Edward Gorey: The original Tim Burton Video

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><h2 class="subhead" itemprop="description" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Edward Gorey is celebrated on Google's homepage with a playful doodle for what would have been his 88th birthday today. </div></h2><div class="sByline" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">By <a class="ui-author" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/About/Staff/Alicia-Pflaumer" rel="author" style="color: #205d87; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Alicia Pflaume</a></div><div class="sByline" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tPlY_7RR1h0?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe><br /><a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Edward+Gorey" style="background-color: white; color: #205d87; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_self">Edward Gorey</a> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">was an American writer and illustrator known for his unique style, love of cats, and the playful, Victorian-style characters in his work. He was born on February 22, 1925 and would have celebrated his 88th birthday on Friday. </span><a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Google+Inc." style="background-color: white; color: #205d87; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Google</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> is celebrating the artist with a collection of Gorey drawings gracing the search engines homepage today.</span><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Gorey lived in <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Chicago" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Chicago</a> as a child and he claims to be mostly a self-taught artist, he spent only one semester at the <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Art+Institute+of+Chicago" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Art Institute of Chicago</a> in 1943. He later attended <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Harvard+University" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Harvard University</a> from 1946 to 1950, where he joined ranks with other Harvard alumni and founded the Poets' Theatre in <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Cambridge+(Massachusetts)" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Cambridge, Mass</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">He lived most of his later years in his home on <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Cape+Cod" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Cape Cod</a>.</div><div class="promotion-tag" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="promotion-tag-p" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">RECOMMENDED: <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Tech-Culture/2012/0125/Think-you-re-a-true-geek-Take-our-quiz/gadgets-break?nav=631693-csm_blog_post-promoLink" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Think you're a true geek? Take our quiz</a></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Gorey has said that he got his talent from his maternal great-grandmother, Helen St. John Garvey, who was a popular 19th century greeting card writer and artist.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Gorey wrote more than 100 books and illustrated reprints of books such as “Dracula” by <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Bram+Stoker" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Bram Stoker</a>, “The War of the Worlds” by <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/H.G.+Wells" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">H. G. Wells</a>, and a collection of whimsical poems titled “Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats” by T. S. Eliot. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">He classifies his own gothic pen and ink style as “literary nonsense.” </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Gorey’s “wicked and whimsical” animations were used to introduce the <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/gorey.html" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">PBS’ series “Mystery!</a>," since the series began in 1980.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Daniel+Handler" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Daniel Handler</a>, known as <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Lemony+Snicket" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Lemony Snicket</a>, told the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/arts/design/06gorey.html" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">New York Times</a> in 2011:</div><blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; left: 40px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 50px 0px 0px; position: relative; z-index: -1;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">“When I was first writing ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events,’ I was wandering around everywhere saying, ‘I am a complete rip-off of Edward Gorey,’ and everyone said, ‘Who’s that?’ Now, everyone says, ‘That’s right, you are a complete rip-off of Edward Gorey.’ ”</div></blockquote><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Mr. Handler and director <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Tim+Burton" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Tim Burton</a>, known for the film "<a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Edward+Scissorhands" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Edward Scissorhands</a>," are just two artists who owe some gratitude to Gorey for setting the stage for the Goth genre. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">But Gorey wouldn't want readers to dig into his books or his style too deeply. The New York Times article quotes Gorey’s favorite saying: “When people are finding meaning in things — beware.”</div></div>

Edward Gorey Edward Gorey: The original Tim Burton Video

Edward Gorey is celebrated on Google's homepage with a playful doodle for what would have been his 88th birthday today.  By  Alicia Pfla...

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