Edward Gorey Birthday & Fun Facts

Edward Gorey Birthday Highlights

Birth Name

Edward St. John Gorey

Place Of Birth

Chicago, USA

Age

98 years old

Birth Date

February 22 1925

Edward Gorey Facts

Child Star?

no

Occupation

Author, Illustrator, Playwright, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Education & Qualifications

Harvard University

Net Worth

$1,500,000

Current Partner

Helen Dunham Garvey, Edward Lee Gorey

Edward Gorey's birth name was Edward St. John Gorey, and he was a Tony Award winner.

Edward St. John Gorey was an American writer, poet, costume designer, set designer, cartoonist, playwright, and costume designer. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States on February 22, 1925.

Edward Gorey was also an eminent artist who illustrated his work. He was inspired by unique artists like Lewis Carroll, Raymond Queneau, Louis Feuillade (especially 'Shadow Of The Guillotine in 1913), Robert Musil, and Edward Lear.

Gorey had written more than 1oo fantastic books like 'The Unstrung Harp' (1953), 'The Object-Lesson' (1958), 'The Listing Attic' (1954), 'The Doubtful Guest' (1957), 'The Hapless Child' (1961), 'The Bug Book' (1959), 'The Beastly Baby' (1962), 'The Insect God' (1963), 'The Wuggly Ump' (1963), 'The Sinking Spell' (1964), 'The Nursery Frieze' (1964), 'The Evil Garden' (1966), The Remembered Visit: A Story Taken From Life' (1965), 'The Inanimate Tragedy' (1966), and 'The Pious Infant' (1966), 'The Utter Zoo' (1967), 'The Gilded Bat' (1967), and 'The Other Statue' (1968).

In 1950, Gorey founded the Poet's Theater in Cambridge, and Harvard alumni members Alison Lurie, John Ashbery and Donald Hall, and O'Hara. Harvard Faculty members Thornton Wilder and John Ciardi supported them immensely. Famous artists Joan Mitchell, Charlton Heston, and Warren Mackenzie were Gorey's classmates in public school. He was roomed with famous poet Frank O'Hara.

Edward Gorey wrote and directed many evening-length shows when he lived in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod year-round. Gorey's shows are featured by his ensemble with papier-mache puppets known as Le Theatricule Stoique. 'Lost Shoelaces' was the first production by the Theatricule Stoique, premiered on August 13, 1987, in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. John Gorey wrote a libretto for the opera Seria 'The White Canoe' for hand Puppets, his last production, and Daniel James Wolf was the composer for this libretto. John Gorey collaborated with Peter F. Neumeyer on several works with a lifelong continuous correspondence for the encouragement of Harry Stanton. Harry Stanton was a vice president of Addison-Wesley.

He died on April 15, 2000, in the Emergency center at Cape Cod Hospital, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United Kingdom. After Gorey's death, the opera of the 'Lake Of The Dismal Swamp,' from Thomas Moore's poem, was directed by Carrol Verburg, Gorey's long-time collaborator, neighbor, and friend with the Puppet stage made by Gorey's neighbors and friends, Herbert Senn and Helen Pond, the famous set designers.

What was Edward Gorey's net worth?

Edward John Gorey's net worth was around $1.5 million.

How much did Edward Gorey earn per year?

There is no clear information about Edward's annual earnings.

How tall is Edward Gorey?

The information on his height is not available.

How old was Edward Gorey?

Edward John Gorey was born on February 22, 1925, and died on April 15, 2000, at the age of 75.

Edward Gorey was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States. His parents were Edward Lee Gorey, a journalist, and Helen Dunham Garvey. His parents divorced in 1936 when Edward Gorey was 11 years old. In 1952, when Gorey was 27 years old, his father remarried Corinna Mura, a cabaret singer. In Casablanca, she played a role as the woman singing 'La Marseillaise' by playing the guitar at Rick's Cafe Americain. Gorey's maternal grandmother was Helen St. John Garvey, also an illustrator for greeting cards in the 19th century.

