Gorey, Edward

Gorey, Edward

▪ American writer and illustrator
in full  Edward St. John Gorey 
born February 22, 1925, Chicago, Ill., U.S.
died April 15, 2000, Hyannis, Mass.

      American writer, illustrator, and designer, noted for his arch humour and gothic sensibility. Gorey drew a pen-and-ink world of beady-eyed, blank-faced individuals whose dignified Edwardian demeanour is undercut by silly and often macabre events. His nonsense rhymes recall those of Edward Lear (Lear, Edward), and his mock-Victorian prose delights readers with its ludicrous fustiness.

      After graduating from Harvard in 1950, Gorey immersed himself in the New York City cultural scene. In 1953 he began writing and illustrating short books. The Doubtful Guest (1957), his first book for children, features a penguinlike creature that moves into a wealthy home. A laudatory article by Edmund Wilson (Wilson, Edmund) in The New Yorker (New Yorker, The) magazine in 1959 drew attention to Gorey's work, and he was soon in demand as an illustrator.

      During the 1960s Gorey refined his style and started publishing under several playful pseudonyms, mostly anagrams such as Ogdred Weary, Drew Dogyear, and Mrs. Regera Dowdy. Gorey was fond of illustrated alphabets; his most celebrated is The Gashlycrumb Tinies (1962), which disposes of 26 children: “M is for Maud who was swept out to sea / N is for Neville who died of ennui.” He illustrated two books by Edward Lear (Lear, Edward), including the highly acclaimed The Dong with a Luminous Nose (1969). Gorey continued to write his own stories, including The Hapless Child (1961), The Gilded Bat (1966), and The Deranged Cousins: or, Whatever (1969).

      From 1970 Gorey concentrated on adult works, although he still wrote children's stories. His anthologies Amphigorey (1972), Amphigorey Too (1975), and Amphigorey Also (1983) sold well; the first two volumes were the basis for a 1978 musical stage adaptation, Gorey Stories. Another collection of his stories was dramatized as The Vinegar Works and produced in 1989. Gorey's macabre vision was appreciated across several media; he won a Tony award in 1978 for his costume design for the Broadway revival of the play Dracula, and he designed the title sequence animation for the PBS Mystery series. His later books include The Haunted Tea-Cosy: A Dispirited and Distasteful Diversion for Christmas (1997) and The Headless Bust: A Melancholy Meditation on the False Millennium (1999).

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Gorey, Edward St. John — ▪ 2001       American illustrator and writer (b. Feb. 22, 1925, Chicago, Ill. d. April 15, 2000, Hyannis, Mass.), created meticulous black and white crosshatched drawings to accompany both other authors works and his own eerie and macabre yet… …   Universalium

  • Gorey, Edward (St. John) — born Feb. 22, 1925, Chicago, Ill., U.S. died April 15, 2000, Hyannis, Mass. U.S. writer, illustrator, and designer. He studied at Harvard University and worked as an illustrator before publishing his first children s book, The Doubtful Guest, in… …   Universalium

  • Gorey, Edward (St. John) — (22 feb. 1925, Chicago, Ill., EE.UU.–15 abr. 2000, Hyannis, Mass.). Escritor, ilustrador y diseñador estadounidense. Estudió en la Universidad de Harvard y trabajó como ilustrador antes de publicar su primer libro infantil, The Doubtful Guest [El …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Edward Gorey — Birth name Edward St. John Gorey Born February 22, 1925(1925 02 22) Chicago, Illinois, Unit …   Wikipedia

  • Edward — /ed weuhrd/, n. 1. Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall ( The Black Prince ), 1330 76, English military leader (son of Edward III). 2. Lake, a lake in central Africa, between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a source of the Nile.… …   Universalium

  • Edward — (as used in expressions) Abbey, Edward Acheson, Edward Goodrich Acton (de Aldenham), John Emerich Edward Dahlberg Acton, 1 barón Albee, Edward (Franklin) Edward Teach Bax, Sir Arnold (Edward Trevor) Bellamy, Edward Bernays, Edward L. Charles… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Edward Gorey — (in seinem Haus, 1999) Edward St. John Gorey (* 22. Februar 1925 in Chicago; † 15. April 2000 in Hyannis, Massachusetts) war ein US amerikanischer Autor und Illustrator. Bekannt ist er für seine schwarzweiß schraffierten Zeichnungen, mit denen er …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Edward Gorey — Edward Saint John Gorey, né à Chicago en 1925 et décédé à Cap Cod en 2000 est un illustrateur américain. Il commence une carrière prolifique en 1953 avec The Unstrung Harp, sur le travail d un écrivain. C est avec son animation de générique pour… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Edward Gorey — Edward St. John Gorey (22 de febrero de 1925 15 de abril de 2000) fue un artista notable por sus dibujos torcidos y macabros. Nacido en Chicago, asistió a varias escuelas primarias locales y luego al Francis W. Parker School, durante 1944 y 1946… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Gorey (Begriffsklärung) — Gorey ist der Name folgender Orte: Gorey, Stadt im Südosten Irlands Gorey (Jersey), Dorf auf der Kanalinsel Jersey Gorey ist der Familienname von Edward Gorey (1925–2000), US amerikanischer Autor und Illustrator …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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