In 1955, he wrote and directed his first horror film Bride of the Monster. Bela would take a small part in Glen Or Glenda as a narrator now known for yelling ' PULL THE STRING!!! ' while clips of bison stampeding were shown.Įd Wood later became part of the B-Movie scene, befriending people such as Maila Nurmi, aka Vampira ( The '50s equivalent of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark), and a psychic known as the Amazing Criswell. This was when the Dracula days were long gone and people thought he was dead, but this didn't stop Ed Wood from thinking of him as a legend among men. During this time, he met and eventually became friends with Bela Lugosi. His first actual film would be in 1953, Glen or Glenda (based loosely on his novel Death Of A Transvestite), a semi-autobiographical tale about transsexuality and Ed Wood's love for crossdressing. By all accounts, Wood was actually perfectly competent when it came to directing television - his exact number of television credits remains unclear, given that local television shows from that era were often broadcast live and not archived in any form - and could have made a decent career for himself in that media, but he felt that cinema was his true calling. He even made television ad pilots, which advertised non-existant products, presumably a demo reel to show off his skills. To foreshadow what was to come, the play suffered from extremely negative reviews.Įd Wood dabbled in television pilots, such as a soap Sun Was Setting (which amusingly had the alternative title of The Sun Also Sets) starring the Lois Lane from The Adventures of Superman herself, Phyllis Coates, and Crossroad Avenger, which featured many of his Production Posse the Western circled around The Tuscon Kid, who was a good old cowboy and insurance claims investigator.

One of his first works was a play called Casual Company, based on a novel that was based on his life at the Marines. In the late forties, Wood would begin his career in movies. Later, he would join a freak show as a bearded lady. He reportedly survived the War with only a leg injury, and having lost two of his teeth to a rifle butt strike by a Japanese soldier. In 1942, Wood enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, and he served in the Pacific War theater of World War II (eventually claiming to have fought at the Battle of Tarawa while wearing a bra and panties under his uniform of this experience he once said that he wasn't afraid of being killed, but he was scared of being merely wounded - because he was afraid a medic would discover his secret). Long answer: Throughout his life, Ed Wood loved movies and wanted to make his own. He was that guy who made Plan 9 from Outer Space and a bunch of other crappy movies. (Octo– December 10, 1978) was that rare mix of relentless motivation and determination combined with a complete lack of natural talent. Nimby Smith, : 5 People Who Failed Their Way to Fame and Fortune

Hollywood Rat Race by Ed Wood