Edward Cooney (1867–1960) was an Irish evangelist from the 1890s to the 1950s. He became one of the early leaders of a church founded by William Irvine. Because of his colorful style and public preaching, his name came to be associated with the entire movement. Later, after Irvine's ouster, Cooney began to criticize the development of hierarchy within the Two by Twos, its taking of a name for official purposes, and abandonment of other of its original tenets. He and those who agreed with him were later expelled, and formed a looser group which is referred to as the Cooneyites. He continued as an itinerant evangelist until his death in 1960.

Early life[link]

Edward Cooney was born in 1867 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh in the north of Ireland, the third of eight children.^[1] He was baptised into the Church of Ireland at St. Anne's parish church (now St Macartan's Cathedral) there. His father was William Rutherford Cooney, a prominent local merchant, and his mother was Emily Maria Carson Cooney. He was educated first at the Enniskillen Model School. He went on to attend the prestigious Portora Royal School, which counted Oscar Wilde and, later, Samuel Beckett among its graduates.^[2] He was remembered by a classmate as "one of the nicest and best behaved" students at that time. Following school, he made a start in the family's business interests.^[1]

Edward's devout, elder brother William contracted tuberculosis when Edward was 17 years old. Edward also developed the infection, and they were sent to their uncle in Australia to recuperate, first William, followed by Edward. William worsened during 1887, and Edward took him to Ceylon where his mother and sister met them. Edward returned to Australia, while William was taken Ireland. William died a week after arriving home. This reportedly prompted Edward to reexamine his own life, and he felt drawn to a closer relationship with God at this time.^[3][4]

Begins preaching[link]

Edward traveled throughout Ireland on behalf of his family's business, and during the 1890s began preaching in the towns which he visited. As many of these areas were primarily Roman Catholic, Cooney's strident Protestant views often resulted in an uproar. Although still an active member of the Church of Ireland, he occasionally preached alongside members of other churches. In 1897, he met William Irvine in Borrisokane.^[4]

William Irvine was a preacher with the interdenominational Faith Mission who had become convinced that all churches had become apostate. In 1897, Irvine had begun preaching independently, and began gathering the nucleus of what would become a notable sect, the only religious movement known to have originated in Ireland.^[5] Cooney was profoundly influenced by Irvine's vision of a return to the method of ministry as commanded in Matthew 10,^[4] and regarded Irvine as "a prophet raised up by God".^[5]

Four years later, Cooney abandoned the family business, sold all his possessions, and joined Irvine's new movement. From Ireland, he travelled to England, preaching in Hyde Park, London, and at the Keswick Conventions.^[5][6] As one of its most noteworthy speakers throughout the British Isles, some began calling the nameless sect "Cooneyism", a name by which it is still known in some quarters. This led some to mistakenly assume that Cooney had founded the Two by Two church. Cooney denied starting the movement and testified in court that William Irvine had the founding role.^[7][8][9]

Cooney's family connections were useful in obtaining venues in County Fermanagh. His younger brother Alfred was a solicitor and worked on various legal matters for members of the Two by Twos.^[10] Alfred was found at their parent's home with his throat slit on 29 August 1909.^[11] In 1924, Edward's father died. He bequeathed a small annual income to Edward on condition that he give up preaching and return to the Church of Ireland. Cooney never took advantage of the offer.^[4]

When the schism between William Irvine and many in the group's leadership occurred, Mr. Cooney sided with the senior Head Workers. He did so because he thought Irvine was falling away from the movement's original ideals, and hoped that those would be restored. Despite this, and like many other senior Workers, he did not completely sever ties with Mr. Irvine. In the following years, Cooney continued as a true itinerant, and preached in countries around the globe as he felt led, with little regard to the spheres of influence being carved out by various Overseers.^[12]

Excommunication[link]

But as time progressed, there was no return to what Cooney saw as the original simplicity within the movement, and he began publicly expressing himself with regards to what he saw as being unscriptural additions and growing organization.^[5][13] These included the growing hierarchy entailing a division of territory between senior workers, finances, annual conventions, the so-called “Living Witness” doctrine, the taking of denominational names during the first World War, and other matters. That Edward Cooney was free to preach wherever he felt led, and did not believe that he had to submit his messages to be approved by the regional Overseers became a situation the latter would no longer tolerate after having attempted to persuade him to operate within their new framework.^[14]

Edward Cooney's excommunication was finalized during an extraordinary meeting held on 12 October 1928 at the home of Andrew Knox in Lurgan, Northern Ireland. During this meeting, rules were promulgated for the relationship between Overseers and the conduct of workers who preached within their respective territories. Cooney refused to submit, and was summarily expelled.^[15]

Continued evangelism[link]

A group of people who agreed with his position followed him out (or were expelled for keeping contact with him), and eventually formed their own independent fellowship.

