Ed Wood Wednesdays: The Wood Collaborator Odyssey, Part 24 by Greg Dziawer with Mike Hickey

A headshot of Casey Larrain.

Casey Larrain strikes a pose circa 1981.

This week, we turn our attention to Casey Larrain, the winsome brunette actress who memorably appeared with Ed Wood in several films in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I will let my friend Mike Hickey introduce Ms. Larrain:

I'd first noticed Casey Larrain acting opposite Ed Wood in the notorious Love Feast (1969) and Nympho Cycler (1971). The more I saw of her in other movies, the more curious I became about her. Curious enough that when I heard she lived less than an hour from me, I looked her up and gave her a call. After some communication she agreed to meet with me for an interview. Wow!

On the day I drove to Chatsworth to meet with her, I became increasingly nervous. It can be awkward meeting new people under usual circumstances, let alone with me asking her the kinds of questions I was going to ask.

We ended up speaking for a couple of hours and had a really nice talk. She was very open to talking about anything I asked her about. I, of course, asked her about working with Ed Wood and Joe Robertson. She told me stories about doing scenes with John Holmes, which I had no idea had ever happened. I was also glad I got to tell her how great I thought she was playing a British snob in Joe Robertson's Lord Farthingay's Holiday (1972).

Since meeting Casey that day, we've kept in touch quite often. I've visited a few times to have items from my Casey collection signed by her. My wife and I have even attended a few of her annual Boxing Day parties! She's very cool, very with it, and just a great person. I'm glad to know her.

I had known for a while that Mike Hickey had connected with Casey. Then, late last summer, my friend Rob Huffman—who had previously interviewed Casey—introduced me to her. We finally talked in September and have had many exchanges since. A special thanks to Casey for supplying heretofore unknown details about her life and work.

Before entering the film business, Casey graduated from Canoga Park High School in the suburbs of Los Angeles in 1964. "My early ambition was to be the Bette Davis of my generation," Casey told me. But she added, "Even in my youth, I found the idea of fame abhorrent." By the time she graduated from high school, she had no thought of being an actress at all. When she entered college, she majored in political science.

(left) Casey's yearbook picture from 1964; (right) Casey at the prom in 1963.

She got her start in show business by answering a classified ad in the local newspaper. A photographer was looking for models. By 1968, Casey had become a print model before transitioning into films at the behest of her then-agent Jack, who was tragically murdered in a parking lot robbery.

At that time, Casey was by living in Box Canyon, CA with her now-ex-husband, an art student. Embarking upon a career in adult films, she would spend the next three years shooting dozens of sex films, primarily of the softcore variety. She was paid $50 for a half day or $100 for a full day's work. 

Modeling shots of Casey from 1969 and 1970. (Both provided by Mike Hickey.)

It was during this time when she worked with Ed Wood. Her recollection was that she shot all of her scenes with Ed at once and that he himself directed the scenes, despite Joe Robertson being credited as the director of Nympho Cycler and Love Feast.  A curious aside: As a child, Casey visited Corriganville Ranch, run by actor and stuntman Ray "Crash" Corrigan, who would go on to produce the Ed-scripted-and-directed Take It Out in Trade (1970), featuring Casey.

Mike Hickey's rare Love Feast poster, plus his copies of Take It Out in Trade (signed!) and Nympho Cycler.

Not only was Casey unaware that her scenes with Ed Wood would make their way into numerous films, including Love Making U.S.A. (1971), but she recalls scenes shot by Ed that hit the cutting room floor or perhaps appeared in a lost film. 

Among the as-yet unseen scenes shot with Ed, she noted the original opening shots for Nympho Cycler: "We shot on a long white path in Century City. I was riding a bike [motorcycle], wearing a helmet and heavy jacket." The payoff to the scene was that, when she took off the motorcycle gear, she was revealed to be a female, complete with long, streaming hair and tight jeans.

Vintage Harley Davidson ad featuring Casey Larrain at far right.

Casey also recalls a scene shot at Venice Beach, with Ed directing. He had gathered a group of homeless men for the shoot. "He brought a bottle of jug wine, and we sat in a circle passing it around. Joints were being passed around. Actual marijuana!" She also remembers filming near the merry-go-round at Griffith Park. She speculates that perhaps the producers of the film felt that this deleted footage "was all just color and character illumination and didn’t have nearly enough to do with nudity and sex."

All in all, Casey recalls Ed warmly. "He was really fun to work with. Incredibly sweet and funny, and childlike as in the Depp film." 

Working primarily in softcore films, where penises had to remain flaccid, presented some problems. As Casey noted: "Not all guys had control. A guy would get an erection, and they would have to stop filming." 

 As Mike  mentioned above, Casey worked with the legendary, notorious John Holmes on a 8mm loop that is seemingly lost. He was "the consummate professional," she told me. They shot the film at an old legitimate theater downtown. John played a magician, calling Casey out of the audience, then making her clothes disappear. "We go backstage after, and he was disinfecting his penis with mouthwash." Casey decided to move on as the sex film industry transitioned to hardcore.

By the early '70s, Casey became active in politics. She was an alternate delegate for presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm in 1972. She would subsequently become a member of the National Women's Political Caucus, founded by Gloria Steinem. This led to meeting Governor Jerry Brown. "He was flirting with me. He thought this was the way to curry favor with a feminist?" She would later work with the political advocacy group MoveOn and the American Way.

(left) A campaign poster for Shirley Chisholm; (right) Casey Larrain in 1971's La Femme Libido.

Casey's penchant for collecting would land her in the Guinness Book of World Records, amassing the world's largest collection of confetti shapes. She then moved on to collect vintage cigarette holders.

Casey is an avid collector of oddly-shaped confetti (left) and cigarette holders (right).

Casey is now retired after working for more than 30 years in office administration. These days, she is perhaps a bit bemused by the enduring interest in her film work, which represents a mere piece of her fascinating life story.

(left) A dating profile picture from 1998; (right) With her longtime friend Lance circa 2011.

Special thanks to Casey Larrain, Mike Hickey and Rob Huffman for their help in putting together this article. Exclusive photos here are courtesy of Casey and Mike. Check out more about Mike "Major Entertainer" Hickey here.