Stuart Gordon was a theater director, film director, and screenwriter, best known for horror and science-fiction films. He was born in Chicago on August 11, 1947, and studied theater at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Gordon left the university in 1968 after administrator demands for oversight of his controversial state productions. He married actress Carolyn Purdy later that year. They founded the Organic Theater Company in 1969 and moved to Chicago, where Gordon wrote and directed plays including the science-fiction epic Warp and an adaptation of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Gordon's first film Re-Animator was released in 1985. An H.P. Lovecraft adaptation about a mad scientist, Re-Animator's mix of gory violence and humor was well-received by critics and was followed by horror films From Beyond in 1986 and Dolls in 1987. He continued directing films in the horror and science-fiction genres through the 1990s and 2000s. He also co-wrote the screenplay for Disney's family film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. In addition to his work in film and theater, he wrote and directed some projects for television, including episodes of Masters of Horror.
Stuart Gordon died on March 24, 2020.
