An American Werewolf in London

An American Werewolf in London was released on 

August 21st, 1981.

An American Werewolf in London
(1981)

Jenny Agutter and David Naughton

Rik Mayall as 2nd Chess Player, Uncredited
Bar Patron and Brian Glover as Chess Player

John Landis wrote the first draft of the script over a decade before but it was shelved until he earned some clout. 

Still producers were concerned that the script was too funny to be this or too scary to be that.

John Landis

Rick Baker won the first Academy Award given for best makeup in 1982. 

He beat out Stan Winston who was nominated for his makeup work in Heartbeeps. Heartbeeps stars Bernadette Peters and Andy Kaufman (in his last movie appearance) as romantic robots. 

Rick Baker’s award winning effects

David Naughton might have lost his sweet gig with Dr. Pepper because he showed too much ass in the movie.

From the Dr. Pepper archives

Legend has it that cast and crew danced around Naughton, while he was still in full werewolf makeup, singing:

“I’m a werewolf. You’re a werewolf. Wouldn’t you like to be a werewolf, too?”

I met him once on the set of a movie that never quite saw the light of day. He seemed very gracious for a guy who's probably been hearing the same things over and over again from adoring fans for the past 40 years.  

Also on this date:

Joe Strummer was born in 1952