Forrest J. Ackerman and The American Dreamer, by Mike Gold: Brainiac On Banjo #96
December 8, 2008 Mike Gold 3 Comments
Quick. What did Issac Asimov, Rick Baker, Charles Beaumont, Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Tim Burton, Joe Dante, Danny Elfman, Ray Harryhausen, L. Ron Hubbard, Peter Jackson, Stephen King, John Landis, George Lucas, Penn & Teller, Julius Schwartz, Gene Simmons, Steven Spielberg, Billy Bob Thornton, Mort Weisinger, and Ed Wood have in common?
Forrest J. Ackerman played a significant, live-altering role in each of these people’s lives – and, of course, so many more. As a teen-ager, he teamed up with Schwartz and Weisinger and others to create The Time Traveler, one of the earliest science-fiction fanzines. That lead to Forry and his team to represent such legendary writers as Asimov, Beaumont, Bloch, Bradley, and Hubbard and the “discovering” of Ray Bradbury and Ed Wood.
Later, he created Famous Monsters of Filmland for publisher James Warren. This pulpwood folio uncovered – sometimes, literally – some of the great works of the legendary filmmakers such as Harryhausen, James Whale and Fritz Lang. It was full of behind-the-scenes articles that allowed its readers to create their own costumes and makeup and special effects, inspiring an entire generation of baby boom filmmakers. Baker, Burton, Dante, Elfman, Jackson, King, Landis, Lucas, Penn, Simmons, Spielberg, Teller and Thornton are among the many who have credited Forry with such influence.
He collected horror memorabilia and turned his Los Angeles house into a museum of staggering proportions. Often the subject of television feature stories, Forry would often greet his visitors while wearing Bela Lugosi’s cape from Dracula. Oddly, this was one of the less-impressive offerings in his museum.
He might have been the most important white man in our cultural history. He certainly nurtured our inner-12 year-olds, and that is critical for our intellectual development. He was one of the most gracious and gentle men I had ever met.
Forrest J. Ackerman died last week at 92 years, a long and productive life. Anybody who owns a television set, reads fiction, goes to the movies, or pulls the covers over his or her head at night owes Forry a debt of gratitude.
Thanks, Forry.
Miles Vorkosigan
December 8, 2008 - 8:26 am
Forry, among others, inspired me to be a literary agent.
I wanted to help pther writers, and heard about Fred Pohl and Dirk Wylie’s agency. And Forry’s. My problem was, they did their thing in New York in the FIfties, and I was in Memphis in the Eighties. Needless to say, I lost my shirt.
But the stories of Fred and Forry and their adventures in the agentint trade were fun, and while I’m not likely to take up that profession again, it was instructive.
I can’t really say that Forry turned me into an sf fan. I did that all by myself when I was five. Comics. When I was six, and had access to the library at school for the first time, I grabbed an armload of juvenile sf by Asimov, Del Rey and others. They made me put all but one book back. That one was The Spaceship Under The Apple Tree, by Louis Slobodkin.
Forry didn’t turn me into a movie or monster fan. For that, thank Watson “Sivad” Davis. For ten years he was the host of Fantastic Features on the local ABC affiliate. By day, he was an advertising director for Malco Theaters. At night, he’d put on his cloak and top hat and climb into the driver’s seat of his horse-drawn hearse and go rolling down the tree-shrouded bus lane in Overton Park. He’d stop long enough to introduce the movie, and away we’d go. I was ruined for life.
But Forry was responsible for them Maybe not directly. But he threw the rock in the pond, and the ripples are still spreading.
Miles
Marc Fishman
December 8, 2008 - 2:42 pm
Not much to comment on here Mike, personally speaking. As a member of a generation who will later credit those like Ray Bradbury, Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, Ray Harryhausen, Peter Jackson, Penn & Teller, Julius Schwartz, and Gene “Chiam” Simmons as influences to my own creations… I owe a considerable debt of gratitude to Forrest. Those who have elevated fiction to literal “universes” in and of themselves owe then to this man, and his contemporaries who helped build the foundation for modern fiction.
Consider this a debt eternally, and gratefully, owed.
Vinnie Bartilucci
December 9, 2008 - 9:24 am
Forry was like Stan Lee; a perfect public face for Sci-Fi fandom. He was charming, witty, and always had a good story on deck for any situation.
In a world where everyone needs to justify their hobbies to the world (we fish to relax, we buy comics for investments, we collect barbie dolls for…okay, there’s no justifying that one (*ducks to avoid death ray*)) Forry was unafraid to say he read Science Fiction for no reason other than he enjoyed it.
He was also the first SF costumer. There’s a photo on this page of Forry at the first worldcon wearing a costume based on the film Things to Come. There’s another one floating around of him in a Buck Rogers hat and ray gun at the con as well.
Fandom owes so much to the man it can scarcely be calculated.