During the next three decades, Cooney and others in fellowship with him continued to preach worldwide. Cooney was instrumental during the late 1930s in setting up a treatment program for alcoholic indigents in Birmingham, Alabama.^[16] Unlike his earlier fiery denunciation of clerics and denominations, he now was able to work alongside them, although he still did not accept them as fellow-believers in the "Jesus Way".^[17]

Those who adhered to Mr. Cooney's views today form an independent group, having dispensed with the office of “Worker” and other vestiges of clericalism which they saw as having crept in over the years.^[18][19] Edward Cooney died in 1960 and is buried in Mildura, Victoria, Australia.^[20]

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• Daniel, Kevin N. 1993. Reinventing the Truth: Historical Claims of One of the World's Largest Nameless Sects. Bend, Oregon: Research and Information Services, Inc. ISBN 978-0-9639419-0-9
• Mac Annaidh, Séamus. 2008. "Edward Cooney's Family Background" in The Fermanagh Miscellany 2. Enniskillen, Northern Ireland: Davog Press, Fermanagh Authors' Association. ISBN 978-1-907530-05-0
• Nichols, Larry A.; George A. Mather; Alvin J. Schmidt; eds. 2006. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Cults, Sects, and World Religions Revised and updated edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. ISBN 978-0-310-23954-3
• Parker, Doug and Helen. 1982. The Secret Sect. Sydney, Australia: Macarthur Press Pty. Ltd. ISBN 0-9593398-0-9
• Roberts, Patricia. 1990. The Life and Ministry of Edward Cooney. Enniskillen, Northern Ireland: William Trimble Ltd. ISBN 0-9510109-4-8
• Robinson, James. 2005. Pentecostal Origins: Early Pentecostalism in Ireland in the Context of the British Isles: Studies in Evangelical History and Thought. Milton Keynes, United Kingdom: Paternoster. ISBN 978-1-84227-329-6

Further reading[link]

• Roberts, Patricia, 1991, "Selected Letters, Hymns and Poems of Edward Cooney, 1867–1960" published by William Trimble, Ltd., Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.
• Roberts, Patricia, 1997, "Selected Letters of Fred Wood 1890–1986" published by William Trimble, Ltd., Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.
• "Eddie Cooney's Bible Bag"

Christianity portal

Ed Wood
Wood in Glen or Glenda (1953)
Born	Edward Davis Wood, Jr. (1924-10-10)October 10, 1924 Poughkeepsie, New York, United States
Died	December 10, 1978(1978-12-10) (aged 54) Los Angeles, California, United States
Cause of death	Heart attack
Occupation	Screenwriter, film director, film producer, actor, author, and editor
Years active	1947–1978
Spouse	Norma McCarty (m. 1955–1956) «start: (1955)–end+1: (1957)»"Marriage: Norma McCarty to Ed Wood" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Ed_Wood) Kathleen O'Hara (m. 1959–1978) «start: (1959)–end+1: (1979)»"Marriage: Kathleen O'Hara to Ed Wood" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Ed_Wood)
Children	Kathleen Emily Wood
Military career
Born	Poughkeepsie, New York
Died	Los Angeles, California
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1942–1946
Battles/wars	World War II: Guadalcanal Campaign Battle of Tarawa

Edward Davis "Ed" Wood, Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) 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 low-budget genre films, now notable 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 (in August 1956). 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.^[1] 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[link]

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.^[2] 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.^[2]

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^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[3]

Movies[link]

For a list of films involving Ed Wood, see Ed Wood Jr. filmography.

Ed Wood clad in wig and angora sweater for Glen or Glenda (1953)

About his films, Wood is quoted as stating,

"If you want to know me, see Glen or Glenda. That's me, that's my story, no question. But Plan 9 is my pride and joy."^[4]

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 Crossroad Avenger: The Legend of the Tucson Kid. Wood wrote, produced, directed, and starred in Casual Company,^[5] a play from his unpublished novel^[6] 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.

