Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story has revived interest in one of America’s most infamous killers — but this time, it’s not just Ed Gein’s gruesome crimes that have people talking. Viewers are asking a deeper question: who was the man who raised him?

George Philip Gein, portrayed briefly by Darin Cooper in the Ryan Murphy–produced anthology, appears in only one harrowing scene — yet his shadow looms over the entire story. A carpenter, tanner, and insurance salesman by trade, George struggled to maintain steady work and battled severe alcoholism. He married Augusta Wilhelmine Gein in 1900, a devout and domineering woman whose religious fervor would later shape her son’s twisted worldview. Together, they had two sons — Henry and Edward (Ed) — both born in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

The Gein family moved to a remote farm in Plainfield around 1915, where George’s drinking worsened. Reports describe him as physically and verbally abusive, particularly toward his wife and children. According to A&E Crime + Investigation, Augusta regularly blamed George’s alcoholism for the family’s misfortunes, often using him as a moral example of sin and weakness. Meanwhile, she took control of the household, forcing her sons to attend daily Bible readings and condemning women as “the root of evil.”

George’s influence — or lack thereof — is key to understanding Ed’s later descent. While Augusta ruled the home through fear and religion, George contributed chaos and instability. Their volatile relationship provided the emotional groundwork for Ed’s obsession with purity, guilt, and punishment — themes that would later manifest in his horrific crimes.

George Gein’s life ended long before his son’s crimes shocked the nation. He died in 1940 from heart failure, leaving Henry and Ed to fend for themselves. After his death, the brothers picked up odd jobs to keep the farm afloat. But just four years later, tragedy struck again. Henry died under mysterious circumstances during a fire on their property — officially ruled as accidental asphyxiation, though investigators later suspected foul play.

By 1945, Augusta suffered a fatal stroke, leaving Ed completely isolated. Without his mother’s control or his father’s drunken presence, he spiraled into madness, turning the Plainfield farmhouse into a chamber of horrors that would inspire Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Silence of the Lambs.

In Monster: The Ed Gein Story, George’s single appearance — passed out drunk and humiliated by Augusta — encapsulates his tragic role. He was the embodiment of everything Augusta despised: weakness, indulgence, and moral failure. Yet, in many ways, his abuse and neglect contributed to the making of one of America’s darkest figures.

Though George Gein may not have committed the crimes himself, his presence — or perhaps his absence — left a scar on the Gein household that never truly healed. And in that scar, the seeds of a monster were sown.