembled. Edward never acknowledged any illegitimate children. Alexandra is believed to have been aware of many of his affairs and to have accepted them.

In 1869, Sir Charles Mordaunt, a British Member of Parliament, threatened to name Edward as co-respondent in his divorce suit. Ultimately, he did not do so but Edward was called as a witness in the case in early 1870. It was shown that Edward had visited the Mordaunts' house while Sir Charles was away sitting in the House of Commons. Although nothing further was proven and Edward denied he had committed adultery, the suggestion of impropriety was damaging.

Heir apparent

During Queen Victoria's widowhood, Edward pioneered the idea of royal public appearances as we understand them today—for example, opening Thames Embankment in 1871, Mersey Tunnel in 1886, and Tower Bridge in 1894. However, his mother did not allow Edward an active role in the running of the country until 1898. He was sent summaries of important government documents, but she refused to give him access to the originals. He annoyed his mother by siding with Denmark on the Schleswig-Holstein Question in 1864 (she was pro-German) and in the same year annoyed her again by making a special effort to meet Garibaldi. Liberal Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone sent him papers secretly. In 1870, republican sentiment in Britain was given a boost when the French Emperor, Napoleon III, was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War and the French Third Republic was declared. However, in the winter of 1871, a brush with death led to an improvement both in Edward's popularity with the public as well as in his relationship with his mother. While staying at Londesborough Lodge, near Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Edward contracted typhoid, the disease that was believed to have killed his father. There was great national concern, and one of his fellow guests (Lord Chesterfield) died. Edward's recovery was greeted with almost universal relief. Public celebrations included the composition of Arthur Sullivan's Festival Te Deum. Edward cultivated politicians from all parties, including republicans, as his friends, and thereby largely dissipated any residual feelings against him. From 1886, Foreign Secretary Lord Rosebery sent him Foreign Office despatches, and from 1892 some Cabinet papers were opened to him.

In 1875, Edward set off for India on an extensive eight-month tour of the sub-continent. His advisors remarked on his habit of treating all people the same, regardless of their social station or colour. In letters home, he complained of the treatment of the native Indians by the British officials: "Because a man has a black face and a different religion from our own, there is no reason why he should be treated as a brute." At the end of the tour, his mother was given the title Empress of India by Parliament, in part as a result of the tour's success.

Edward was a patron of the arts and sciences and helped found the Royal College of Music. He opened the college in 1883 with the words, "Class can no longer stand apart from class ... I claim for music that it produces that union of feeling which I much desire to promote." At the same time, he enjoyed gambling and country sports and was an enthusiastic hunter. He ordered all the clocks at Sandringham to run half an hour fast to create more time for shooting. This so-called tradition of Sandringham Time continued until 1936, when it was abolished by Edward VIII. He also laid out a golf course at Windsor. By the 1870s the future king had taken a keen interest in horseracing and steeplechasing. In 1896, his horse Persimmon won both the Derby Stakes and the St. Leger Stakes. In 1900, Persimmon's brother, Diamond Jubilee, won five races (Derby, St. Leger, 2,000 Guineas Stakes, Newmarket Stakes and Eclipse Stakes) and another of Edward's horses, Ambush II, won the Grand National.

He was regarded worldwide as an arbiter of men's fashions. He made wearing tweed, Homburg hats and Norfolk jackets fashionable, and popularised the wearing of black ties with dinner jackets, instead of white tie and tails. He pioneered the pressing of trouser legs from side to side in preference to the now normal front and back creases, and was thought to have introduced the stand-up turn-down shirt collar. A stickler for proper dress, he is said to have admonished the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, for wearing the trousers of an Elder Brother of Trinity House with a Privy Councillor's coat. Deep in an international crisis, the Prime Minister informed the Prince of Wales that it had been a dark morning, and that "my mind must have been occupied by some subject of less importance." The tradition of men not buttoning the bottom button of suit-coats is said to be linked to Edward, who supposedly left his undone due to his large girth. His waist measured 48 inches (122 cm) shortly before his coronation. He introduced the practice of eating roast beef, roast potatoes, horseradish sauce and yorkshire pudding on Sundays, which remains a staple British favourite for Sunday lunch.

In 1891, Edward was embroiled in the Royal Baccarat Scandal, when it was revealed he had played an illegal card game for money the previous year. The Prince was forced to appear as a witness in court for a second time when one of the players unsuccessfully sued his fellow players for slander after being accused of cheating. In the same year Edward was involved in a personal conflict, when Lord Charles Beresford threatened to reveal details of Edward's private life to the press, as a protest against Edward interfering with Beresford's affair with Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick. The friendship between the two men was irreversibly damaged and their bitterness would last for the remainder of their lives. Usually, Edward's outbursts of temper were short-lived, and "after he had let himself go ... [he would] smooth matters by being especially nice".

In 1892, Edward's eldest son, Albert Victor, was engaged to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck. Just a few weeks after the engagement, Albert Victor died of pneumonia. Edward was grief-stricken. "To lose our eldest son", he wrote, "is one of those calamities one can never really get over". Edward told Queen Victoria, "[I would] have given my life for him, as I put no value on mine". Albert Victor was the second of Edward's children to die. In 1871, his youngest son, John, had died just 24 hours after being born. Edward had insisted on placing John in his coffin personally with "the tears rolling down his cheeks".

On his way to Denmark through Belgium on 4 April 1900 Edward was the victim of an attempted assassination, when Jean-Baptiste Sipido shot at him in protest over the Boer War. Sipido escaped to France; the perceived delay of the Belgian authorities in applying for extradition, combined with British disgust at Belgian atrocities in the Congo, worsened the already poor relationship between the United Kingdom and the Continent. However, in the next ten years, Edward's affability and popularity, as well as his use of family connections, assisted Britain in building European alliances.

Accession

When Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901, Edward became King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India and, in an innovation, King of the British Dominions. He chose to reign under the name Edward VII, instead of Albert Edward—the name his mother had intended for him to use, declaring that he did not wish to "undervalue the name of Albert" and diminish the status of his father with whom among royalty the name Albert should stand alone. The number VII was occasionally omitted in Scotland, even by the national church, in deference to protests that the previous Edwards were English kings who had "been excluded from Scotland by battle". J. B. Priestley recalled, "I was only a child when he succeeded Victoria in 1901, but I can testify to his extraordinary popularity. He was in fact the most popular king England had known since the earlier 1660s."

