William Castle
Gender: Male
Born: 24th April 1914
Died: 31st May 1977
Nationality: United States of America
Movies: 13 Frightened Girls!, 13 Ghosts, Black Marketing, Cave of Outlaws, Conquest of Cochise, Crime Doctor's Gamble, Crime Doctor's Man Hunt, Drums of Tahiti, Elvira's Box of Horrors, Hollywood Story, Homicidal, House on Haunted Hill, I Saw What You Did, It's a Small World, Johnny Stool Pigeon, Just Before Dawn, Klondike Kate, Let's Kill Uncle, Macabre, Masterson of Kansas, Mr. Sardonicus, Mysterious Intruder, Project X, Project X, Rhythm in a Riff, Ride the Wild Surf, RiffTrax: House on Haunted Hill, Serpent of the Nile, Shanks, She's a Soldier Too, Strait-Jacket, Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven, The Americano, The Battle of Rogue River, The Busy Body, The Chance of a Lifetime, The Fat Man, The Gun That Won the West, The Houston Story, The Iron Glove, The Law vs. Billy the Kid, The Mark of the Whistler, The Night Walker, The Old Dark House, The Spirit is Willing, The Tingler, The Whistler, Undertow, Uranium Boom, Voice of the Whistler, When Strangers Marry, Zotz!
William Castle (April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies.
William Castle was born William Schloss in New York City to a Jewish family. Schloss is German for "castle", and Castle chose to translate his surname into English to use as his pseudonym. Orphaned at the age of 11, he would drop out of high school and spend most of his teenage years working on Broadway in a number of jobs ranging from set building to acting. This stood him in good stead when he became a director, and he left for Hollywood at the age of 23, going on to direct his first film six years later. He also worked an as assistant to director Orson Welles, doing much of the second unit location work for Welles' noir classic, The Lady from Shanghai.
Castle began directing films in the early 1940s, and later television, before moving on to the "gimmick films". Five of these were scripted by adventure novelist Robb White. Two of his films have been remade by his daughter Terry Ann Castle who served as Co-Producer, House on Haunted
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William Castle (April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and writer. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies. Castle's official website is www.williamcastle.com.
Castle was born William Schloss in New York City to a Jewish family. Schloss means "castle" in German, and Castle probably chose to translate his surname into English to make it easier to pronounce. He spent most of his teenage years working on Broadway in a number of jobs ranging from set building to acting. This stood him in good stead when he became a director, and he left for Hollywood at the age of 23, going on to direct his first film six years later. He also worked an as assistant to director Orson Welles, doing much of the second unit location work for Welles' noir classic, The Lady from Shanghai, based on a novel If I Die Before I Wake that Castle found and shared with Welles.
Castle began directing films in the early 1940s, and later television, before moving on to his favorite genre, horror films. Five of these were scripted by Robb White. Two of his films have been remade, House on Haunted Hill in 1999, and Thirteen Ghosts in 2001 (the latter retitled Thir13en Ghosts).
He also produced, and had a brief non-speaking role in, Roman Polanski's film Rosemary's Baby (1968). Castle is the grey-haired man lurking outside the phone booth while Mia Farrow is attempting to get in touch with the obstetrician. According to Castle's autobiography STEP RIGHT UP!...I'm Gonna Scare The Pants Off America (now back in reprint), Castle had wanted to direct the film as well, but the studio insisted on hiring another director.
Promotion and marketing was in Castle's blood. For his films, Castle often employed gimmicks to entertain his audiences:
• Macabre (1958): A certificate for a $1,000 life insurance policy from Lloyd's of London was given to each customer in case...