"Without a doubt, the greatest showman of our time was William Castle. King of the Gimmicks, William Castle was my idol. His films made me want to make films. I'm even jealous of his work. In fact, I wish I were William Castle. Forget Ed Wood. Forget George Romero. William Castle was the best. William Castle was God. As a child, I always wanted to sit in William Castle's lap, not Santa's!" - John Waters
Writer, Producer, Actor, and Director William Castle was born on April 24, 1914. Castle made over 50 films in a variety of genres in his career, but is best remembered for his horror films (produced between 1958 -1965) and the elaborate gimmicks that accompanied them. The most famous and successful film of his career came in 1968 when he stepped aside as director and produced Rosemary's Baby. Bill Castle left our world on May 31, 1977 at age 63. I strongly encourage everyone to check out Jeffrey Schwarz' excellent documentary Spine Tingler: The William Castle Story and of course Bill's autobiography Step Right Up, I'm Gonna Scare The Pants Off America.
Here are some prized posessions from my collection of William Castle memorabilia:
