Profile of William Castle on Famous Like Me

William Castle (April 24, 1914–May 31, 1977) born William Schloss, was an American film director, producer, and actor.

Born in New York City, he spent most of his teenage years working on Broadway in a number of jobs ranging from set building to acting. This put him in a good stead to become a director, and he left for Hollywood at the age of 23, going on to direct his first film 6 years later.

Castle was famous for directing films with many gimmicks, which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies. An example of one of the gimmicks are 3-D glasses that were issued to viewers of 13 Ghosts. Recently, two of his films have been remade, House on Haunted Hill in 1999, and Thir13en Ghosts in 2001.

He also produced, and had a brief non-speaking role in, Roman Polanski's film Rosemary's Baby (1968).

After a long career William Castle died in Los Angeles, California, after suffering a heart attack. He is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Gimmicks used by Castle

• "Percepto" for The Tingler. Electrified theatre seats shocked the audience during the movie.
• "Illusion-O" for 13 Ghosts. Special 3-D viewing glasses reveal the ghosts.
• "Emergo" for House on Haunted Hill. Inflatable skeletons flew over the audience.
• "Fright Break" for Homicidal. Theatres gave out certificates that would allow refunds to frightened audience members if they left before the last five minutes. When people started using it to essentially see most of the movie for free, a "coward's walk" was added in order to redeem the refund, and the threat of public humiliation was responsible in greatly reducing the refunds given.
• "Fright Insurance Policy" for Macabre. Showings also had ushers dressed in surgical garb with ambulances outside theater.
• Seat belts for I Saw What You Did.
• "Punishment Poll" for Mr. Sardonicus. Audiences voted to kill or spare the villain. However, the voting devices in fact did nothing, and only one ending existed.

Films by Castle

• Shanks (1974)
• Rosemary's Baby (1968, producer only)
• Project X (1968)
• The Spirit Is Willing (1967)
• The Busy Body (1967)
• Let's Kill Uncle (1966)
• I Saw What You Did (1965)
• Night Walker (1964)
• Strait-Jacket (1964)
• The Old Dark House (1963)
• 13 Frightened Girls (1963)
• Zotz! (1962)
• Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
• Homicidal (1961)
• 13 Ghosts (1960)
• The Tingler (1963)
• House on Haunted Hill (1959)
• Macabre (1958)
• Uranium Boom (1956)
• The Houston Story (1956)
• Duel on the Mississippi (1955)
• The Gun That Won the West (1955)
• New Orleans Uncensored (1955)
• The Americano (1955)
• Masterson of Kansas (1954)
• The Law vs. Billy the Kid (1954)
• The Saracen Blade (1954)
• The Iron Glove (1954)
• Drums of Tahiti (1954)
• Jesse James vs. the Daltons (1954)
• The Battle of Rogue River (1954)
• Charge of the Lancers (1954)
• Slaves of Babylon (1953)
• Conquest of Cochise (1953)
• Serpent of the Nile (1953)
• Fort Ti (1953)
• Cave of Outlaws (1951)
• Hollywood Story (1951)
• The Fat Man (1951)
• It's a Small World (1950)
• Undertow (1949)
• Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949)
• The Gentleman from Nowhere (1948)
• Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven (1948)
• Crime Doctor's Gamble (1947)
• Crime Doctor's Man Hunt (1946)
• The Return of Rusty (1946)
• Mysterious Intruder (1946)
• Just Before Dawn (1946)
• Voice of the Whistler (1945)
• Crime Doctor's Warning (1945)
• The Mark of the Whistler (1944)
• When Strangers Marry (1944)
• She's a Soldier Too (1944)
• The Whistler (1944)
• Klondike Kate (1943)
• The Chance of a Lifetime (1943)

External link

• William Castle at the Internet Movie Database

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article William Castle