Andy Milligan (screenwriter)
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Andrew Jackson Milligan Jr. (February 12, 1929 – June 3, 1991) was an American playwright, screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker, whose work includes 27 movies made between 1965 and 1988. He directed productions in Staten Island. In spite of the fact that he directed a number of movies that have become cult favorites with horror movie buffs, he died in abject poverty in 1991 from
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
and was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave in Los Angeles, California.


Early life

Andrew Jackson Milligan Jr. was born on February 12, 1929, in
St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...
. He was a self-taught filmmaker and was responsible for much of the creative activity on his movies (including
cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...
and
costume design Costume design is the process of selecting or creating clothing for a performers. A costume may be designed from scratch or may be designed by combining existing garments. "Costume" may also refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a ...
). Milligan was an "army brat"; his father, Andrew Milligan Sr. (b. February 17, 1894, d. October 25, 1985), was an officer in the U.S. Army who served in the military for over 50 years (retiring in the mid-1960s holding the rank of captain). The family frequently moved around the country as a result of this. Milligan's mother, Marie Gladys Hull (b. June 10, 1900, d. November 12, 1953), was an overweight alcoholic with severe physical and mental health problems who served as an inspiration for some of Milligan's movie characters. Milligan's parents met and married in 1926. He was close to his father, who affectionately called him 'Junior', but had a troubled relationship with his mother, who was both physically and mentally abusive towards all her children as well as her husband. Milligan had an older half-brother named Harley LeRoy Hull (b. July 10, 1924, d. February 17, 1998) and a younger sister named Louise Milligan Howe (b. May 27, 1931, d. January 2, 2021). After finishing high school in 1947, Milligan enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving for four years. After his honorable discharge in 1951 he settled in New York City, where he acted on stage, and opened a dress shop.