He donated his parents' house, Osborne on the Isle of Wight, to the state and continued to live at Sandringham. He could afford to be magnanimous; it was claimed that he was the first heir to succeed to the throne in credit. Edward's finances had been ably managed by Sir Dighton Probyn, Comptroller of the Household, and had benefited from advice from Edward's Jewish financier friends, such as Ernest Cassel, Maurice de Hirsch and the Rothschild family. At a time of widespread anti-Semitism, Edward attracted criticism for openly socialising with Jews.

Edward VII and Alexandra were crowned at Westminster Abbey on 9 August 1902 by the 80-year-old Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple, who died only four months later. Edward's coronation had originally been scheduled for 26 June, but two days before on 24 June, Edward was diagnosed with appendicitis. Thanks to developments in anaesthesia and antisepsis in the preceding 50 years, he underwent a life-saving operation, performed by Sir Frederick Treves. This was at a time when appendicitis was generally not treated operatively and carried a high mortality rate. Treves, with the support of Lord Lister, performed a then-radical operation of draining the infected appendix through a small incision. The next day, Edward was sitting up in bed, smoking a cigar. Two weeks later, it was announced that the King was out of danger. Treves was honoured with a baronetcy (which Edward had arranged before the operation) and appendix surgery entered the medical mainstream.

Edward refurbished the royal palaces, reintroduced the traditional ceremonies, such as the State Opening of Parliament, that his mother had forgone, and founded new orders of honours, such as the Order of Merit, to recognise contributions to the arts and sciences. In 1902, the Shah of Persia, Mozzafar-al-Din, visited England expecting to receive the Order of the Garter. Edward refused to give this high honour to the Shah because the order was meant to be his personal gift and the Foreign Secretary, Lord Lansdowne, had promised the order without his consent. Edward also objected to inducting a Muslim into a Christian order of chivalry. His refusal threatened to damage British attempts to gain influence in Persia, but Edward resented his ministers' attempts to reduce the King's traditional powers. Eventually, he relented and Britain sent a special embassy to the Shah with a full Order of the Garter the following year.

"Uncle of Europe"

As king, Edward's main interests lay in the fields of foreign affairs and naval and military matters. Fluent in French and German, he made a number of visits abroad, and took annual holidays in Biarritz and Marienbad. One of his most important foreign trips was an official visit to France in spring 1903 as the guest of President Émile Loubet. Following a visit to the Pope in Rome, this trip helped create the atmosphere for the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale, an agreement delineating British and French colonies in North Africa, and ruling out any future war between the two countries. The Entente was negotiated between the French foreign minister, Théophile Delcassé, and the British foreign secretary, Lord Lansdowne. Signed on 8 April 1904 by Lansdowne and the French ambassador Paul Cambon, it marked the end of centuries of Anglo-French rivalry and Britain's splendid isolation from Continental affairs, and attempted to counterbalance the growing dominance of the German Empire and its ally, Austria-Hungary.

Edward was related to nearly every other European monarch and came to be known as the "uncle of Europe". The German Emperor Wilhelm II, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse, Duke Charles Edward of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Duke Ernst August of Brunswick were Edward's nephews; Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain, Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden, Crown Princess Marie of Romania, Crown Princess Sophia of Greece, Empress Alexandra of Russia, Grand Duchess Alexandra of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Duchess Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen were his nieces; King Haakon VII of Norway was both his nephew by marriage and his son-in-law; King George I of Greece and King Frederick VIII of Denmark were his brothers-in-law; King Albert I of Belgium, King Charles I and King Manuel II of Portugal, and Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria were his second cousins. Edward doted on his grandchildren, and indulged them, to the consternation of their governesses. However, there was one relation whom Edward did not like and his difficult relationship with his nephew, Wilhelm II, exacerbated the tensions between Germany and Britain.

In 1908, Edward became the first British monarch to visit the Russian Empire, despite refusing to visit in 1906, when Anglo-Russian relations were strained in the aftermath of the Dogger Bank incident, the Russo-Japanese war and the Tsar's dissolution of the Duma.

Political opinions

Edward involved himself heavily in discussions over army reform, the need for which had become apparent with the failings of the Boer War. He supported the re-design of army command, the creation of the Territorial Army, and the decision to provide an Expeditionary Force supporting France in the event of war with Germany. Reform of the Royal Navy was also suggested, partly due to the ever-increasing Naval Estimates, and because of the emergence of the Imperial German Navy as a new strategic threat. Ultimately a dispute arose between Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, who favoured increased spending and a broad deployment, and the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John Fisher, who favoured efficiency savings, scrapping obsolete vessels, and a strategic realignment of the Royal Navy relying on torpedo craft for home defence backed by the new dreadnoughts. Edward lent support to Fisher, in part because he disliked Beresford, and eventually Beresford was dismissed. Beresford continued his campaign outside of the navy and Fisher ultimately announced his resignation in late 1909, although the bulk of his policies were retained. The King was intimately involved in the appointment of Fisher's successor as the Fisher-Beresford feud had split the service, and the only truly qualified figure known to be outside of both camps was Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson, who had retired in 1907. Wilson was reluctant to return to active duty, but Edward persuaded him to do so, and Wilson became First Sea Lord on 25 January 1910.

In the last year of his life, Edward became embroiled in a constitutional crisis when the Conservative majority in the House of Lords refused to pass the "People's Budget" proposed by the Liberal government of Prime Minister H. H. Asquith. The King let Asquith know that he would only be willing to appoint additional peers, if necessary, to enable the budget's passage in the House of Lords, if Asquith won two successive general elections.

