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Edward St. John Gorey (Either February 22 or February 25 , 1925 – April 15 , 2000 ) was a Writer and Artist noted for his Macabre illustrated books. BIOGRAPHY Born in ''. His father was briefly a journalist. Gorey's maternal great-grandmother, Helen St. John Garvey, was a popular 19th century Greeting Card writer/artist, from whom he claimed to have inherited his talents. He attended a variety of local grade schools and then the Francis W. Parker School . He spent 1944 – 1946 in the Army at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah , and then attended Harvard University from 1946 to 1950 , where he studied French and roomed with future poet Frank O'Hara . Although he would frequently state that his formal art training was "negligible", Gorey studied art for one semester at The School Of The Art Institute Of Chicago in 1943 , eventually becoming a professional illustrator. From 1953 to 1960 , he lived in New York City and worked for the Art Department of Doubleday Anchor, illustrating book covers and in some cases adding illustrations to the text. He has illustrated works as diverse as '' Dracula '' by Bram Stoker , '' The War Of The Worlds '' by H. G. Wells , and '' Old Possum's Book Of Practical Cats '' by T. S. Eliot . In later years he illustrated many children's books by John Bellairs , as well as books in several series begun by Bellairs and continued by other authors after his death. His first independent work, ''The Unstrung Harp'', was published in 1953. He also published under pen names that were Anagram s of his first and last names, such as "Ogdred Weary". Gorey's illustrated (and sometimes wordless) books, with their vaguely ominous air and ostensibly Victorian and Edwardian settings, have long had a cult following. Gorey became particularly well-known through his animated introduction to the PBS series '' Mystery! '' in 1980 , as well as his designs for the 1977 Broadway production of '' Dracula '', for which he won a Tony Award for Best Costume Design along with a nomination for Best Scenic Design. The settings and style of Gorey's work have caused many people to assume he was British; in fact, he never visited England, and he almost never traveled. In later years, he lived year-round in Yarmouth Port , Massachusetts on Cape Cod , where he wrote and directed numerous evening-length entertainments, often featuring his own Papier-mâché puppets, in an ensemble known as ''La Theatricule Stoique''. His major theatrical work was the Libretto for an "Opera Seria for Handpuppets", ''The White Canoe'', to a score by the composer Daniel James Wolf . Based on the Lady Of The Lake legend, the opera premiered posthumously. On August 13 , 1987 , his play "Lost Shoelaces" premiered in Woods Hole, Massachusetts . In the early 1970s, Gorey wrote an unproduced screenplay for a silent film, ''The Black Doll''. Gorey was noted for his fondness for '', and '' The X-Files ''; he once told an interviewer that he so enjoyed the ''Batman'' series that it was influencing the visual style of one of his upcoming books. Gorey treated TV commercials as an artform in themselves, even taping his favorites for later study. But Gorey was especially fond of movies, and for a time he did regular and very waspish reviews for the '' Soho Weekly '' under the pseudonym Wardore Edgy. Although Gorey's books were popular with children, he did not associate with children much and had no particular fondness for them. Gorey never married, professed to have little interest in romance, and never discussed any specific romantic relationships in interviews. In the book ''The Strange Case of Edward Gorey'', published after Gorey's death, his friend Alexander Theroux reported that when Gorey was pressed on the matter of his sexual orientation, he said that even he was not sure whether he was gay or straight. When asked what his sexual preferences were in an interview, he said: "I'm neither one thing nor the other particularly. I am fortunate in that I am apparently reasonably undersexed or something... I've never said that I was gay and I've never said that I wasn't... What I'm trying to say is that I am a person before I am anything else..." It is possible that Gorey was Asexual . Theroux paints a portrait of a man who lived a fairly solitary existence by choice, friendly, generous, and apparently comfortable with strangers, but strongly preferring to be alone most of the time. From 1996 to his death in April 2000 , the normally reclusive artist was the subject of a direct cinema-style Documentary directed by Christopher Seufert . This was not yet released as of 2006 . His Cape Cod house is called Elephant House and is the subject of a photography book entitled ''Elephant House: Or, the Home of Edward Gorey'', with photographs and text by Kevin McDermott. The house now serves as a gallery and museum of sorts. Gorey's work defies easy classification. He is typically described as an , yet there is no one category that can encompass the great variety of style and subject in his many books. BOOKS Gorey wrote more than 100 books, including:
Many of Gorey's works were published obscurely and are difficult to find (and priced accordingly). However, the following four omnibus editions collect much of his material. Because his original books are rather short, these editions may contain 15 or more in each volume.
He also illustrated some 50 works by other authors, including Samuel Beckett , Edward Lear , John Bellairs , H. G. Wells , Alain-Fournier , T.S. Eliot , Hilaire Belloc , Muriel Spark , Florence Parry Heide , and John Ciardi . LEGACY Gorey's influence is readily apparent in the work of many artists working in many different mediums. In 1999, Edward Gorey designed the front and rear cover art for his long time friend Clif Hanger, the founder/lyricist/vocalist for Cape Cod, Massachusetts punk rock band The Freeze . The album, titled ''One False Move'', was released in late 1999. Gorey also co-wrote with Clif Hanger the lyrics to one of the band's songs titled "Alien Heads." Cartoonists such as Dame Darcy and Tony Millionaire tell dark, whimsical tales with plenty of Gorey-esque visual flourishes; Hollywood's Tim Burton 's directorial style owes much to Gorey and various musical acts have displayed influence. For example, Mark Romanek 's Music Video for the Nine Inch Nails song " The Perfect Drug " was designed specifically to look like a Gorey book, with familiar Gorey elements including oversize urns, Topiary plants, and glum, pale characters in full Edwardian costume.Interview with Mark Romanek, in the currently unreleased documentary by Christopher Seufert. Also, Caitlín R. Kiernan has published a short story titled "A Story for Edward Gorey" ('' Tales Of Pain And Wonder '', 2000) which features Gorey's black doll. A more direct link to Gorey's influence on the music world is evident in '' The Gorey End '', an album recorded in 2003 by the Tiger Lillies and the Kronos Quartet . This album was a collaboration with Gorey, who liked previous work by The Tiger Lillies so much that he sent them a large box of his unpublished work, which were then adapted and turned into songs. Gorey died before hearing the finished album. The Opening Titles for the PBS series '' Mystery! '' is based on Gorey's art, in an Animated Sequence co-directed by Derek Lamb . In the last few decades of his life, Gorey merchandise became quite popular, with stuffed dolls, cups, stickers, posters, and other items available at malls around the USA . The Expandable Card Game Gloom uses artwork inspired by Gorey's style. The Los Angeles horror band Creature Feature released an Edward Gorey inspired song entitled "A Gorey Demise" based on "The Gashlycrumb Tinies". PSEUDONYMS Gorey was very fond of word games, particularly Anagram s. He wrote many of his books under Pseudonym s that were usually anagrams of his own name (most famously "Ogdred Weary"). Some of these are listed below, with the corresponding book title(s). "Eduard Blutig" is also a word game: "Blutig" is German (the language from which these two books were purportedly translated) for "bloody", which is a synonym for "gory".
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