William Castle facts for kids

Quick facts for kids William Castle
William Castle with a fake cockroach, c. 1976
Born	William Schloss Jr. (1914-04-24)April 24, 1914 New York City, U.S.
Died	May 31, 1977(1977-05-31) (aged 63) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Director, producer, screenwriter, actor
Spouse(s)	Ellen Falck ​ (m. 1948)​
Children	2

William Castle (born William Schloss Jr.; April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. He became famous for making exciting thriller movies.

William Castle was known for his clever ways of promoting his films. He used fun "gimmicks" to get people to come to the movie theater. He also produced the famous movie Rosemary's Baby.

About William Castle's Life

William Castle was born in New York City. His original last name was Schloss. This is a German word that means "castle." He later changed his name to William Castle for his career.

When he was young, William faced a tough time. His mother passed away when he was nine, and his father died a year later. At 11, he became an orphan and lived with his older sister. He later married Ellen Falck and they had two children together.

William Castle's Amazing Career

Starting in Show Business

When William was 13, he saw a play called Dracula. He loved it so much that he watched it many times. He even met the star, Bela Lugosi. William later wrote that he knew then what he wanted to do: "I wanted to scare the pants off audiences."

Lugosi helped him get a job as an assistant stage manager for the play's tour. At 15, William left high school to take the job. He spent his teenage years working on Broadway, learning everything from building sets to acting. This experience helped him a lot in his future movie career.

William was very good at getting attention. He once rented a theater from Orson Welles. He created a fake story about a German actress and made it seem like she turned down an offer from Nazi Germany. He even secretly drew swastikas on the theater to make the story bigger. This stunt got a lot of news coverage and made his play very popular.

Working in Hollywood Studios

William Castle, director at Columbia Pictures (1946)

At 23, William moved to Hollywood to work for Columbia Pictures. He started as a dialogue director. Soon, he became a director for "B-movies." These were movies made quickly and on a small budget. He became known for making good films fast and without spending too much money. He even worked on Orson Welles' film The Lady from Shanghai.

Becoming a Master of Movie Gimmicks

William Castle wanted to do more, so he started making his own movies. He was inspired by a French thriller called Les Diaboliques. He decided to make scary movies. He even mortgaged his house to pay for his first independent film, Macabre (1958).

To promote Macabre, he came up with a wild idea. Every moviegoer received a $1,000 life insurance policy from Lloyd's of London. This policy would pay out if they died of fright during the movie! He also had nurses in the lobby and hearses parked outside. Macabre was a huge success.

Here are some of his other famous films and their amazing gimmicks:

• House on Haunted Hill (1959): This film used "Emergo." During the movie's scary ending, a skeleton with glowing red eyes would float over the audience on a wire! Kids sometimes tried to hit it with candy boxes.

The Tingler, 1959: "Can You Take Percepto?"

• The Tingler (1959): This movie used "Percepto." The story was about a creature that attached to your spine and grew if you didn't scream. Castle put vibrating motors under some seats in the theater. During the film, the star, Vincent Price, would tell the audience to "scream—scream for your lives!" The buzzers would then go off, making the seats vibrate.
• 13 Ghosts (1960): This film used "Illusion-O." Each person got a special viewer. If you looked through the red part, you could see the ghosts. If you looked through the blue part, they would disappear.
• Homicidal (1961): Castle offered a "fright break." During a very scary part of the movie, a timer appeared on screen. The audience had 45 seconds to leave and get their money back if they were too scared to watch the rest!
• Mr. Sardonicus (1961): The audience got to vote on the villain's fate! Each person received a card with a glow-in-the-dark thumb. They could hold it up or down to decide if Mr. Sardonicus should be cured or die. Most audiences always voted for him to suffer!
• Zotz! (1962): Everyone got a "magic" gold, glow-in-the-dark coin.
• 13 Frightened Girls (1963): Castle held a worldwide search for pretty girls to star in the movie. He even filmed slightly different versions for different countries.
• Strait-Jacket (1964): For this film, Castle hired famous actress Joan Crawford. He also handed out cardboard axes to people entering the theater.
• I Saw What You Did (1965): This film also starred Joan Crawford. Castle tried to use giant plastic telephones for promotion, but he had to change his plans. Instead, he turned the back rows of theaters into "Shock Sections" with seat belts to keep people from jumping out of their chairs!
• Bug (1975): For this movie, Castle advertised a million-dollar life insurance policy for the film's star, a cockroach named "Hercules."

At the peak of his fame, William Castle had a fan club with 250,000 members!

Producing Rosemary's Baby

William Castle really wanted to direct a big, important movie. He bought the rights to the book Rosemary's Baby before it was even published. He hoped to direct the film himself. However, the studio, Paramount Pictures, insisted on hiring Roman Polanski as the director. William Castle ended up producing the film instead. He even had a small role in the movie, playing a man by a pay phone.

After Rosemary's Baby was released, William Castle became very sick with kidney failure. By the time he recovered, he had lost his chance to direct more big films. He went back to making B-movies. His last acting role was in the movie The Day of the Locust in 1975.

William Castle's Legacy

William Castle passed away on May 31, 1977, from a heart attack. He is buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

His unique style influenced other filmmakers. For example, Alfred Hitchcock decided to make Psycho after seeing how successful William Castle's movies were.

Many filmmakers admire William Castle. John Waters, a famous director, said, "William Castle was my idol. His films made me want to make films... William Castle was God." John Waters even played William Castle in a TV show called Feud.

Another director, Robert Zemeckis, calls Castle his "favorite filmmaker." Zemeckis even started a company called Dark Castle Entertainment to remake some of Castle's films.

William Castle's daughter, Terry Ann Castle, also helped remake two of his movies: House on Haunted Hill (1999) and Thirteen Ghosts (2001).

A documentary about his life, Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story, was released in 2007. It won an award for Best Documentary. The main character in the 1993 film Matinee, played by John Goodman, is also based on William Castle.

Filmography

As a Director

As a Producer

As a Writer

• North to the Klondike (1942, story)
• Voice of the Whistler (1945)
• It's a Small World (1950)
• Bug (1975)

As an Actor

Television Work

As a Director

• The Man Called X (1956, episode "Assassination")
• Science Fiction Theatre (1956, episode "Who Is This Man?")
• The Court of Last Resort (1957, episode "The Jim Thompson Case")
• The Californians (1957, two episodes)
• Men of Annapolis (1957, 11 episodes)
• Man with a Camera (1958, episode "Closeup on Violence")
• Target (1958, two episodes)

As a Producer

• The Adventures of McGraw (1958, four episodes)
• Men of Annapolis (1957–1958, 37 episodes)
• Ghost Story (1972-1973, 2 episodes as producer and actor; 1972–1973, 21 episodes as executive producer)

See also

In Spanish: William Castle para niños