Edward was rarely interested in politics, although his views on some issues were notably liberal for the time. During his reign he said use of the word "nigger" was "disgraceful" despite it then being in common parlance. While Prince of Wales, he had to be dissuaded from breaking with constitutional precedent by openly voting for Gladstone's Representation of the People Bill (1884) in the House of Lords. On other matters he was less progressive: he did not, for example, favour giving votes to women, although he did suggest that the social reformer Octavia Hill serve on the Commission for Working Class Housing. He was also opposed to Irish Home Rule, instead preferring a form of dual monarchy. Edward lived a life of luxury that was often far removed from that of the majority of his subjects. However, his personal charm with people at all levels of society and his strong condemnation of prejudice went some way to assuage republican and racial tensions building during his lifetime.

Death

Edward usually smoked twenty cigarettes and twelve cigars a day. Towards the end of his life he increasingly suffered from bronchitis. In March 1910, the King was staying at Biarritz when he collapsed. He remained there to convalesce, while in London Asquith tried to get the Finance Bill passed. The King's continued ill-health was unreported and he attracted criticism for staying in France whilst political tensions were so high. On 27 April he returned to Buckingham Palace, still suffering from severe bronchitis. Alexandra returned from visiting her brother, King George I of Greece, in Corfu a week later on 5 May.

The following day, the King suffered several heart attacks, but refused to go to bed saying, "No, I shall not give in; I shall go on; I shall work to the end." Between moments of faintness, the Prince of Wales (shortly to be King George V) told him that his horse, Witch of the Air, had won at Kempton Park that afternoon. The King replied, "I am very glad": his final words. At half-past-eleven he lost consciousness for the last time and was put to bed. He died at 11:45 pm

The story that Queen Alexandra invited Edward's last mistress, society beauty Alice Keppel, to the King's death-bed is possibly a myth that Alice herself propagated. Mrs Keppel was asked at the King's request and, in a fit of hysterics, she was reportedly ejected shrieking, "I never did any harm, there was nothing wrong between us. What is to become of me?"

Legacy

The lead ship of a new class of battleships, launched in 1903, was named in his honour. Many schools in England are named after Edward; two of the largest are in Melton Mowbray and Sheffield. King Edward VII School in Johannesburg, South Africa, is one of the oldest schools in that country, and was named in honour of Edward after his death. King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Mumbai, India, the King Edward Medical University in Pakistan, King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women in Subiaco, Western Australia, and King Edward VII Hall at the National University of Singapore carry King Edward's name. The Parque Eduardo VII in Lisbon, King Edward Avenue in Vancouver, Rue Edouard VII in Paris and King Edward Cigars are also named after him.

Statues of Edward can be found throughout the former empire, such as those in Waterloo Place, London, Union Street, Aberdeen, Queen's Park, Toronto, North Terrace, Adelaide, Franklin Square, Hobart, Queen Victoria Gardens, Melbourne, and outside the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney.

As king, Edward VII proved a greater success than anyone had expected, but he was already an old man and had little time left to fulfil the role. In his short reign, he ensured that his second son and heir, George V, was better prepared to take the throne. Contemporaries described their relationship as more like affectionate brothers than father and son, and on Edward's death George wrote in his diary that he had lost his "best friend and the best of fathers ... I never had a [cross] word with him in my life. I am heart-broken and overwhelmed with grief". Edward received criticism for his apparent pursuit of self-indulgent pleasure but he received great praise for his affable and kind good manners, and his diplomatic skill. As his grandson wrote, "his lighter side ... obscured the fact that he had both insight and influence." "He had a tremendous zest for pleasure but he also had a real sense of duty", wrote J. B. Priestley. Lord Esher wrote that Edward was "kind and debonair and not undignified – but too human". Edward VII is buried at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. As Barbara Tuchman noted in ''The Guns of August'', his funeral marked "the greatest assemblage of royalty and rank ever gathered in one place and, of its kind, the last".

Edward had been afraid that his nephew, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, would tip Europe into war. Four years after Edward's death, World War I broke out. The naval reforms and the Anglo-French alliance he had supported, as well as the relationships between his extended royal family, were put to the test. The war marked the end of the Edwardian way of life.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Name	Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Dipstyle	His Majesty
Offstyle	Your Majesty
Altstyle	Sir }}

Titles and styles

9 November – 8 December 1841: ''His Royal Highness'' The Duke of Cornwall

8 December 1841 – 22 January 1901: ''His Royal Highness'' The Prince of Wales

*''in Scotland: His Royal Highness'' The Prince Albert Edward, Duke of Rothesay

*17 January 1850 – 22 January 1901: The Earl of Dublin (merged with the Crown in 1901)

22 January 1901 – 6 May 1910: ''His Majesty'' The King

*''with regard to India: His Imperial Majesty'' The King-Emperor

Honours

9 November 1858: Knight of the Garter

24 May 1867: Knight of the Thistle

Arms

As Prince of Wales, Edward's arms were the royal arms differenced by a label of three points argent, and an inescutcheon of the shield of Saxony, representing his father. When he acceded as King, he gained the royal arms undifferenced.

{{Image gallery|width=200|height=200 |Coat of Arms of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (1841-1901).svg|See adjacent text|Coat of arms as Prince of Wales from 1841–1901 |Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837-1952).svg|See adjacent text|Coat of arms of Edward VII of the United Kingdom |Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom in Scotland (1837-1952).svg|See adjacent text|Coat of arms of Edward VII of the United Kingdom (in Scotland) }}

Ancestry and descent

Ancestors

{{ahnentafel-compact5 |style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%; |border=1 |boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0; |boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; |boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; |boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe; |1= 1. Edward VII of the United Kingdom |2= 2. Albert, Prince Consort |3= 3. Queen Victoria |4= 4. Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |5= 5. Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg |6= 6. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn |7= 7. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld |8= 8. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld |9= 9. Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf |10= 10. Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg |11= 11. Duchess Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin |12= 12. George III of the United Kingdom |13= 13. Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz |14= 14. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (= 8) |15= 15. Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf (= 9) |16= 16. Ernest Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld |17= 17. Duchess Sophie Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel |18= 18. Henry XXIV, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf |19= 19. Countess Karoline Ernestine of Erbach-Schönberg |20= 20. Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg |21= 21. Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen |22= 22. Frederick Francis I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin |23= 23. Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg |24= 24. Frederick, Prince of Wales |25= 25. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha |26= 26. Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prince of Mirow |27= 27. Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen |28= 28. Ernest Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (= 16) |29= 29. Duchess Sophie Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (= 17) |30= 30. Henry XXIV, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf (= 18) |31= 31. Countess Karoline Ernestine of Erbach-Schönberg (= 19) }}