Career

During the late 1950s, Milligan became involved in the nascent
off-off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway theatre, Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commerc ...
theater movement where he mounted productions of plays by
Lord Dunsany Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957), commonly known as Lord Dunsany, was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. He published more than 90 books during his lifetime, and his output consist ...
and
Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...
at the
Caffe Cino Caffe Cino was an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1958 by Joe Cino. The West Village coffeehouse, located at 31 Cornelia Street, was initially conceived as a venue for poetry, folk music, and visual art exhibitions. The plays produced at th ...
, a small Greenwich Village coffeehouse that served as a hothouse for rising theater talent like
Lanford Wilson Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937March 24, 2011) was an American playwright. His work, as described by ''The New York Times'', was "earthy, realist, greatly admired ndwidely performed". Fox, Margalit"Lanford Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwrigh ...
,
Tom Eyen Tom Eyen (August 14, 1940 – May 26, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist, television writer and director. He received a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for ''Dreamgirls'' in 1981. Eyen is best known for works at opposite end ...
and
John Guare John Guare ( ; born February 5, 1938) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of '' The House of Blue Leaves'' and '' Six Degrees of Separation''. Early life He was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens.Druckma ...
. Milligan also became involved with directing low-key theater productions at the
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (sometimes abbreviated as La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1961 by African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer Ellen Stewart. Located in the East Village neighborho ...
. During this period, he operated and designed for a clothing boutique named Ad Lib and used his dressmaking skills to costume many theatrical productions. In the early 1960s, Milligan began making movies. He met some of the actors for his early movies at Caffe Cino. His first released movie was a 30-minute black-and-white 16 mm short drama titled '' Vapors'' (1965). The movie, set on one Friday evening in the St. Mark's Baths, a
gay bathhouse A gay bathhouse, also known as a gay sauna or a gay steambath, is a public bath targeted towards Gay men, gay and Bisexuality, bisexual men. In gay slang, a bathhouse may be called just "the baths", "the sauna", or "the tubs". Historically, they ...
for men, portrays an emotionally awkward and unconsummated meeting between two strangers. Milligan was later employed by producers of
exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that seeks commercial success by capitalizing on current trends, niche genres, or sensational content. Exploitation films often feature themes such as suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudi ...
s, particularly William Mishkin, to direct softcore
sexploitation A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, Low-budget film, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition o ...
and horror features, many featuring actors known from the off-off Broadway theater community. Most of his early exploitation movie fell into the genre of morality play. Milligan's plays and movies explored topics of transgression and punishment, dysfunctional family relationships, repressed sexuality, homosexuality and physical deformity, and include such titles as ''Depraved!'' (1967), ''The Naked Witch'' (1967), ''The Promiscuous Sex'' (1967), ''The Degenerates'' (1967), ''The Filthy Five'' (1969), ''Gutter Trash'' (1969), ''The Ghastly Ones'' (1968), ''Seeds of Sin'' (1968), ''Fleshpot on 42nd Street'' (1973), ''The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here!'' (1973), and ''Guru, the Mad Monk'' (1970). Most of Milligan's early works are currently considered
lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...
s. In 1966, Milligan set up his residence in a Victorian-era mansion located in
St. George, Staten Island St. George is a neighborhood on the northeastern tip of Staten Island in New York City, along the waterfront where the Kill Van Kull enters Upper New York Bay. It is the most densely developed neighborhood on Staten Island, and the location of th ...
, within a mile walking distance of the
Staten Island Ferry The Staten Island Ferry is a fare-free passenger ferry route operated by the New York City Department of Transportation. The ferry's single route runs through New York Harbor between the Boroughs of New York City, New York City boroughs of Manh ...
. The house soon became what he dubbed "Hollywood Central," where he filmed several of his movies. Milligan wrote, directed, built sets and sewed costumes for nearly all of his movies. His usual "stock company" often was supplemented by Staten Island locals. Milligan's early movies were shot with a single hand-held 16-millimeter
Auricon Auricon cameras were 16 mm film Single-system recording, Single System sound-on-film motion picture cameras manufactured in the 1940s through the early 1980s. Auricon cameras are notable because they record sound directly onto an optical or magnet ...
sound-on-film news camera. This technique was inspired by
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
