Sad, sad, sad news.
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Forrest J. Ackerman, who coined the term Sci-Fi, who served as Ray Bradbury’s editor and gave him his first break in fiction writing, who founded the landmark magazine [i]Famous Monsters of Filmland[/i] (later simply [i]Famous Monsters[/i]), and who owns perhaps the largest collection of Sci-Fi and Horror memorabilia, is being forced to sell nearly everything off.
This couldn’t be sadder news for me, as Forry was my hero as a youngster, one of the most-beloved figures of my youth.
After the demise of Warren Publications (who distributed [i]FM[/i]), Forry entered into a business partnership with Ray Ferry, and started the magazine back up. Forry was the Editor-in-Chief of the mag, but Ferry eventually forced him out of the magazine, refusing to pay him any of his proceeds and lifting Forry’s intellectual property and trademarks (Ferry had, among other things, begun signing all of his articles and editorials “Dr. Acula,” long one of Forry’s pen names). Forry sued, and two years ago won a judgement of somewhere near $500,000. At that time, Ferry transferred the trust deeds to his house and the magazine proceeds to those close to him, transferred the trademark “Famous Monsters” to a corporation controlled by his attorneys who then transferred it to a corporation controlled by Ferry, and then declared bankruptcy, claiming to be destitute. The bankruptcy judge has declared his asset transfers fraudulent, and has also declared that the relationship between Ferry and his attorneys was “in furtherance of an unlawful scheme to defraud” Forry. Ferry and his attorneys have appealed, and this has driven Forry’s legal bills through the roof.
Forrest J. Ackerman’s 300,000 piece collection was long stored in a 5,800 square-foot mansion in LA, and for over 50 years he would give free guided tours of his collection to anyone that would stop by. His collection includes such amazing pieces as the robot from [i]Metropolis[/i], sets and costumes from Universal’s [i]Frankenstein[/i] films and Bela Lugosi’s [i]Dracula[/i] cape that he used in his 1930’s stage productions. Now, it’s all being sold, save for a handful of his most treasured pieces. Forry has had to relocate to a small five-bedroom rental, thanks to hundreds of thousands of dollars he owes in legal expenses.
Perhaps the saddest thing about all of this, is that the loss of his collection could have been avoided. He had long petitioned Los Angeles to house this collection in a permanent home to no avail. He had asked the members of the Hollywood elite who had cited his magazine as an influence, such as Steven Spielberg, to help find a place to keep the pieces on permanent display, but there was no response. Nobody cared enough to help him out. And now it’s too late. It’s all being sold away, and the greatest collection of horror and sci-fi memorabilia will be no more.
[img]images/smiles/icon_sad.gif[/img]
I hate to say this, since I’d rather have everything stay in Forry’s hands, but if you have any money to spare, are interested in helping this wonderful man out, and would like to own a piece of Hollywood history, visit eBay and search for “Ackerman Collection.”
–Aleck
[ 30-09-2002: Message edited by: Aleck ]
ACK x10 !!!! [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]
I know about Forry. Back in the good old days when the Sci Fi Channel actually had a lot of scif, he used to be featured in a show called “The Buzz.” I’ve also read about him in numerous other places than “Famous Monsters.”
This country really IS going to hell in a handbasket……
[img]images/smiles/icon_sad.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_sad.gif[/img]
A couple of notable people who did help…
There was a now-shelved sequel to the Herschell Gordon Lewis cult classic [i]Two Thousand Maniacs![/i] that was made, and Tim Sullivan, the director of it, along with John Landis (who was involved with it as well) were able to raise money to help pay some of Forry’s recent medical expenses. (Forry recently underwent treatment for pneumonia and had a blood clot removed from his brain.) I’ve got my reasons to dislike John Landis (and they all have to do with the [i]Twilight Zone[/i] movie), but I’ve got to give him credit for this. A noble act from someone who has always cared about Forry.
–Aleck
[ 01-10-2002: Message edited by: Aleck ]
quote:
Originally posted by Aleck:
I’ve got my reasons to dislike John Landis (and they all have to do with the [i]Twilight Zone[/i] movie), but I’ve got to give him credit for this. A noble act from someone who has always cared about Forry.–Aleck
[ 01-10-2002: Message edited by: Aleck ]
It wouldn’t have anything to do with a disregard for human life, would it???
quote:
Originally posted by Micromary:
It wouldn’t have anything to do with a disregard for human life, would it???
Coupled with a stunning inability to admit his own complicity? Oh, dear no… [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] It wouldn’t have anything to do with *that*…
I do have to admit that it was nice of him to help out Forry, and I’ll admit that I have enjoyed several of his films, but there are some things that go beyond the pale, and the [i]Twilight Zone[/i] incident is one of those things. It’s unforgivable.
–Aleck
AMEN!!!!
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