Children

3 June 1865 20 February 1867 6 July 1868 26 November 1869 6 April 1871

style="width:25%;"	Name!! style="width:15%;"|Birth!! style="width:15%;"|Death!! style="width:45%;"|Notes
Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale	HRH Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale	8 January 1864
George V of the United Kingdom	HM King George V	|	20 January 1936	Mary of Teck>Princess Mary of Teck; had issue
Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife	HRH The Princess Louise, Princess Royal	|	4 January 1931	married 1889, Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife; had issue
Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom	HRH The Princess Victoria	|	3 December 1935
Maud of Wales	HRH The Princess Maud	|	20 November 1938	Haakon VII of Norway>Haakon VII, King of Norway; had issue
Prince Alexander John of Wales	HRH Prince Alexander John	|	7 April 1871

See also

Cultural depictions of Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII 2d Tyrian plum, a rare stamp

1908 Summer Olympics, which he opened

Notes and sources

References

Matthew, H. C. G. (September 2004; online edition May 2006) "Edward VII (1841–1910)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32975, retrieved 24 June 2009 (Subscription required)

Further reading

External links

Macaulay, James (editor) (1889). ''Speeches and addresses of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales: 1863–1888'' London: Murray.

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Name	Ed Wood
Birth name	Edward Davis Wood, Jr.
Birth date	October 10, 1924
Birth place	Poughkeepsie, New York, United States
Death date	December 10, 1978
Death place	Los Angeles, California, United States
Years active	1947-1978
Death cause	Heart attack
Spouse
Occupation	Screenwriter, film director, film producer, actor, author, and editor
Children	Kathleen Emily Wood
Allegiance
Branch
Birth place	Poughkeepsie, New York
Death place	Los Angeles, California
Serviceyears	1942-1946
Battles	World War II: Guadalcanal Campaign Battle of Tarawa }}

}}

Edward Davis Wood, Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978), better known as Ed Wood, was an American screenwriter, director, producer, actor, author, and editor, who often performed many of these functions simultaneously. In the 1950s, Wood made a number of cheap genre films, now enjoyed for their technical errors, unsophisticated special effects, large amounts of ill-fitting stock footage, idiosyncratic dialogue, eccentric casts and outlandish plot elements, although his flair for showmanship gave his projects at least a modicum of critical success.

Wood's popularity waned soon after his biggest name star Bela Lugosi died. He was able to salvage a saleable feature from Lugosi's last moments on film, but his career declined thereafter. Toward the end of his life, Wood made pornographic movies and wrote pulp crime, horror, and sex novels. His infamy began two years after his death, when he was awarded a Golden Turkey Award as Worst Director of All Time. The lack of filmmaking ability in his work has earned Wood and his films a considerable cult following.

Following the publication of Rudolph Grey's biography ''Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr.'' (1992), Wood's life and work have undergone a public rehabilitation of sorts, with new light shed on his evident zeal and honest love of movies and movie production. Tim Burton's biopic of the director's life, ''Ed Wood'', earned two Academy Awards.

Early years

Wood's father, Edward Sr., worked for the Postal Service and his family relocated numerous times around the United States. Eventually, they settled in Poughkeepsie, New York where Ed Wood, Jr. was born.

During his childhood, Wood was interested in the performing arts and pulp fiction. He collected comics and pulp magazines, and adored movies, most notably Westerns, and anything involving the occult. He would often skip school in favor of watching pictures at the local movie theater, where stills from the day's movie would often be thrown in the trash by theater staff, allowing Wood to salvage them to add to his extensive collection.

It is believed that Wood's mother, Lillian, always wanted a girl and would sometimes, until he was about 12 years old, dress her son in skirts and dresses. For the rest of his life, Wood was a heterosexual crossdresser.

On his 12th birthday, Wood received his first movie camera, a Kodak "Cine Special". One of his first pieces of footage, and one that imbued him with pride, was the airship ''Hindenburg'' passing over the Hudson River at Poughkeepsie, shortly before its famous fiery demise at Lakehurst, New Jersey.

One of his first paid jobs was as a cinema usher, and he also sang and played drums in a band. He later fronted a singing quartet called Eddie Wood's Little Splinters, having learned to play a variety of string instruments.

Wood enlisted in the Marines at age 17, just months after the Attack on Pearl Harbor. He served from 1942–46 and claimed that he had participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal while secretly wearing a brassiere and panties beneath his uniform.

Fascinated by the exotic and bizarre, Wood joined a carnival following his discharge from the Marines. His several missing teeth and disfigured leg (wounds suffered while in combat) combined with personal fetishes and acting skills made him a perfect candidate for the freak show. Wood played, among others, the geek and the bearded lady. As the bearded lady, he donned women's clothing and created his own prosthetic breasts. Carnivals would be frequently depicted in Wood's works, most notably the semi-autobiographical novel ''Killer in Drag''.

Wood's other habits included soft drugs, alcohol, and sex. He was a womanizer in his younger days, but in later life he was faithful to his girlfriends (most notably Dolores Fuller) and wife (Kathy O'Hara). Wood had one child, a daughter named Kathleen Emily Wood.

Wood's first wife, Norma McCarty, kicked him out of their house not long after they were married. McCarty had a son, Michael ("Mac"), from a relationship prior to Wood.

Movies

:''For a list of films involving Ed Wood, see Ed Wood Jr. Filmography.''

Wood's film career began after moving to Hollywood in 1947. He wrote scripts and directed television pilots, commercials, and several forgotten micro-budget westerns with names such as ''Crossroads Of Laredo'' and ''Crossroads Avenger: The Legend of the Tucson Kid''. Wood wrote, produced, directed, and starred in ''Casual Company'', a play from his unpublished novel which was based on his service in the United States Marine Corps. The play opened at the Village Playhouse in Hollywood to disastrous reviews on October 25, 1948.