and allowed Milligan to move the camera around at will, at times punctuating violent scenes with his "swirl camera" technique through which he would spin the camera and point it to the ground. Often working with budgets under $10,000, his movies feature very tight framing that helped cover his very low budgets, particularly in the case of the period pieces that were most of his horror movies. His ability to make movies with such low budgets is why Mishkin often hired him and Mishkin's influence on the
42nd Street 42nd Street most commonly refers to: *42nd Street (Manhattan), a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan It may also refer to: *42nd Street (film), ''42nd Street'' (film), a 1933 American Warner Bros. musical film with lyri ...
grindhouse A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter, and exploitation films for adults. According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the "grind policy", a f ...
circuit meant that Milligan's pictures played there often. Milligan filmed all of his movies on short ends; using old and unused leftover film reels of 16 mm and later 35mm film that he acquired through various means from other film sets as a means to keep production costs down. In 1968, Milligan began to make horror movies featuring gore effects with ''The Ghastly Ones'', a 19th-century period piece and his first color movie, produced by JER and titled by Sam Sherman. In 1969, he made his next horror movie, a medieval period piece titled ''Torture Dungeon'', after which he moved to London, England to make movies there after having made a deal with producer Leslie Elliot. After directing the exploitation drama ''Nightbirds'' in London, his partnership with Elliot collapsed as he was working on ''The Body Beneath''. Milligan then teamed with William Mishkin again where Mishkin produced and Milligan directed three more 19th-century period piece British horror pictures: ''Bloodthirsty Butchers'', ''The Man With Two Heads'', and ''The Rats Are Coming. The Werewolves Are Here'' (all shot in 1969). Milligan returned to
Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...
in 1970. On his return to New York, Milligan wrote and directed another medieval period piece titled ''Guru the Mad Monk'', which was shot for the first time with a 35mm
Arriflex Arri Group () (stylized as "ARRI") is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. It ...
camera and filmed entirely inside the St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Chelsea, Manhattan. This movie was released in December 1970 on a double feature with ''The Body Beneath''. Through the next years, Mishkin released Milligan's British-made pictures, some with additional scenes shot in New York. ''The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here!'' was one of Mishkin's movies in which he had Milligan insert new killer rat scenes shot in New York, mostly at his new Staten Island house on Corson Street where Milligan lived during that time and filmed another horror period piece there in 1973, titled ''Blood''. After directing the 1972 sexploitation drama ''Fleshpot on 42nd Street'', Milligan's output was restricted mostly to gory horror movies as he moved to the southern tip of Staten Island in the Tottenville neighborhood where he lived in and owned and operated a dilapidated hotel located at the corner end of Main Street and Ellis Street right next to the southern end of
Staten Island Railway The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is a rapid transit, railroad line in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Staten Island. It is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropol ...
(currently an Italian-themed restaurant named ''Vincent Angelina's Ristorante''). On October 27, 1977, Milligan moved into 335 West 39th Street in Manhattan (a four-story building purchased for $50,000 by Milligan and stockholders), where he founded and ran the Troupe Theatre, an off-off Broadway venue above which he lived in a third-floor loft until he left New York City for good in March 1985. He moved to Los Angeles, where he briefly owned a dress shop on Highland Boulevard from late 1985 to early 1986. Milligan then directed three more independently produced horror movies in 1987 and 1988, which included ''Monstrosity'', ''The Weirdo'', and ''Surgikill'' as well as operated another theater and production company, called Troupe West, which ran until early 1990. In his non-fiction book about the horror genre titled ''Danse Macabre'',
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
gives a short assessment of one of Milligan's movies: "''The Ghastly Ones'' is the work of morons with cameras." Milligan developed a reputation as a maker of awful horror movies, featuring
Herschell Gordon Lewis Herschell Gordon Lewis (June 15, 1926 – September 26, 2016) was an American filmmaker, best known for creating the " splatter" subgenre of horror films. He is often called the "Godfather of Gore" (a title also given to Lucio Fulci), though h ...
-type gore effects, both of which combined to give him a reputation as one of the worst directors of all time. The re-discovery of ''Fleshpot on 42nd Street''—generally regarded to be his best work—in the 1990s by the Seattle-based video company
Something Weird Video Something Weird Video is an American film distributor company based in Seattle, Washington. They specialize in exploitation B to Z films, particularly the works of Harry Novak, Doris Wishman, David F. Friedman and Herschell Gordon Lewis. ...
and the release of his biography in 2001 has made more widely known his theatrical background and the context to his work. Despite his modern-day recognition, most of Milligan's exploitation movies during the 1960s remain unseen because the prints were lost.


