George Waggner was an American movie producer, writer, actor and director. Along with screenwriter Curt Siodmak, Waggner was chiefly responsible for the creation of the 1941 film The Wolf Man and for bringing the allure of werewolf mythology into modern American pop culture.
Born in New York City on September 7, 1894, George Waggner was a pre-med college student at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. He dropped out of school to travel to Hollywood in the hopes of breaking into the movie industry. He appeared in several bit parts in silent films during the 1920s, but his career prospects began to dwindle, so he turned his efforts first towards writing, and then towards directing.
Body of work[]
| Film | Year | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Man Made Monster | 1941 | Director; Writer |
| Horror Island | 1941 | Director |
| The Wolf Man | 1941 | Director; Producer |
| Ghost of Frankenstein | 1942 | Producer |
| The Invisible Agent | 1942 | Associate producer |
| Phantom of the Opera | 1943 | Producer; soundtrack |
| Frankentein Meets the Wolf Man | 1943 | Producer |
Notes[]
- Waggner often spelled his name with a lowercase "w" and two capital "G"s; WaGGner.
- In 1981, director Joe Dante payed homage to genre directors, including George Waggner, by naming several characters in his werewolf film, The Howling after them. In the film, Patrick Macnee plays the role of George Waggner, a psychiatrist who is secretly the architect of a hidden society of werewolves.