''Glen or Glenda''

Wood's big break came in 1953 when he was hired by producer George Weiss to make an exploitation film, ''I Changed My Sex'', based on the life of transsexual Christine Jorgensen. After Jorgensen refused to collaborate on the film, Wood wrote a new autobiographical screenplay titled ''Glen or Glenda'', a sincere and sympathetic study of transvestism. Wood directed and, using the alias Daniel Davis, played the titular character who has a fetish for cross-dressing and angora sweaters.

Angora was regularly featured in his films. His wife Kathy O'Hara and others recall that Wood's transvestism was not a sexual inclination, but rather a neomaternal comfort derived mainly from angora fabric (''Ann Gora'' also happened to be one of Wood's pen names). The medical experts in the film go to great lengths to stress that the transvestite is a perfectly normal heterosexual man who simply feels more comfortable and "more himself" when wearing women's apparel. There is even a fantasy vignette showing Glenda rebuffing the advances of a homosexual man. Even in his later years, Wood was not shy about going out in public dressed in drag as Shirley; his alter ego—female characters named Shirley also appear in many of his screenplays and stories.

Most of Wood's films have a rushed quality due to the tight shooting schedule and limited budgets. While most directors film only one scene per day (or just a fraction of one in more contemporary pictures), Wood might complete up to 30 scenes. He seldom ordered a retake, even if the original was obviously flawed. ''Glen or Glenda'', shot in just four days for $26,000, was done in a semi-documentary style. Narration and voice-over dialog was added to generous amounts of film-library stock footage (a cost-saving trick he used in his later films). The love-interest role of Barbara was played by Wood's real-life girlfriend, Dolores Fuller. She went on to appear in his next two films. Bela Lugosi, who was not told the film was about a transvestite, was paid $1,000 in cash for one day of filming. In a dark haunted-house set, speaking in vague, baffling metaphors and nursery rhymes, he played a portentous, omnipotent narrator.

The centerpiece of the film is a 15-minute fantasy sequence that illustrates Glen's tormented state of mind. Wood utilizes a barrage of surreal, dream-like vignettes with personalized symbolism. Producer George Weiss added to the confusion by inserting footage of flagellation and bondage, reminiscent of the fetish films of Irving Klaw, from another production. In this sequence, Barbara is pinned beneath a large tree (in her living room), and Glen rescues her; they are married with the Devil acting as best man; a shirtless man vigorously flogs a woman reclining on a couch; lewd burlesque dancers gyrate to blaring jazz music and tear at their clothes; a woman gagged and bound to a yoke-like pole is untied by another gagged woman; a lust-crazed man roughly assaults a seductress in a flimsy negligee; an enraged Glenda rips Barbara's blouse to shreds after she laughs at his appearance. Bela Lugosi appears in several scenes also rejecting Glenda and droning on repeatedly about "snips and snails and puppy-dog tails". The film was released under several regional titles such as ''Transvestite'', ''I Led Two Lives'', and ''He or She?''.

Middle years: ''Jail Bait'' and ''Bride of the Monster''

Wood's next project was a proposed TV series called ''Dr. Acula'', to star Lugosi as an investigator into the supernatural. When this fell through, he directed and produced the low-budget ''Jail Bait'' (1954), a 1930s-style gangster film with a twist ending à la ''The Twilight Zone.'' Originally called ''The Hidden Face'', the title was inexplicably changed to ''Jail Bait'', from an offhand reference in the script to an illegal hand gun. Wood also co-wrote the screenplay with writer-producer friend Alex Gordon. It was Gordon who introduced Wood to Bela Lugosi in 1952. (Gordon soon went on to help create American International Pictures). Lugosi was originally cast as the father of the lead character, but dropped out due to illness. Around this time, Wood became friends with a group of B-movie actors who became part of his entourage and stock company, appearing in most of his later films. These included Kenne Duncan, Lyle Talbot, Conrad Brooks, Duke Moore, Timothy Farrell, Swedish professional wrestler Tor Johnson, pin-up model and TV horror hostess Maila Nurmi (aka Vampira), the eccentric gay socialite Bunny Breckinridge, and the psychic Criswell.

In 1955, he produced and directed his first horror film, ''Bride of the Monster'' (originally titled ''Bride of the Atom''). Although Wood took most of the writing credit, the original story, ''The Atomic Monster,'' was written by Alex Gordon. Wood contributed about half the dialogue, according to Gordon (in ''Starlog,'' November 1994). Bela Lugosi, in his last speaking role, stars as a mad scientist bent on creating an army of atomic supermen. The immense, 400-pound Tor Johnson plays Lobo, his lumbering henchman. Billy Benedict of The Bowery Boys has a walk-on role as a newspaper seller. The female lead, Loretta King, wears the same angora hat worn by Wood in ''Glen or Glenda''.

The style and content of the film is highly reminiscent of the low-budget horror movies Lugosi made for Monogram Pictures in the 1940s, particularly ''The Corpse Vanishes''. Wood's script even recreates a laboratory scene from that film (Lugosi's mad scientist flogging his henchman) with the same fake, painted stone wall backdrop. Budget-saving film library footage of lightning, explosions, a nuclear blast, and a giant "atomic" octopus was also inserted. In one scene the hero, trapped in quicksand, is menaced by an obvious stock footage alligator. Contrary to what's seen in ''Ed Wood'', Lugosi's stunt double was reduced to thrashing about in the mud with a large rubber octopus when the motor needed to turn it into a flailing beast could not be located (Burton's film implies that Lugosi himself performed the stunt, however the performer playing Varnoff in this scene is clearly not Lugosi). Allegedly, the octopus's motor was left behind when Wood and the crew stole the octopus from a Warner Bros. prop warehouse.

''Plan 9 from Outer Space''

Wood, in 1956, planned to follow ''Bride of the Monster'' with ''The Ghoul Goes West'' (a.k.a. ''The Phantom Ghoul''), which would have been a combination of his two favorite genres: Horror and Westerns. The story was mainly a rehash of ''Bride of the Monster'' in a western setting (a synopsis of the screenplay was published in ''Filmfax'' no. 18, December/January 1989-90). Lugosi, recently out of rehab for morphine addiction, was to star as the undertaker/mad scientist. Gene Autry and Lon Chaney, Jr. were also attached to the project for a time. Wood could only raise enough money to shoot one day's worth of silent test footage. A few random scenes were filmed of Lugosi at a funeral, in front of Tor Johnson's house, and stalking about in his Dracula costume (possibly intended for ''The Vampire's Tomb'', another unrealized film). The scenes were filmed to show to prospective financial backers. Lugosi died soon afterward on August 16 and the footage became the seed for Wood's next project.

