Alan Ormsby was born on December 14, 1943, and pursued a degree in drama at the University of Florida, where he met future director Bob Clark.
The duo collaborated on the low-budget zombie horror film Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972),in which Ormsby co-wrote the script, handled make-up effects, and acted as the arrogant theater group leader Alan. His then-wife Anya Liffey also appeared in the film, and they later divorced in 1981.
Ormsby and Clark followed up with Dead of Night (1974),a Vietnam-era variant on the classic short story "The Monkey's Paw", and Deranged (1974),a rural psycho item inspired by serial killer Ed Gein, for which Ormsby co-wrote, co-directed, and handled make-up effects alongside Tom Savini.
Ormsby went on to pen screenplays for My Bodyguard (1980),Cat People (1982),Porky's II: The Next Day (1983),and The Substitute (1996). He also created the popular doll Hugo: Man of a Thousand Faces, which appeared in The Uncle Floyd Show (1974) and The Pee-Wee Herman Show (1981).
In addition to his work in film, Ormsby wrote Movie Monsters, a book on makeup effects, in 1976, and co-wrote and directed the film-within-a-film segments for the slasher send-up Popcorn (1991). He is currently married to actress Hilarie Thompson and has two sons.