Personal life

In 1968, Milligan married Candy Hammond, a North Carolina stage actress and former "erotic dancer" who starred in a few of his movies. The wedding service took place on February 24, 1968, at his Staten Island house located on 7 Phelps Place, which was still decorated for the movie shoot ''Seeds'' and attended by most of the crew people working on the movie as well as his father and Japanese stepmother (whom his father married in 1960 while Milligan Sr. was stationed in Japan). The wedding was not viewed seriously by any of the attendees because Milligan was openly gay. Candy divorced him the following year, apparently due to neglect as he was more focused on his film making career, and she shortly thereafter returned to her North Carolina hometown. Milligan had a reputation throughout his life of being demanding and bad-tempered, often provoking fights and arguments with actors, movie producers and financiers. It has been alleged that he was physically, emotionally, and sexually abusive to male and female actors on movie sets. Some have speculated that he had exactly the same mental health problems as his mother did (whom he always talked about in a negative light); either
bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...
or some type of
schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
or possibly
Schizoaffective disorder Schizoaffective disorder is a mental disorder characterized by symptoms of both schizophrenia (psychosis) and a mood disorder, either bipolar disorder or depression. The main diagnostic criterion is the presence of psychotic symptoms for at leas ...
which remained undiagnosed and untreated throughout his life. A non-smoker and non-drinker, Milligan was said to react badly and violently if those around him smoked cigarettes, drank alcoholic beverages or used any type of recreational drug. Milligan also never had a driver's license, relying on public transportation wherever he lived. Milligan was openly gay, enjoyed S&M and had very few long-term relationships (all of which were with men). One of his close friends was a Vietnam veteran and ex-convict named Dennis Malvasi (1950- ), who acted in Milligan's Troupe Theater in the late 1970s-early 1980s and also worked for Milligan as a crew person, transportation driver and even acted in one of Milligan's horror movies, ''Carnage'' in 1983. Malvasi was a former U.S. Marine and demolitions expert who was suspected in numerous abortion clinic bombings in New York state during the 1980s. After the Troupe Theater closed in 1985, Malvasi was the person who drove Milligan on a cross-country, four-day road trip during Milligan's move to Los Angeles. Later in 1987, Malvasi was arrested, convicted and served five years in a federal prison for the attempted bombing of another abortion clinic in New York City. Another one of Milligan's few close friends was character actor John Miranda (1926–2015), who starred as
Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial '' The String of Pearls'' (1846–1847). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet St ...
in Milligan's 1970 movie ''
Bloodthirsty Butchers Bloodthirsty Butchers was a long-running indie rock and punk rock band from Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Although little-known in the West, they have contributed to two compilations on the Olympia, Washington based Yoyo Records, Yoyo label. The ban ...
''. Miranda later financially supported Milligan after his move to Los Angeles and assisted with medical expenses during Milligan's final years. One of Milligan's lovers was "human toothpick" B. "Bobby" Wayne Keeton (so-named for his gaunt physical build) (1960–1989), a Louisiana-born hustler who worked as a slate man and even appeared in a small part in ''Monstrosity'', one of Milligan's later movies, which he filmed in Los Angeles in late 1987. Keeton died from AIDS on June 20, 1989.


Death

In poor health from 1989, Milligan was diagnosed with
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
some months after his lover Keeton died. He initially kept his condition a secret as he tried to continue working on writing stage play scripts and screenplays. Later, unable to find any more financial backers, he eventually closed down his theater and production company, Troupe West, in early 1990 and then completely withdrew from the public light altogether. In June 1990, Milligan confided in only two people the true nature of his health; friend and actor John Miranda and writer-biographer Jimmy McDonough, who then became his part-time
caregivers A caregiver, carer or support worker is a paid or unpaid person who helps an individual with activities of daily living. Caregivers who are members of a care recipient's family or social network, who may have specific professional training, are o ...
for the next 12 months. Andy Milligan died in the early morning hours of June 3, 1991, from complications to AIDS at the
Queen of Angels Hospital The Queen of Angels Hospital was a private hospital complex located at 2301 Bellevue Avenue in the Echo Park, Los Angeles, Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. The 404-bed hospital was founded in 1926 by the Franciscan S ...
in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, at age 62. He was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Los Angeles due to his poor financial situation on death.


Filmography


Actor

* ''
Armstrong Circle Theatre ''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series which ran from June 6, 1950, to June 25, 1957, on NBC, and from October 2, 1957, to August 28, 1963, on CBS. It alternated weekly with '' The United States Steel Ho ...
'' (three episodes, 1951–52) * ''
Kraft Television Theatre ''Kraft Television Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series running from 1947 to 1958. It began May 7, 1947, on NBC, airing at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. It first promoted MacLaren's Impe ...
'' (one episode, 1953) * ''The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here!'' (uncredited, 1972) * ''Legacy of Blood'' (1978, credited as 'Charles Richards')