''Plan 9 from Outer Space'' incorporated the final Lugosi scenes into a new story that combined horror and science fiction. Wood's chiropractor, his face hidden behind a cape, doubled for Lugosi in several scenes. Tor Johnson and wasp-waisted Vampira (Maila Nurmi) are memorable, even iconic, as zombies risen from the grave by alien invaders. The film was shot over a five-day period in November 1956 on a budget of around $20,000. All of Nurmi's scenes were filmed in just two hours (she was paid the union minimum wage of $200). Resorting again to the "docu-fantasy" approach, Criswell, the flamboyantly inaccurate TV psychic, acts as on-screen host and narrator. He cryptically describes the story as "something more than a fact". Cost-free stock footage of airliners, explosions and fighter jets were edited in. The flying saucers (made from plastic toy store models) are fired upon by an artillery barrage taken from World War II newsreels. Although completed in 1956, the film was not released until 1959, due to the inability of the producer to secure distribution.

Most notably, for ''Plan 9'' he convinced members of churches of the Southern Baptist Convention (through his landlord at the time) to invest the initial capital, allegedly convincing them that a successful science fiction picture would make enough money to fund their own pet project of 12 movies about the 12 Apostles. They reportedly changed the name of the movie from ''Grave Robbers from Outer Space'' and removed lines from the script which they considered profane; one source alleges they required the actors to accept their church's baptism as part of the deal. The grave-diggers in the picture are the two primary backers. Wood's frequently being overruled by producers and financiers was one factor contributing to his depression and was something he personally blamed for his lack of commercial success.

Another posthumous Lugosi collaboration planned by Wood, ''Ghouls Of The Moon'' (1959/60?), was to have featured additional unseen footage of the late actor held by the director. Described as 'wild stuff' by one of Wood's friends, the material was found to have deteriorated beyond usage when Wood opened the film can it was stored in. Thus the project was cancelled, with Wood moving on to ''Night Of The Ghouls'' instead.

Later years: ''The Violent Years'' and ''Night of the Ghouls''

Also in 1956, Wood's ''Teenage Girl Gang'' script was produced as ''The Violent Years'', an exploitation film about a gang of juvenile delinquent high school girls. Directed by William M. Morgan, it starred first-time actress Jean Moorhead, a former ''Playboy'' Miss October 1955 centerfold model. The film is notable for its unusual girls-gone-bad premise and risqué abduction scene where a girl is bound and gagged with strips of her shredded dress while her boyfriend is sexually assaulted (off camera) by the lusty girl gang. This foreshadows Wood's fearless, anything-goes attitude seen in his later, racier novels and films.

In 1958, Wood's screenplay ''Queen of the Gorillas'' was released as ''The Bride and the Beast'', a fantasy tale about a gorilla reincarnated in the body of a beautiful woman. That same year Wood wrote, produced, and directed ''Night of the Ghouls'' (original title: ''Revenge of the Dead''), an "old dark house" tale about a fake medium and evil spirits. The setting is the rebuilt house on Willows Lake that burned down in ''Bride of the Monster''. There are frequent references to the mad scientist (Lugosi) and monster from the previous film, and Tor Johnson reprises his Lobo role, his face now half-destroyed from the fire. Paul Marco makes his third appearance as Kelton, the cowardly, inept policeman. Criswell, billed as himself, returns as host and narrator, rising from his coffin to introduce this tale of "Monsters to be pitied. Monsters to be despised!" (Tim Burton's ''Ed Wood'' biopic opens with a faithful recreation of this scene). Criswell also plays a character role as one of the vengeful ghosts seen at the climax of the film.

In one of the early scenes, a girl (wearing an angora sweater) and her boyfriend are attacked by the Black Ghost. Wood, his face hidden by a dark veil, doubles for the female ghoul in several shots. A fight scene from the unfinished ''Hellborn'' was edited in (more scenes from that project appeared in ''The Sinister Urge''). Most of Lieutenant Bradford's exploration of Dr. Acula's house was lifted from Wood's short film ''Final Curtain'' and given a voice-over by Criswell to integrate it into the current story. A publicity photo of Wood is seen on a wanted poster on the wall of the police station. The finale, with the ghouls reduced to skeletons and Criswell's epilogue, were used again in 1965 for ''Orgy of the Dead''. For decades this remained a lost film that was never released to theaters. Wood lacked the funds to pay the film processing fees, so it languished in limbo until it was finally released on video in 1983.

Final years: scriptwriting and adult films

In 1961, Wood worked on the script for another potboiler, ''Married Too Young'', and wrote and directed ''The Sinister Urge'' from his ''Racket Queen'' script. This lurid exposé on the "smut picture racket" purports to warn against the dangers of pornography. The story concerns a police manhunt for a sex maniac psycho-killer. The police are played by Wood regulars Kenne Duncan, Duke Moore, and Carl Anthony. Filmed in five days in 1960, this is the last mainstream film that Wood directed. Ironically, his career would soon spiral downward into a blur of "smut racket" nudie flicks, softcore pornography, and end with X-rated novels and films.

In 1963, he wrote the screenplay for ''Shotgun Wedding'', an exploitation film about hillbillies marrying child brides. Wood's transitional film, once again combining two genres, horror and grindhouse skin-flick, was ''Orgy of the Dead'' (1965). Wood wrote the screenplay, originally called ''Nudie Ghoulies'', and handled various production details while Stephen C. Apostolof directed under the pseudonym ''A.C. Stephen''. The film begins with a re-creation of the opening scene from the then unreleased ''Night of the Ghouls.'' Criswell, wearing one of Lugosi's old capes, rises from his coffin to deliver an introduction taken almost word-for-word from the previous film. Set in a misty graveyard, the Lord of the Dead (Criswell) and his sexy consort, The Black Ghoul (a Vampira lookalike) preside over a series of macabre performances by topless dancers from beyond the grave (recruited by Wood from local strip clubs). Together, Wood and Apostolof went on to make a string of sexploitation flicks up to 1977. Wood co-wrote the screenplays and occasionally acted. ''Venus Flytrap'' (1970), a US/Japan horror film, was based on an unproduced screenplay of Wood's from the 1950s.

