Ed Wood, Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978)

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Plan 9 From Outer Space is a film that’s so bad it’s good, and its quirky style is the result of the determined creativity of director Ed Wood. Even the death of its star, Bela Lugosi, did not prevent Wood from completing the picture—using his wife’s chiropractor as a stand-in for Lugosi’s remaining scenes.

Wood was a cross-dresser, notorious for wearing his girlfriends’ angora sweaters while on the job. He claimed that as a Marine in World War II, he had participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal while secretly wearing a brassiere and panties beneath his uniform. His 1953 film Glen or Glenda was based on the life of transsexual Christine Jorgensen.

Wood was depicted as basically a hetero transvestite in the brilliant eponymous motion picture, which was directed by Tim Burton and starred Johnny Depp as Wood. Wood’s actual sexual orientation was considerably more ambiguous, with at least one biographer who knew him (Jean Marie Stine) claiming he had “homosexual tendencies.”

Stern, Keith (2009-09-01). Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals (Kindle Locations 12762-12770). Perseus Books Group. Kindle Edition.

Further Readings:

Ed Wood by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Faber & Faber; First Edition edition (June 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0571175686
ISBN-13: 978-0571175680
Amazon: Ed Wood

The screenplay of a Tim Burton film featuring the eccentric Ed Wood, who directs trashy films while dressed in women's clothes. The story communicates his struggle to express creativity in a harsh and uncomprehending world.