Alan Ormsby

Alan Ormsby
Born	December 14, 1943 (1943-12-14) (age 81) United States
Occupations	Film director screenwriter actor make-up artist
Spouse	Hilary Thompson ​ (m. 1988)​
Children	1

Alan Ormsby (born December 14, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, make up artist, actor and author. ^[1]

Career

Ormsby began work in feature films with the Bob Clark-directed Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972), co-writing the script with Clark, providing the make-up effects and starring as the lead, Alan, alongside his then-wife Anya Ormsby. ^[2] Two years later, Ormsby and Clark re-teamed on Deathdream , directed by Clark and penned by Ormsby. ^[3] Deranged (1974), a horror film inspired by serial killer Ed Gein, saw Clark producing with Ormsby writing and co-directing the feature (with Jeff Gillen). ^[4]

In the 1980s, Ormsby continued working as a screenwriter, penning the screenplays for The Little Dragons (1980), ^[5] My Bodyguard (1980), Paul Schrader's Cat People (1982) and Clark's Porky's II: The Next Day (1983). ^[6] Ormsby returned to directing with Popcorn (1991), which he'd also written, but left the production early on and was replaced by Porky's actor Mark Herrier. ^[7] Ormsby's work includes the three "films-within-a-film" in the finished movie. ^[8] In the early 1990s, he was initially recruited to write the screenplay for a remake of The Mummy for Joe Dante, although it was later re-written by John Sayles. ^[9] In 1996, he co-wrote The Substitute . ^[10]

Other works

In addition to his work in film, Ormsby is known for having authored the 1970s special make-up effects book Movie Monsters, as well as creating the doll Hugo: Man of a Thousand Faces, ^[11] the latter of which was featured in The Pee-wee Herman Show and on Uncle Floyd's variety show.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. "Alan Ormsby". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2014. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
2. Janisse, Kier-La (2012). House of Psychotic Women. Godalming, Surrey, England: FAB Press. p. 232. ISBN   978-1-903254-69-1.
3. "Dead-of-Night - Cast, Crew, Director and Awards". The New York Times . Archived from the original on November 13, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
4. "AFI Catalog - Deranged". American Film Institute . Retrieved June 2, 2023.
5. "The Little Dragons (1980)". Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved May 30, 2023.
6. "AFI Catalog - Alan Ormsby". American Film Institute . Retrieved May 30, 2023.
7. Muir, John Kenneth (2011). Horror Films of the 1990s. McFarland Publishing. pp. 170–172. ISBN   9780786440122.
8. Vanderbilt, Mike (January 19, 2017). "Long out-of-print horror classic Popcorn comes home in a box this spring". The A.V. Club . Retrieved May 30, 2023.
9. Squires, John (June 8, 2017). "George Romero and Clive Barker Almost Directed 'The Mummy' Remakes in the 90s". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved May 30, 2023.
10. "The Substitute (1996)". Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved May 30, 2023.
11. Alan Ormsby and Anya Liffey (2017). A Recollection With Star Anya Liffey and Writer/Makeup Artist Alan Ormsby (Deathdream Blu-ray featurette). West Hollywood: Blue Underground. BLU-BD-8020.

External links

• Alan Ormsby at IMDb