Paul Blaisdell, a multifaceted artist, was born on July 21, 1927, in Newport, Rhode Island, and grew up in Quincy, Massachusetts. As a child, he developed a passion for sketching alien monsters and constructing model airplane kits.
After graduating from high school, Blaisdell briefly worked as a typewriter repairman and served in the military. He then attended the New England School of Art and Design, where he met his future wife, Jacqueline "Jackie" Boyle. The couple got married in 1952 and moved to Topanga Canyon in Los Angeles, California.
Blaisdell's artistic talent led him to work as a technical illustrator for Douglas Aircraft and submit his illustrations to publications such as "Spaceways" and "Otherworlds." His work caught the attention of legendary magazine publisher Forrest J. Ackerman, who became his agent. Through Ackerman, Blaisdell landed his first film job, designing the alien creature for Roger Corman's "The Beast with a Million Eyes" (1955).
Blaisdell went on to create special effects and design monsters for various low-budget American-International Pictures drive-in films, including "Not of This Earth" (1957),"Invasion of the Saucer Men" (1957),and "The Spider" (1958). His most memorable creations include the grotesquely malformed mutant in "Day the World Ended" (1955),the infamous cucumber creature in "It Conquered the World" (1956),Tabanga the tree monster in "From Hell It Came" (1957),and the titular distaff beast in "The She-Creature" (1956). He often played these creatures himself, showcasing his versatility as an artist.
As Blaisdell became increasingly disenchanted with the film industry, he quit making contributions to movies in the late 1950s. In the early 1960s, he launched the magazine "Fantastic Monsters of the Films" with fellow horror cinema fan Bob Burns. The magazine featured a how-to section by Blaisdell called "The Devil's Workshop." He also worked on conceptual artwork for several movies that never got made.
Eventually, Blaisdell left the film industry and made a modest living as a carpenter. He passed away on July 10, 1983, at the tragically young age of 55, due to stomach cancer in Topanga Canyon, California.