[edit] 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 around one to ten scenes per day, Wood might complete up to thirty 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 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 also inserted 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 repeating the phrase "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?.

[edit] 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 film 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), gay socialite Bunny Breckinridge, and 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. 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 films 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.

[edit] Plan 9 from Outer Space

In 1956, Wood 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.^[2]

Wood had planned to make another posthumous Lugosi collaboration to be called Ghouls of the Moon using additional unseen footage he had of Lugosi. 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.

[edit] 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, as well as a demonstration of his life-long inability to see when he was being totaly ridiculous.

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[link]

Wood wrote and directed The Sinister Urge from his Racket Queen script. Released in December 1960, 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, this is the last mainstream film Wood directed, although it has grindhouse elements. 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. The scenes of teenagers at a pizza place were shot in 1956 for the unfinished juvenile-delinquency film Rock and Roll Hell (a.k.a. Hellborn). This includes a fight scene performed by Ed Wood himself (uncredited) and Conrad Brooks.

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.^[7]

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,^[8] Maila Nurmi declined Wood's offer to do a nude scene sitting up in a coffin for Necromania.

Wood as an author[link]

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.^[9]

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 uncertainty about whether Wood might not have written all the novels published under his name.

[edit] 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.^[2] 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 even more than the remakably inept writing. 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[link]

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[link]

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,^[2] 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, 54-year-old Edward D. Wood, Jr., 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;^[2] 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,^[10] having never remarried.

Legacy[link]

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."^[11]

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 Seminole, Oklahoma, created a legally recognized religion in 1996 with Wood as its official savior.^[12] 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^[13]–5, 2003,^[14] horror host Mr. Lobo was canonized as the "Patron Saint of late night movie hosts and insomniacs" in the Church of Ed Wood.^[13][14]

The cult status of Ed Wood's movies is also represented in the music industry. Horror film director and heavy metal musician Rob Zombie titled his 2001 album The Sinister Urge after Wood's film.

One of Wood's heroes was Orson Welles for his cinematic ambition and passion. Wood also prided himself on the fact that he was the only filmmaker of his era other than Welles to be writer, director, and actor in his own films, although it is likely that Wood took on all of these functions to save time and money. Unlike the depiction in the Tim Burton movie Ed Wood, Wood never actually met his hero Welles.

Bela Lugosi, Jr. has been among those who felt Wood exploited the senior Lugosi's stardom, taking advantage of the fading actor when he could not refuse any work.^[15] 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 developed a cult following.

Documentaries[link]

• 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[link]

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.

Collaborations[link]

Acting[link]

	Glen or Glenda	Crossroad Avenger	Jail Bait	Bride of the Monster	Final Curtain	Plan 9 from Outer Space	Night of the Ghouls	The Sinister Urge	Take It Out in Trade	Necromania	Crossroads of Laredo
Criswell						N	N			N
Carl Anthony						N		N
Conrad Brooks	N		N	N		N	N	N
Kenne Duncan	N						N	N
Harvey B. Dunn		N		N			N	N
Timothy Farrell	N		N
Dolores Fuller	N		N	N							N
Tor Johnson				N		N	N
Tom Keene		N				N
Bela Lugosi	N			N		N
Paul Marco				N		N	N
Tom Mason					N	N	N
Duke Moore					N	N	N	N	N		N
Bud Osborne		N	N	N			N
Lyle Talbot	N	N	N			N
Ed Wood	N	N				N	N	N	N

Other[link]

• William C. Thompson was Wood's cinematographer for all but Take it Out in Trade.
• Frank Worth composed music for Bride of the Monster and Plan 9 from Outer Space.

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	World War II portal
	United States Marine Corps portal

• B movie
• Ed Wood, a biopic on Wood's life
• Edward D. Wood, Jr. bibliography
• Edward D. Wood, Jr. filmography
• List of films considered the worst
• Z movie

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• 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
• Rob Conway, Ed Wood, Mad Genius: A Critical Study of the Films, McFarland, 2009, ISBN 978-0-7864-3955-3

External links[link]

• Edward D. Wood Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
• The Hunt for Edward D. Wood, Jr. Exhaustive guide to Ed's films and their commercial releases.
• A good website for him
• Ed Wood, Jr.'s magazine work (Caution: Adult images)
• Ed Wood: A Neighbor on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
• The Church of Ed Wood
• Ed Wood's lost TV pilot, "Final Curtain"