The Dog

Director: Allison Berg & Frank Keraudren
Release Year: 2014

Synopsis:

The documentary The Dog (2014), directed by Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren, provides a detailed exploration of the infamous 1972 bank robbery that was later immortalized in Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon (1975). The film focuses on the life of John Wojtowicz, the man who attempted the robbery, but a pivotal figure in this story is Elizabeth "Debbie" Eden, the transgender woman at the heart of the narrative. While the film primarily examines Wojtowicz's life and the dynamics of his relationship with the police during the robbery, it is Eden—who was known at the time as Ernest Aron—who serves as the emotional undercurrent of the story. Her struggles, desires, and her relationship with Wojtowicz reveal a much more complex backdrop to the infamous event than what might first meet the eye.

 

Elizabeth Eden’s life, particularly her marriage to Wojtowicz, was marked by profound personal challenges, emotional volatility, and a quest for identity. Born as Ernest Aron in Queens, New York, on August 19, 1946, she was raised in a Jewish family, but her early life was one of confusion and distress. Struggling with gender identity from a young age, Eden felt trapped in a body that didn’t reflect her true self, a struggle that would continue throughout her life. During her teenage years, she began to explore her identity and later realized that she was a transgender woman, but this was a time when transgender people were largely marginalized, stigmatized, and rarely seen in the public eye. The documentary hints at how these early years of feeling isolated and misunderstood set the stage for much of the turmoil that followed.

Read more »

2014, Elizabeth Eden, English, USA,

Based on a True Story

Director: Walter Stokman
Release Year: 2005

Synopsis:

In 2005, the documentary Based on a True Story directed by Walter Stokman explored one of the most bizarre and tragic events in New York City history—the attempted bank robbery carried out by John Wojtowicz in 1972, which later became the subject of the 1975 Sidney Lumet film Dog Day Afternoon. Central to this real-life crime drama was Elizabeth Debbie Eden (born Ernest Aron), a transgender woman whose complicated relationship with Wojtowicz and her struggle to secure gender-affirming surgery provided the backdrop to a story that would be immortalized in Hollywood. Eden's story, though often overshadowed by the larger narrative of the bank robbery, is one of resilience, tragedy, and an enduring cultural legacy.

 

Elizabeth Debbie Eden, born Ernest Aron on August 19, 1946, in Ozone Park, Queens, was a Jewish American woman whose life was marked by a series of profound transitions. Eden’s early life was one of internal conflict, as she struggled with gender dysphoria at a time when society had little understanding or tolerance for transgender individuals. While the details of her early life remain largely private, it is known that she sought medical transition to align her physical appearance with her gender identity, which was then referred to as "sex reassignment surgery" (SRS). In the early 1970s, Eden met John Wojtowicz, a man whose life would become inextricably linked with her own in ways neither could have foreseen. The two met at the Feast of San Gennaro in New York City in 1971. Despite their contrasting personalities—Wojtowicz being a brash, impulsive figure and Eden an introverted woman undergoing the most significant transformation of her life—the two formed a relationship. They married in a public ceremony that same year, a marriage that was covered by the media, including a segment on CBS Evening News hosted by Walter Cronkite.

Read more »

2005, Elizabeth Eden, English, USA,