21 Facts About Edward Gorey

Edward St John Gorey was an American writer, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for books by other writers.

Edward Gorey's father remarried in 1952 when he was 27.

Edward Gorey's stepmother was Corinna Mura, a cabaret singer who had a small role in Casablanca as the woman playing the guitar while singing "La Marseillaise" at Rick's Cafe Americain.

From 1934 to 1937, Edward Gorey attended public school in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette, Illinois, where his classmates included Charlton Heston, Warren MacKenzie, and Joan Mitchell.

Edward Gorey spent 1944 to 1946 in the Army at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.

Edward Gorey then attended Harvard University, beginning in 1946 and graduating in the class of 1950; he studied French and roomed with poet Frank O'Hara.

Edward Gorey frequently stated that his formal art training was "negligible"; Gorey studied art for one semester at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1943.

Edward Gorey illustrated works as diverse as Bram Stoker's Dracula, H G Wells' The War of the Worlds, and T S Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.

Edward Gorey published under various pen names, some of which were anagrams of his first and last names, such as Ogdred Weary, Dogear Wryde, Ms.

At the prompting of Harry Stanton, an editor and vice president at Addison-Wesley, Gorey collaborated on a number of works, and continued a lifelong correspondence with Peter F Neumeyer.

Edward Gorey made a notable impact on the world of theater with his designs for the 1977 Broadway revival of Dracula, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Costume Design and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design.

The last was The White Canoe: an Opera Seria for Hand Puppets, for which Edward Gorey wrote the libretto, with a score by the composer Daniel James Wolf.

The opera, which was based on Thomas Moore's poem The Lake of the Dismal Swamp, was performed after Edward Gorey passed away under the direction of Carol Verburg, a close friend and neighbor of the artist.

Edward Gorey was noted for his love of the New York City Ballet.

Edward Gorey never married, professed little interest in romance, and never discussed any specific romantic relationships in interviews.

Edward Gorey served as a judge at Yarmouth art shows and enjoyed activities at the local cable station, studying computer art and serving as a cameraman on many Yarmouth shows.

Edward Gorey left the bulk of his estate to a charitable trust benefiting cats and dogs, as well as other species, including bats and insects.

Many of Edward Gorey's works were published obscurely and are difficult to find ; however, the following four omnibus editions collect much of his material.

Edward Gorey illustrated more than 50 works by other authors, including Merrill Moore, Samuel Beckett, Edward Lear, John Bellairs, H G Wells, Alain-Fournier, Charles Dickens, T S Eliot, Hilaire Belloc, Muriel Spark, Florence Parry Heide, John Updike, John Ciardi, Felicia Lamport and Joan Aiken.

Edward Gorey wrote many of his books under pseudonyms that usually were anagrams of his own name.

Edward Gorey has become an iconic figure in the goth subculture.