Stuart Gordon

For other people named Stuart Gordon, see Stuart Gordon (disambiguation).
Stuart Gordon

Stuart Gordon during the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike
Born (1947-08-11) August 11, 1947
Chicago, Illinois
Occupation Film director, writer and producer.

Stuart Gordon (born August 11, 1947) is an American director, writer and producer of films and plays. Most of Gordon's film work is in the horror genre, though he has also ventured into science fiction and film noir. Like his friend and fellow filmmaker Brian Yuzna, Gordon is a fan of H. P. Lovecraft and has adapted several Lovecraft stories for the screen. They include Re-Animator, From Beyond, Castle Freak (from The Outsider), and Dagon, as well as the Masters of Horror episode Dreams in the Witch-House.

He has turned to the work of Edgar Allan Poe on two occasions, directing The Pit and the Pendulum in 1991 and The Black Cat for Masters of Horror Showtime series in 2007.

His science fiction films: Robot Jox (1990), and Fortress (1992) have both become cult classics.

With Brian Yuzna and writer Ed Naha he co-created Honey, I Shrunk the Kids for Disney Studios and executive produced the sequel Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. He also co-wrote Body Snatchers for Warner Brothers in 1993 and The Dentist for Trimark in 1998.

He produced, co-wrote and directed the science fiction comedy Space Truckers starring Dennis Hopper in 1996. He also produced and directed The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit written by Ray Bradbury in 1998.

In 2003 he turned to film noir and produced and directed King of the Ants based on the novel by Charlie Higson. This was followed by a film adaptation of David Mamet's dark play Edmond starring William H. Macy in 2006. And in 2007 he produced, co-wrote and directed Stuck starring Stephen Rea and Mena Suvari.

Biography

Gordon attended the University of Wisconsin and soon after formed Screw Theater. In March 1967 Gordon produced The Game Show at the UW Memorial Union. The play, intended to be an attack on apathy, locked the audience in the theater and seemingly humiliated, beat and raped them (audience plants were used.) Every performance ended with the audience rioting and stopping the show. He then formed Screw Theater in the summer of 1968 and produced and directed four shows, the final one, in the fall of 1968, a political version of Peter Pan that got him and his future wife arrested for obscenity. The story made national headlines until the charges were dropped in November 1968. As Gordon described it in a 2001 interview:

I had been protesting against the war in Viet Nam, and got tear-gassed by the Chicago police, and it suddenly struck me that you could take Peter Pan and turn it into a political cartoon about the whole situation. So, Peter Pan became the leader of the hippies and yippies, Captain Hook became Mayor Daley, and the pirates became the Chicago police. We left all of the James Barrie dialogue intact, so when they all went off to Neverland they sprinkled pixie dust on themselves and think lovely thoughts, and up they go. That was an acid trip, which was visualized by a psychedelic light show that was projected onto the bodies of seven naked young ladies...[1]

After the University of Wisconsin demanded future theatrical productions by Screw Theater be overseen by a University Professor, Gordon cut his University ties to form Broom Street Theater. Its first production, the new translation of the risque Lysistrata, premiered in May 1969.

Gordon is married to Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, whom he frequently casts and often murders in his movies. Together in 1969, they founded the Chicago Organic Theater Company, for which Gordon also served as artistic director. With the company, he produced and directed thirty-seven plays, among them the world premieres of The Warp Trilogy, (Warp! was later adapted into a comic book by First Comics), David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Bleacher Bums, E-R, Bloody Bess-A Tale of Piracy and Revenge and a two part adaptation of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

He is also the father of three daughters- Suzanna, Jillian, and Margaret.[2]

In 2009, he directed the one-man theatrical show, Nevermore...An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe which reunited him with Re-Animator alumnus Jeffrey Combs[3] and writer Dennis Paoli. Recently nominated for a Saturn award, the show enjoyed much success at its premiere in Los Angeles and is now in the process of touring the country. In 2011 Gordon produced, directed and co-wrote the book for Re-Animator: The Musical. It played to sold out houses, rave reviews and standing ovations for six months at the Steve Allen Theater. In 2012, it was performed at the New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF) and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Gordon's next play Taste, premiered at Los Angeles' Sacred Fools Theater Company in April 2014.[4] The play, based on the true story of Armin Meiwes, the Rotenburg Cannibal, was written by Benjamin Brand.[5]

He also directed "Eater", an episode of Fear Itself, for NBC in 2008.
Stuart Gordon has also been a contributor to Blu-ray/DVD extras content (liner notes) for cult film distributors Grindhouse Releasing/Box Office Spectaculars on one of his favorite films, Frank and Eleanor Perry's The Swimmer starring Burt Lancaster.[6]

Filmography

Stuart Gordon at the premiere of Stuck, Toronto International Film Festival 2007

As director

As writer

As producer

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ "FROM BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR: A Talk with Stuart Gordon".
  3. ↑ "Jeffrey Combs' Nevermore Extended into December".
  4. ↑ "SACRED FOOLS MAINSTAGE 2014 - Taste".
  5. ↑ "'Re-Animator' Director Tackling Cannibal Play (Exclusive)".
  6. ↑ Blu-Ray.com "The Swimmer" Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack review, by Brian Orndorf, March 24, 2014
  7. ↑ "Nevermore head to Baltimore".
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