Elisabeth Brooks as Marsha Quist
Director Joe Dante and writer John Sayles have created one of the smartest and funniest werewolf movies ever made, and Rob Bottin's make-up is the equal of their story. An alumnus from the unofficial Roger Corman film school, Danted named many of the cast members of this unusual werewolf tale after familiar horror movie directors: Terry Fisher (Balaski), Fred Francis (McCarthy), Erle Kenton (Carradine), Sam Newfield (Pickens) and so on, and threw in a few guest appearances of old stars such as Macnee of The Avengers and former Corman regular Miller as a quirky expert on lycanthropy. The story opens as a psycho thriller with a TV anchorwoman, Karen using herself as bait for a maniac who gets shot by the police in a sex shop. The reporters then depart for a remote spa where they are joined by a few colleagues following up on the psychopath story which has yielded some evidence of lycanthropic activities. The plot successfully combines realistic contemporary horror and the transformation of man into werewolf is one of the most harrowing ever filmed -- done with special masks and apparatus that permit us to see jaws growing into shape (complete with dripping teeth).
Biography for Elisabeth Brooks
Birth name
Elisabeth Brooks Luyties
Date of birth
2 July 1951
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Date of death
7 September 1997
Palm Springs, California, USA.
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Elisabeth Brooks began acting at age five with her career encompassing both stage and screen. She started appearing in television roles in the mid 1970s and managed to purse her acting career as a single mother while working a variety of jobs to support herself and her son. She regularly appeared on the daytime soap opera "Days of Our Lives", and in such popular TV series as "The Rockford Files", "Hart to Hart", "Starsky and Hutch", "The Six-Million Dollar Man", and "Emergency". She is probably best remembered for her role as the vileness Marsha Quist in the 1981 motion picture Howling, The (1980), a role that brought her considerable notoriety within the genre.
Brooks was not only a beautiful actress, but also an accomplished writer, poet and musician. She had a wonderful deep, sultry voice and can be heard singing briefly in the movie Forgotten One, The (1990) - a movie she starred in with long-time friend Kristy McNicol. She was also known for her spirituality and encouragement to others. Brooks created her own production company and became an established acting coach. She wrote and produced plays that taught children about the environment, and how they could work with parents to improve their community. An example of this was "Orphan Dreams," which she directed first at Calabasas High School and again at Chamber Theatre in Studio City.
Elisabeth Brooks, after a 3-year struggle with cancer, died in a hospice near her Palm Springs home at the age of 46. As Gigi Porter wrote in a Tribute to Elisabeth Brooks, "let it be said, Elisabeth Brooks was no quitter. She was a fighter... a true warrior to the end."
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Trivia
One son (b.1973). She was unmarried.
Wrote and directed two stage plays "Orphan Dreams (1993)" and "Orphan Dreams Too (1995)"
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Links
Forgotten One, The (1990) .... Carla
Jaded (1989/II) .... Rita
Deep Space (1987) .... Mrs. Ridley
Saturn Awards (1981) (TV)
Howling, The (1980) .... Marsha Quist
Solitary Man, The (1979) (TV) .... Joyce
"Doctors' Hospital" (1975) TV Series .... Nurse Connie Kimbrough