Ed Wood: What Really Happened to This Movie?

Last Updated on November 3, 2023

Chances are, if you’re familiar with the name Edward D. Wood, Jr., it’s thanks to Tim Burton’s delightful biopic, Ed Wood. Certainly, people were aware of the eccentric  writer-director prior to the 1994 film, but Burton cast Wood in a whole new light, turning  the quote-unquote “worst director of all time” into a lovable dreamer who wouldn’t let  puny budgets, bad actors, or obnoxious producers impede his goals. Ed Wood gave  us a reason to appreciate a man for whom making movies was the ultimate gratification,  quality be damned. Settle into your favorite angora sweater, because we’re going to find  out What Really Happened to Ed Wood.  

To start off with the obvious, Wood’s real life wasn’t quite as peachy keen as the movie  portrays. Tim Burton didn’t want to make a traditional biopic about the man, nor did the  screenwriters, who based some of their script on the book “Nightmare of Ecstasy: The  Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr.” The book told the story of Wood through interviews  with past friends and colleagues, and, along with letters written by Wood himself,  painted a picture of a man who loved cinema, and wanted to be a part of the business.  

One of the main thrusts of the film’s narrative is Wood’s friendship with an aging, drug addicted Bela Lugosi, which was indeed based in reality. Wood idolized the Hungarian  actor best known for playing Dracula, and while their friendship was real, Wood also  saw an opportunity to capitalize – if only a little – on whatever recognition Lugosi’s name  still carried. Sadly, Lugosi was almost hopelessly addicted to morphine at the time, and as depicted in the film, he was the first famous actor to check himself into rehab due to  drug addiction. Lugosi actually saw it as an opportunity to gain some free P.R., and  welcomed reporters to take pictures of him in his room.  

Not so factual, according to Lugosi’s son, was the film’s depiction of his father as  constantly cursing up a storm – apparently, Bela never dropped any F-bombs. Nor was  he so resentful of Boris Karloff as shown in Ed Wood, in which he’s often putting down  his fellow Universal Horror actor. It would seem as though in real life Lugosi had great  respect for Karloff.  

Of course, Wood’s most famous, or infamous, eccentricity was his love of wearing  women’s clothing, something remarked upon quite often in Burton’s film. This is indeed  true: he would wear women’s underwear even during his service in the war, as well as  while on set directing his pictures. While this wasn’t a deal-breaker for two of his wives,  a third woman he married broke up with him because of this habit – though this chapter  in Ed’s life is not dramatized in the film. 

Some have objected to the movie’s depiction of Dolores Fuller, Wood’s first wife. As  played by Sarah Jessica Parker, Fuller is seen as argumentative and bitter, especially  after Wood decides not to cast her in the lead in Bride of the Monster. But in later  years, it’s been said Fuller was as supportive as could be under the strange  circumstances of living with Wood, and it was his alcoholism that finally caused her to  split. Fuller herself chimed in on it in an interview after Ed Wood‘s release, saying that  while she enjoyed the movie, she didn’t appreciate Parker’s portrayal of her.  Shown in a far more forgiving light is Kathy O’Hara, played by Patricia Arquette, Wood’s  third wife. In the film, they meet-cute while Wood sits in a waiting room while Bela  Lugosi recovers from his addiction, but this never happened – in fact, they apparently  met in a bar one night while Wood was out drinking with Lugosi. The story goes that  when the real Kathy O’Hara visited the set of Ed Wood and got a look at Johnny Depp,  looking disheveled in his ladies’ garments, she said, “He looks just like Eddie.”  

One of Ed Wood’s most beloved scenes details how, during the making of Bride of the  Monster, Wood and his ragtag crew stole a mechanical octopus from a studio, dumped  it into a freezing pond in Griffith Park, and proceeded to have a drunken Lugosi wrestle  with it because they forgot to steal the motor that runs it. Terrific scene, but not  necessarily one based in reality. Some dispute the notion that they’d stolen the octopus  at all, the claim being Wood simply rented it. Furthermore, it’s been said it was a  stuntman named Eddie Parker who wrestled with the rubber beast in the water, and not  Lugosi. Indeed, when you watch the actual scene it’s difficult to tell who it is in the water, though it’s not  hard to think a stuntman would have made more sense instead of a 70-year-old Lugosi.  

Another very memorable sequence involves Wood and his company getting baptized –  which did happen. Wood‘s magnum opus, Plan 9 From Outer Space, was financed by the First Baptist Church of Beverly Hills, and Wood – ever the wheeler and dealer –  agreed to be baptized before shooting commenced if that meant securing the funding.  

While Plan 9 was one of Bela Lugosi’s final films, he had passed away before shooting  commenced – Wood ended up using footage he’d already shot with the legendary actor  in the picture. To bring Lugosi back to life, so to speak, Wood enlisted chiropractor Tom  Mason to stand-in for the deceased man, by none too subtly hiding most of his face with  a cape.  

While Tim Burton’s movie omits the darker periods of Wood’s life, which include a  further descent into alcoholism and a very early death at the age of 54, his film pretty  accurately depicts the rocky, do-it-yourself nature of being on an Ed Wood set, as well  as the director’s ceaseless optimism during his better days. And let’s face it, whether it’s  been made with rose-colored glasses or not, it’s still an excellent picture – Eddie surely  would have approved.