His remaining output until his death in 1978 was confined to writing lurid crime and sex novels, often featuring girl gangs and transvestites, and a dozen obscure, low-budget adult films, some with an occult theme. Titles include ''The Photographer'' (1969), ''Take It Out in Trade'' (1970), ''The Only House in Town'' (1970), with Uschi Digard, ''Necromania'' (1971), ''The Undergraduate'' (1972), and ''Fugitive Girls'' (1974). As told in ''Nightmare of Ecstasy'', Maila Nurmi declined Wood's offer to do a nude scene sitting up in a coffin for ''Necromania''.

Documentaries

''Flying Saucers Over Hollywood: The Plan 9 Companion,'' was released in 1992. This exhaustive two-hour documentary by Mark Carducci chronicles the making of ''Plan 9 from Outer Space'' and features interviews with Maila Nurmi (Vampira), Paul Marco, Conrad Brooks, et al. In 2000, Image Entertainment included the documentary on the DVD reissue of ''Plan 9 from Outer Space'' (in a two-disc set with ''Robot Monster'').

''Ed Wood: Look Back In Angora,'' released in 1994 by Rhino Home Video, is a one-hour documentary on Wood's life and films. This includes rare outtakes and interviews with Dolores Fuller, Kathy Wood, Stephen Apostolof, and Conrad Brooks. Gary Owens narrates; Ted Newsom wrote and directed.

''The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood Jr.,'' written and directed by Brett Thompson, came out in 1995. This documentary about the life and films of Ed Wood features interviews with Wood's friends and co-workers and closely resembles Wood's own style, albeit with slightly better miniatures.

''The Incredibly Strange Film Show'' presented by ''Jonathan Ross''.

Lost films

Wood's 1972 film ''The Undergraduate'' is considered to be a lost film, along with his 1970 film ''Take It Out In Trade'', which exists only in outtakes without sound (released by Something Weird Video). Wood's 1971 film ''Necromania'' was believed lost for years until an edited version resurfaced at a yard sale in 1992, followed by a complete unedited print in 2001. A complete print of the previously lost Wood pornographic film ''The Young Marrieds'' was discovered in 2004.

Wood as an author

Beginning in the early 1960s, Wood supplemented his directing and screenwriting income with hastily written pulp fiction, including innumerable pulp crime, horror, and sex novels and occasional non-fiction pieces. As he became increasingly unable to fund film projects, the novels seem to have become Wood's primary source of income.

Wood's novels frequently include transvestite or drag queen characters, or entire plots centering around transvestism (including his angora fetish), and tap into his love of crime fiction and the occult. Wood would often recycle plots of his films for novels, write novelizations of his own screenplays, or reuse elements from his novels in scripts. His first novel, ''Black Lace Drag'' was published in 1963 and reissued in 1965 as ''Killer in Drag.'' Among his other books are ''Orgy of The Dead'' (1965), ''Devil Girls'' (1967), ''Death of a Transvestite'' (1967), ''The Sexecutives'' (1968) and ''A Study of Fetishes and Fantasies'' (1973).

From 1963 until his death in December 1978, Wood wrote at least 80 novels in addition to hundreds of short stories and non-fiction pieces for magazines.

In a December 2010 published article at Mondo Film & Video Guide, indie print publisher Feral House, who in the last few years had re-printed dozens of Wood's novels, ended sales on all Wood titles. Feral House informed the online film magazine, that the estate of Ed Wood had requested a cease and desist, due to a lack of knowledge on the fact, that Wood may or may not have actually written all the novels that some claim he had.

Hollywood Rat Race

Descriptions of Wood's working methods in ''Nightmare of Ecstasy'' indicate he would work on a dozen projects at once, simultaneously watching television, eating, drinking, and carrying on conversations while typing. In his quasi-memoir, ''Hollywood Rat Race'', Wood advises new writers to "just keep on writing. Even if your story gets worse, you'll get better". But mostly the book concerns the pitfalls of Hollywood, and has advice for those dreaming of making it in Hollywood. Wood does not candy coat the experience that a first-timer in the movie business will discover. He also devotes time in ''Hollywood Rat Race'' to making the reader wary of beauty pageant and modelling scams and con games, both in Hollywood and the world over.

As Wood's most famous films of the 1950s are not explicitly sexual or violent, the ''outré'' content of his novels may shock the unprepared reader. Wood's dark side emerges in such sexual shockers as ''Raped in the Grass'' or ''The Perverts'' and in short stories such as ''Toni: Black Tigress'', which exploit hot-button topics such as violence, rape, racial issues, juvenile delinquency and drug culture.

Unpublished

Some of Wood's books remained unpublished during his lifetime. ''Hollywood Rat Race'', for example, was written in the 1960s, and finished in 1965, but was not finally published until 1998. The non-fiction book is part primer for young actors and filmmakers, and part memoir. In ''Hollywood Rat Race'', Wood recounts tales of dubious authenticity, such as how he and Bela Lugosi entered the world of nightclub cabaret.

Later years and death

Wood had serious financial difficulties in his final years, often producing full movie scripts for as little as $100 in order to make ends meet. His career as a director had degenerated into making pornographic films such as ''Take It Out in Trade'' (1970), a softcore take on Philip Marlowe detective films, and ''Necromania'' (1971).

Wood also made occasional appearances as an actor, appearing in two films produced by a Marine buddy, Joseph F. Robertson. ''Love Feast'' (1969), also known as ''Pretty Models All in a Row'', was his first lead role in a film since 1953's ''Glen or Glenda'', as a photographer using his position to engage in sexual antics with professional models. He had a smaller role in Robertson's ode to swinger parties, ''Mrs. Stone's Thing''. Wood appeared as a transvestite who spends his time at a party trying on lingerie in a bedroom. In Rudolph Grey's ''Nightmare of Ecstasy'', Robertson makes a reference to Wood reappearing in a film called ''Misty'', of which no other record remains.