Gorey was educated in a public school in the suburb of Wilmette, Chicago, Illinois. The Stolp school preserved Gorey's work of yearbook for 1937. Then he joined the Francis W. Parker School, Chicago. From 1944-1946, he joined the Army at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. Then he joined Harvard University in 1946 and graduated in the 1950 class. He also studied French. In 1943, he studied art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for one semester.

Who was Edward Gorey's partner?

John Gorey, the artist, was not interested in romance or relationships as he was always passionate about his illustrations, costume design, and scenic design. John Gorey was not married.

Best Known For…

John Gorey was well known for his distinctive and brilliant illustrations. His notable works are The 'Gashlycrumb Tinies,' 'Mystery' in 1980, 'The Doubtful Guest' and Above Ground in 2007. `Gorey's 'The Object Lesson' was well known for its surrealist artwork. For his design of Dracula, he earned a Tony Award.

Edward Gorey lived in Manhattan(1953-1960) and worked for the Art Department of Doubleday Anchor. He worked as an illustrator for the book covers and added illustrations to the text of the books.

In 19563, Edward Gorey published The Unstrung Harp, his first independent work. He published his creative writing in different names, which were anagrams, such as Dogear Wryde, Weary, Ms. Regera, and many more. Gorey's books, such as 'O. Mude' (O. Weary in German) and a German-language pun featured Eduard Blutig (Edward Gory) as the name.

Edward Gorey was very popular for the PBS series 'Mystery' for his animated introduction. Host Vincent price welcomes the audience to Gorey Mansion in the introduction of each episode of 'Mystery.'

Edward Gorey's works are as extensive as Bram Stoker's 'Dracula,' T.S. Eliot's 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats,' and H. G. Wells's 'The War Of The Worlds.' He illustrated over 200 book covers as a freelance artist for Doubleday Anchor, Bobbs-Merrill, and Random House's Looking Glass Library.

Edward Gorey also did interior artwork and book cover illustrations for children's books written by John Bellairs. After Bellairs's death, the books begun by him were continued by Brad Strickland, and Edward Gorey continued the illustrations. Though Gorey wrote many children's books, he was not associated with children directly.

Charity Work

Mr. Gorey established The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust to benefit animal welfare.

What awards did Edward Gorey win?

Edward John Gorey won Broadway's Tony Award in 1978 for Best Costume Design Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis and was nominated for Best Scenic Designer for the same play. He won Locus Award for Best Art Book and Bram Stoker Award in 1999 for Lifetime Achievement.

Edward Gorey's Hobbies And Interests

Edward Gorey attended the performance of the New York City Ballet for 25 years continuously, as he was very much fascinated and interested in it.

• For launching Edward John Gorey's career, The New York Times credited the Gotham Book Mart, a bookstore owned by Andreas Brown.
• Edward John Gorey presented his artwork as an exhibition in this book store's gallery, which became a central clearinghouse for John Gorey. This art gallery ultimately gained worldwide fame for John Gorey.
• In 2003, an album, 'The Gorey's End' was recorded by The Tiger Lillies, a cult British musical trio by singer-songwriter Martyn Jacques and by Kronos Quartet, a string quartet in San Francisco.
• Gorey liked The Tiger Lillies' work, and Gorey gave his massive number of unpublished works later influenced by the music world. But unfortunately, Gorey died on April 15, 2000, before listening to the music of his works.
• 'The Black Doll,' a silent film, was written by John Gorey in the early '70s, with an unproduced screenplay. The music video for the song 'The Perfect Drug' of the Nine Inch Nails was designed from Gorey's books like topiary plants, oversized urns, and glum and pale characters with costume design by Edward Gorey by director Mark Romanek.
• Gorey's works were displayed in Chicago in the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA)from February 15-June 15, 2014. Gorey's house, located at Yarmouthport, Cape Cod, is the Home of Gorey's photographs, and it is entitled Elephant House.
• It is believed that Edward Gorey lived with his six cats.

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