Director and writer

* '' Vapors'' (1965, written by Hope Stansbury) * ''The Naked Witch'' (also known as ''The Naked Temptress'', 1967, lost) * ''The Gay Life'' (1967, lost, documentary short film, co-directed by Clifford Solway; credited as Gerald Jackson) * ''Compass Rose'' (1967, released unfinished on the byNWR site) * ''The Degenerates'' (also known as ''Sex for Kicks'', 1967, lost) * ''The Promiscuous Sex'' (also known as ''Liz'', 1967, lost) * ''Depraved!'' (also known as ''Sin Sisters 2000 AD'', 1967, lost) * ''Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me!'' (1968, lost) * ''The Ghastly Ones'' (also known as '' Blood Rites'') (1968) * ''Tricks of the Trade'' (1968, lost) * ''The Filthy Five'' (1968, lost) * ''Seeds'' (also known as ''Seeds of Sin'') (1968) * ''Gutter Trash'' (1968, lost) * ''The Bitch'' (also known as ''The Mongrel'', 1968, unfinished, lost) * ''The Weirdo'' (original version, 1969 - unreleased, lost) * ''Torture Dungeon'' (1969) * ''Nightbirds'' (1970, released on DVD and Blu-ray as part of the BFI Flipside series, Milligan's last black-and-white movie, first UK production) * ''
Bloodthirsty Butchers Bloodthirsty Butchers was a long-running indie rock and punk rock band from Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Although little-known in the West, they have contributed to two compilations on the Olympia, Washington based Yoyo Records, Yoyo label. The ban ...
'' (1970) * ''The Body Beneath'' (1970) * ''Guru, the Mad Monk'' (1970) * ''Dragula'' (1971, gay pornographic adult movie - uncredited, lost) * '' The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here!'' (1972, also known as ''Curse of the Full Moon'' - filmed in 1969) * ''The Man with Two Heads'' (1972, filmed in 1969 - last UK production) * ''Fleshpot on 42nd Street'' (1972) * ''Supercool'' (also known as ''Sharon'') (1973, unfinished, unreleased, lost) * ''Blood'' (1974) * ''Legacy of Blood'' (also known as ''Legacy of Horror'') (1978, remake of ''The Ghastly Ones'') * ''House of Seven Belles'' (1979, released unfinished on the byNWR site) * ''Carnage'' (also known as ''Hell House'', 1984) * ''Adventures of Red Rooster'' (1984 - unreleased television sitcom, six half-hour episodes) * ''Monstrosity'' (1987) * ''The Weirdo'' (1988) * ''Surgikill'' (1988, also known as ''Screwball Hospital Central'')


References

* Jimmy McDonough, ''The Ghastly One: The Sex-Gore Netherworld of Filmmaker Andy Milligan'' (Chicago Review Press, 2003) . * Rob Craig, ''Gutter Auteur: The Films of Andy Milligan'' (McFarland, 2013) . * Mallory Curley, ''Tales of Off Off Broadway'' (Randy Press, 2013). * Tim Lucas, ''Andy Milligan: Horror's Unwanted Weirdo''; Video Watchdog: The Perfectionist's Guide to Fantastic Video. Volume issues 52, 53, and 54 (1999)


External links

*
Robert Patrick's Andy Milligan page

A Celebration of Hate: The Horror Films of Andy Milligan
* Cinefear Video: Andy Milliga

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milligan, Andy 1929 births 1991 deaths Male actors from Saint Paul, Minnesota American expatriates in the United Kingdom American male film actors American male television actors American cinematographers American film editors Film producers from New York (state) American gay writers American LGBTQ film directors American LGBTQ screenwriters People from St. George, Staten Island AIDS-related deaths in California American LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights LGBTQ people from Minnesota 20th-century American male actors Writers from Minnesota Film directors from Minnesota 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American businesspeople Film directors from New York City Film producers from Minnesota 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American LGBTQ people