His primary film work in the 1970s was working with friend Stephen C. Apostolof, usually cowriting scripts, but also serving as an assistant director and associate producer. His last known on-screen appearance was in Apostolof's ''Fugitive Girls'' (aka ''Five Loose Women''), where he played a dual cameo as a gas station attendant called Pops and as the sheriff on the women's trail.

Wood's depression worsened, and with it a serious drinking problem. Evicted from his Hollywood apartment on Yucca Street, Wood and his wife moved into the North Hollywood apartment of friend Peter Coe. On December 10, 1978, only days after the move, the 54-year old Edward D. Wood died of a heart attack while watching a football game alone in Coe's bedroom. In ''Nightmare of Ecstasy'', it was reported Wood yelled out "Kathy, I can't breathe!", a plea his wife in the living room ignored for 90 minutes before finally going in to find him dead; apparently, he frequently feigned heart attacks and screamed for help as a way of teasing her, and at one point she even shouted at him to shut up.

Wood was cremated, and his ashes were scattered at sea. Wood's wife Kathy died on June 26, 2006, having never remarried.

Legacy

Among connoisseurs of kitsch and bad cinema, Edward Wood Jr. is revered as one of the ultimate ''bad'' directors of all time for a variety of reasons. His cult status began two years after his death with his recognition in the Michael and Harry Medved book ''The Golden Turkey Awards'', and has continued with the rediscovery of many of his long-lost works. In an essay paying homage to Wood in ''Incredibly Strange Films'', Jim Morton writes: "Eccentric and individualistic, Edward D Wood Jr was a man born to film. Lesser men, if forced to make movies under the conditions Wood faced, would have thrown up their hands in defeat."

The University of Southern California holds an annual ''Ed Wood Film Festival'', in which students of all disciplines are challenged to form teams to write, film and edit an Ed Wood-inspired short film based on a preassigned theme. Past themes have included ''Slippery When Wet'' (2006), ''What's That in Your Pocket?'' (2005), and ''Rebel Without a Bra'' (2004). 2007 saw a break in this tradition when the theme ''My eyes are killing me'' was accompanied by a theme object: a mirror.

Some of Wood's most famous films, including ''Glen or Glenda'' and ''Plan 9 from Outer Space'' have been remade as pornographic movies (as ''Glen & Glenda'' and ''Plan 69 from Outer Space'', respectively). They were not simply spoofed or referenced, but reshot, with the same or similar script, and sex scenes worked into the original plots.

In 1998, Wood's previously unfilmed script ''I Woke Up Early The Day I Died'' was finally produced, starring Billy Zane and Christina Ricci, and has preserved the inept, goofy character that made Wood's films famous. Outside of a brief New York theatrical engagement, the film did not receive a commercial release in the United States, and was only available on video in Germany due to contractual difficulties.

Three of his films (''Bride of the Monster'', ''The Violent Years'', and ''The Sinister Urge'') have been featured on the television series ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'', which has given those works wider exposure. Producers considered including ''Plan 9'', but found it had too much dialogue for the show's format. Series head writer and host Michael J. Nelson recorded an audio commentary for a 2005/2006 DVD release of the film, which was newly colorized.

Reverend Steve Galindo of Sacramento, California, created a legally recognized religion in 1996 with Wood as its official savior. Originally founded as a joke, the Church of Ed Wood now boasts over 3,500 baptized followers. Woodites, as Steve's followers are called, celebrate Woodmas on October 10, which is Ed's birthday. Numerous parties and concerts are held worldwide to celebrate Woodmas. On October 4/5, 2003, horror host Mr. Lobo was canonized as the "Patron Saint of late night movie hosts and insomniacs" in the Church of Ed Wood. Most documents and interviews with other Wood associates in ''Nightmare of Ecstasy'' suggest that Wood and Lugosi were genuine friends and that Wood helped Lugosi through the worst days of his depression and addiction.

The 1994 film ''Ed Wood'', by director Tim Burton, tells the story of Wood and Lugosi and the making of their three films, (''Glen or Glenda'', ''Bride of the Monster'', and ''Plan 9 from Outer Space''), from a sympathetic point of view. Wood was played by Johnny Depp and Lugosi by Martin Landau, who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The film also won an Academy Award for Best Makeup for Rick Baker. Burton's successes for previous studios such as Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox were at odds with his insistence on shooting the Wood film in black-and-white, and the studios turned it down as a probable box office failure. Eager to embrace Burton, Disney accepted the project, monochrome and all. As others had anticipated, the film received mass critical acclaim, but did poorly at the box office. It has since become a cult classic.

Collaborations

Acting

!	Glen or Glenda>Glen orGlenda''	Jail Bait (1954 film)>Jail Bait''	Bride of the Monster>Bride ofthe Monster''	! ''FinalCurtain''	Plan 9 from Outer Space>Plan 9 fromOuter Space''	Night of the Ghouls>Night ofthe Ghouls''	The Sinister Urge (film)>TheSinisterUrge''	Take It Out in Trade>Take It Outin Trade''	! ''Necromania''	! ''Crossroadsof Laredo''
Carl Anthony
Conrad Brooks
Kenne Duncan
Harvey B. Dunn
Dolores Fuller
Tor Johnson
Bela Lugosi
Paul Marco
Tom Mason
Duke Moore
Bud Osborne
Lyle Talbot
Ed Wood

See also

B movie

Z movie

''Ed Wood'', a biopic on Wood's life

Edward D. Wood, Jr. filmography

Edward D. Wood, Jr. bibliography

List of films considered the worst

References

Bibliography

Rudolph Grey, ''Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr.'', Feral House, 1992, ISBN 978-0-922915-04-0; reprinted 1994, ISBN 978-0-922915-24-8

External links

The Hunt for Edward D. Wood, Jr. Exhaustive guide to Ed's films and their commercial releases.

Ed Wood, Jr.'s magazine work (Caution: Adult images)

Ed Wood: A Neighbor on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams

The Church of Ed Wood

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