Alum's historic footage anchors new documentary about The Doors

Jim Morrison ’65 and Ray Manzarek were studying film in 1965, in what was then called the Theater Arts Department at UCLA, when they brainstormed the radical concept for a “psychedelic” rock band that became The Doors.

The band members drew support from a close-knit group of classmates at the School, whose best dancer, Ina Masari ’66, was recruited to teach Morrison and company some sexy moves. And ace shutterbug Paul Ferrara ’66, became the band’s photographer, for a lark at first and then officially. Most of the images that established Morrison’s Lizard King persona around the world were created by Ferrara.

Ferrara shot movies behind the scenes throughout his years living and traveling with The Doors. This legendary footage will finally see the light of day, almost 40 years later, thanks to producer Dick Wolf (Law & Order) and director Tom DiCillo (Delirious), in the documentary “When You’re Strange,” which won high praise when it was screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Johnny Depp narrates the film.

The School has long taken pride in having incubated one of the central symbols of the rebellion of the 1960s. A recent alumni profile of Morrison, which ran initially in the School’s alumni magazine and was reprinted on the web, was based on interviews with several of Morrison and Manzarek’s classmates. A veritable rogue’s gallery of these classmates is celebrated in a satirical drawing, “A Perfect Day at the Gypsy Wagon,” sketched for a classmate in 1966 by soon-to-be writer and director Richard Blackburn (Eating Raoul).

Our annotated “Gypsy Wagon” site has attracted contributions from dozens of alums.

Photo: Paul Ferrara

Keywords

"paul ferrara" "jim morrison" "ray manzarek" "richard blackburn" 

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