"Future events such as these will affect us in the future," pronounced "The Amazing Criswell" in Plan 9 From Outer Space. That much he had right.
Charles Criswell King, AKA The Amazing Criswell, was a legendary pop psychic who had two career arcs. The first was when he became famous in the 1950s in his books, on his syndicated TV program and in his newspaper column. He had an uncanny ability to inaccurately predict future events. He said that by 1980 we'd all be driving cars with built-in swimming pools (though he did guess that "something" would happen to JFK in November 1963).
His second moment in the spotlight came mostly after his death in 1982, when entire new generations discovered his cameo role in Plan 9 (1959) and the Tim Burton film tribute Ed Wood (1994), which further immortalized Criswell.
We thought Criswell might have been interred in his birthplace in Princeton, Indiana, and we even spent time there years ago searching for info. Turns out he never departed beyond North Hollywood.
The Valhalla Memorial Park cemetery is large and not extravagant. Yet it's the only graveyard in the world which contains a large replica space shuttle.
Criswell's cremated remains are neatly tucked into a drawer in the outdoor Niches of Remembrance with the plaque: "'Criswell Predicts' Charles Criswell King 1907-1982."
Criswell had long pronounced that the end of the world would occur in 1999, but late in life he adjusted to the Mayan calendar and reset Doomsday as inescapable in 2012.
