Ed Wood Wednesdays: The saga of Ed Wood's 1940 high school yearbook photo (Guest Author: James Pontolillo)

A solemn Ed Wood (top row, center) poses for a class photo in 1940.

NOTE: Author James Pontolillo has been diligently researching the early, pre-Hollywood years of writer-director Edward D. Wood, Jr. His goal is to fill in some gaps in the timeline of Wood's life. The following article contains photographs and information that James has discovered while conducting this research. Enjoy. - J.B.

Ed Wood attended Poughkeepsie High School [Figure 1] from September 1940 until early May 1942 when he paused his studies in order to join the U.S. Marine Corps. For unknown reasons, Ed only took part in his 1940 Freshman class photo [Figure 2] and does not appear in his subsequent 1941 and 1942 class photos. 

Unfortunately, the 1940 yearbook staff managed to mix up Ed and two of his classmates when it came to identifying the participating students [Figure 3]. Ed was mislabeled as Thomas Martell, Tony Rinaldi was mislabeled as Ed, and Thomas Martell was mislabeled as Tony Rinaldi. Additional photos of all three men to demonstrate this point and short biographies of Ed's classmates are given here for the first time.

Podcast Tuesday: "Drugs Are Bad, M'kay?"

Marta Kober on Happy Days.

I grew up during wartime, by which I mean the War on Drugs. Remember that dumb thing? I guess the government officially declared "war" (whatever that means) on mind-altering substances in the early 1970s when soldiers were coming home from Vietnam hooked on dope. But the War on Drugs that I remember started in the 1980s, shortly after Ronald Reagan became president. I think we all remember Ron's wife, Nancy, telling us to "just say no" in some famously ineffective PSAs.

I was in elementary school at the time, and I can say that drugs were not a factor in my life at all. We kids were fairly bombarded with antidrug propaganda, but it was not needed in my case. Teachers would say things like, "We know you kids are under a lot of pressure to smoke pot and pop pills." Wanna bet? I certainly wasn't being pressured to do drugs back then. I wouldn't have even known where to get that stuff if I'd wanted it.

By the time I got to high school in the '90s, students were expected to go through a program called Drug Awareness Resistance Education or D.A.R.E. Drugs were still not a factor in my life because I didn't hang around with cool-enough kids. So D.A.R.E. was just kind of a goof to me. One of my favorite moments of my high school years was when our gym teacher asked the class, "Why do you think they call it dope?" and some wiseacre answered, "Because it's dope." Such a great line. I'm ashamed I didn't think of it.

This week on These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast, we're covering the obligatory antidrug episode of Happy Days entitled "School Dazed." The plot has Joanie (Erin Moran), now somehow a full-time teacher at Patton Vocational School, mentoring a troubled young student named Jesse (Marta Kober). Marta pops pills at school, causing Joanie to get all up in her business. Speeches are made. Tears are shed. Lessons are learned. You know the drill.

But is "School Dazed" any fun at all? Or is it just another useless sermon? Find out by listening to our latest episode, which is linked below.

Podcast Tuesday: "The Naked Graduate"

Jason Wingreen guest stars on a 1977 episode of Happy Days.

   
I sympathize with all the kids across America who don't get to have a real graduation ceremony this year because of the pandemic. They may feel they're being denied an important milestone in their lives, and maybe they're right. Truthfully, though, I don't think they're missing out on anything too spectacular. My own high school graduation ceremony in May 1993 was a dull, hollow experience for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, my mother had died a few months earlier, so my family and I were still very much in mourning. I was only a middling student in those days, so I wasn't receiving any special accolades or awards. I remember sitting glumly through the monotonous ceremony, noting that the underachieving goofballs who had done as little schoolwork as possible were getting the exact same diploma I was getting. I felt like I'd been duped, like all those years of schooling -- all the book reports and pop quizzes and gym classes -- had been a colossal waste of time. When I graduated from college a few years later, I didn't even bother attending the ceremony.

This week on These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast, my co-host and I are covering the episode "Graduation (Part 2)" from February 15, 1977. As the title suggests, the show's plot centers around a high school graduation ceremony that's much more entertaining than my own. Mine definitely didn't feature guest appearances by Pat Morita, Dick Van Patten, and Jason (original voice of Boba Fett) Wingreen! And the whole thing moves by so quickly that you don't have a chance to become bored, depressed, or disenchanted. Have a listen.

Ed Wood Wednesdays: The Wood Collaborator Odyssey, Part 18 by Greg Dziawer

Think you can name this mystery starlet?

High school days.

Let's play a game. I'll think of someone with a connection to Edward D. Wood, Jr., and you try to guess who it is. Sound good?

We have a wide variety of candidates to consider here. After all, among the multitude of creative talents who crossed paths with Eddie during his three tumultuous decades in Hollywood, some are instantly recognizable cult icons, including Criswell, Vampira, and Tor Johnson. Legends all. Most were like Ed, though, working on the fringes of the industry in near-anonymity. While Ed's obscurity evolved into a beyond-the-grave infamy, others in his orbit have been all but forgotten by time.

One of those obscure performers intrigued me, though her connection to Ed was both fleeting and speculative. We can safely say that "maybe" she worked with Ed. I happened to find her high school graduation photo, showing a pert, smiling brunette with a sensible hairdo and outfit. You wouldn't guess there was anything even vaguely scandalous in her future. Something about this rather benign image captured my imagination and made me want to know more.

Another photo revealed that this young lady was in her school's Spanish Club. It's a typical yearbook group shot: a lot of awkward Caucasian kids, some wearing sombreros, grinning for the camera. A couple of wisenheimers in the back row clutch a poster advertising the Plaza de Toros de Madrid. Our girl stands off to the right, looking perhaps a bit more self-satisfied and confident than her peers. Perhaps she did or said something noteworthy right before the photo was taken. Indeed, a few other members of the club seem to be looking her way. They, like me, want to know, "Who's that girl?"

One of the people in this Spanish Club will eventually work with Ed Wood.

Any ideas yet?

Well, I'm feeling charitable, so I'll give you a few additional hints about our mystery woman:

• She stripped under a stage name, dubbed The Wow Girl.

• Her sole feature film credit is a movie Ed is believed to have scripted.

• She appeared in some explicit-for-their-era peepshow arcade shorts (or loops), as well as some skin mag photo features.

Do you know who she is?

Join us here in one week to find out. The next installment in this series will feature the first-ever published index of her work across various media.