David E. Durston

David E. Durston (September 10, 1921 – May 6, 2010) was an American screenwriter and film director best known for directing the Charles Manson-inspired cult classic drive-in horror exploitation film I Drink Your Blood, which was released in 1971.

Edward Durston
Born
David E. Durston

(1921-09-10)September 10, 1921
DiedMay 6, 2010(2010-05-06) (aged 88)
West Hollywood, California
Other namesEd Durston
OccupationFilm director, screenwriter
Years active1964–1978

Career

Durston wrote and directed for the famous television series Playhouse 90 (1956-1960). He appeared in the obscure DuMont Television Network series Chez Paree Revue in 1950.

In 1965, he directed his first feature film, The Love Statue, which dealt with LSD use. His second feature was the 1971 exploitation horror film I Drink Your Blood, about a cult of Manson Family-esque Satan-worshipping hippies who, after becoming infected with rabies, turn into zombies.

Durston followed this with the dramas Blue Sextet (1971) and Stigma (1972), before shifting his career to hardcore gay porn, with the films Boy 'Napped! (1975) and Manhole (1978), the latter of which was not released due to one of its cast members being cast in Escape from Alcatraz, as the association between him and gay pornography would hurt both his career and the Clint Eastwood film he'd appeared in later.

In later years, Durston attempted to develop a modernized remake of I Drink Your Blood, but the project was cancelled after his death.

Mysterious deaths

In January 1985, Edward Durston accompanied actress Carol Wayne on vacation at the Las Hadas Resort in Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico.[1][2][3][4][5]

After the pair argued, Wayne reportedly took a walk on the beach. Three days later a local fisherman found the woman's body in the shallow bay. An autopsy performed in Mexico revealed no signs of alcohol or other drugs in her body. Her death was ruled "accidental". [6]

Durston had also been present during the death of actress Diane Linkletter in 1969, when she jumped from her sixth-floor Hollywood apartment window. Her death was blamed on the drug LSD but toxicology tests found no LSD in her body after she died.[7] Durston reported that he visited the young actress after a phone call at 3:00am. Linkletter was distressed and unhappy. After making some cookies, they sat up talking. At about 9:00am Linkletter went out to the kitchen and didn't return. According to the report Durston made to Los Angeles homicide Detective Lt. Norman Hamilton, by the time he went looking for her, he was too late to prevent the young woman from jumping out the window. “She went over to a window. I tried to grab her and she went out,” said Durston.[8] Linkletter died from her injuries caused by the fall.

Death

Durston died on May 6, 2010 of complications from pneumonia.[9]

Filmography

As film director:

  • The Love Statue (1965)
  • I Drink Your Blood (1971)
  • Blue Sextet (1971)
  • Stigma (1972)
  • Boy 'Napped! (1975) (as Spencer Logan)
  • Manhole (1978)

As screenwriter:

  • The Love Statue (1965)
  • I Drink Your Blood (1971)
  • Blue Sextet (1971)
  • Stigma (1972)
  • Boy 'Napped! (1975) (as Spencer Logan)

References
  1. Austin, John (1 November 1993). hollywood's greatest mysteries. SP Books. ISBN 9781561712588. Retrieved 16 July 2018 – via Google Books.
  2. Austin, John (16 July 1994). Hollywood's Babylon Women. SP Books. ISBN 9781561712885. Retrieved 16 July 2018 – via Google Books.
  3. "Carol Wayne / Mysterious Death of Carol Wayne". Tvparty.com. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  4. Austin, John (16 July 1991). More of Hollywood's Unsolved Mysteries. SP Books. ISBN 9780944007730. Retrieved 16 July 2018 – via Google Books.
  5. Fleming, E. J. (2 October 2015). Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites: Seventeen Driving Tours with Directions and the Full Story, 2d ed. McFarland. ISBN 9781476618500. Retrieved 16 July 2018 – via Google Books.
  6. Austin, John (1991). More of Hollywood's Unsolved Mysteries. SP Books. p. 98. ISBN 0-944007-73-2.
  7. Associated Press (May 26, 2010). "TV Show Host Art Linkletter Dies at 97". Fox News.
  8. Mikkelson, David. "Death of Diane Linkletter".
  9. Fox, Margalit (May 22, 2010). "David E. Durston, Who Wrote and Directed 'I Drink Your Blood,' Dies at 88". The New York Times.
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