Curtis Harrington

'Curtis Harrington' (qv) was an excellent and shamefully underrated writer and director who specialized in marvelously offbeat and atmospheric low-budget independent horror pictures. Harrington was born on September 17, 1926, in Los Angeles and grew up in Beaumont, California. A hardcore film buff from a very young age, Harrington worked as a movie theater usher, a messenger at Paramount and a stagehand during his younger days. He made his first 8mm effort at age 14 and attended UCLA. In the 1940s and 1950s Harrington made a string of experimental avant-garde underground shorts, such as _Picnic (1949)_ (qv), _Fragment of Seeking (1946)_ (qv), "The Assignation" and "Wormwood Star". He was the cinematographer on 'Kenneth Anger' (qv)'s _Puce Moment (1949)_ (qv) and acted in Anger's _Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954)_ (qv).Harrington also was involved with fellow avant-garde filmmaker 'Maya Deren' (qv). He began working for Jerry Wald Productions at 20th Century-Fox in 1957 and served as a producer's assistant on several big-budget pictures, including _Peyton Place (1957)_ (qv) and _The Long, Hot Summer (1958)_ (qv). In 1961 he made a strong--and impressive--feature-film debut with the nicely moody and quirky _Night Tide (1961)_ (qv)_. His follow-up features were a pleasingly diverse, idiosyncratic and often entertaining bunch, and included the nifty sci-fi/horror _Alien (1979)_ (qv) precursor _Queen of Blood (1966)_ (qv) and the delightfully campy 'Shelley Winters' (qv) vehicles _Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972)_ (qv) and _What's the Matter with Helen? (1971)_ (qv) (the latter was Harrington's personal favorite of all his films), the perverse _The Killing Kind (1973)_ (qv) and the immensely fun _Ruby (1977)_ (qv). Moreover, Harrington directed a handful of solid and satisfying made-for-TV offerings: _How Awful About Allan (1970)_ (qv), _The Cat Creature (1973)_ (qv), _Killer Bees (1974)_ (qv), _The Dead Don't Die (1975)_ (qv) and the hilariously horrible _Der Höllenhund (1978)_ (qv). In addition, Harrington directed episodes of such popular TV shows as _Dynasty (1981)_ (qv), _The Twilight Zone (1959)_ (qv), _The Colbys (1985)_ (qv), _Hotel (1983)_ (qv). _Wonder Woman (1975)_ (qv) and _Charlie's Angels (1976)_ (qv). Harrigton's final film was the typically oddball short _Usher (2000)_ (qv).'Curtis Harrington' (qv) died at age 80 from complications following a stroke on May 6th, 2007.::woodyanders (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)