Writer Charles Myers, aka Henry Farrell, dies

LOS ANGELES – Henry Farrell, a writer who helped create a new genre of films from his stories “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” and “What Ever Happened to Cousin Charlotte?” died March 29 at his home in Pacific Palisades after a long illness, said Mary Bishop, his executor. He was 85.

As a novelist and short story author, Farrell was a pioneer in writing about family values. His stock in trade were stories of aging relatives – often siblings or cousins – living together while struggling with identity issues, rapidly declining mental acuity and thoughts of mayhem.

Farrell’s “wicked sense of humor” fueled what became known in moviedom as the “Grand Guignol” style of thrillers. Grand Guignol, based on a French puppet character and emerging in Paris theater in 1897, refers to any dramatic entertainment that deals with macabre subjects.

Born in Madera, Charles Myers, who later took the pen name Henry Farrell, grew up in the Central Valley. He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II and, according to an autobiographical sketch, started writing toward the end the war while waiting for his discharge.

He wrote in many genres under the names Charles Henry, Charles Henry Myers, Charles F. Myers and Henry Farrell. One of his earliest stories, “The Shades of Toffee,” appeared in the June 1950 issue of the pulp magazine Fantastic Adventures.