People involved in East Coast Exploitation Cinema of the '60s and '70s

1. John G. Avildsen

Director | Rocky

John G. Avildsen was born on December 21, 1935 in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. He was a director and editor, known for Rocky (1976), The Karate Kid Part III (1989) and Rocky V (1990). He was married to Tracy Brooks Swope and Marie Olga Maturevich. He died on June 16, 2017 in Los Angeles, California, ...

2. Ami Artzi

Producer | Night of the Living Dead

Ami Artzi has had over 35 years experience in the entertainment industry, serving primarily as producer and executive producer on major motion pictures. Hailing from the Middle East, Artzi, graduated from New York University Film School, and produced his first feature "The Dreamer" which was ...

3. Lou Campa

Producer | Jail Bait

4. Shaun Costello

Director | Hot Dreams

Shaun Costello directed and produced over seventy adult feature films during the Seventies and early Eighties. In 1983 he began a long, successful, award winning career directing television commercials for New York advertising agencies. His first book, Wild About Harry, a biography of Harry Reems, ...

5. Wes Craven

Writer | A Nightmare on Elm Street

Wes Craven has become synonymous with genre bending and innovative horror, challenging audiences with his bold vision.

Wesley Earl Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Caroline (Miller) and Paul Eugene Craven. He had a midwestern suburban upbringing. His first feature film was The Last House on ...

6. Sean S. Cunningham

Producer | Friday the 13th

Like William Girdler, Oliver Hellman or even Ed Wood, Sean S. Cunningham had a successful career of starting films cheap and fast. Originally from New York, Cunningham had a vast knowledge of directing films and came to Hollywood. He started about the same time Wes Craven did. Cunningham meets ...

7. Gerard Damiano

Director | Never So Deep

Gerard Damiano was born on August 4, 1928 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and writer. He was married to Paula Morton and Barbara. He died on October 25, 2008 in Fort Myers, Florida, USA.

8. Luis De Jesus

Actor | Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Best known for his role as Ralphus the demented dwarf in the infamous film Blood Sucking Freaks (1976), which is also known as Blood Sucking Freaks. Luis DeJesus had been a circus performer, but was actually quite infamous around New York in the Seventies for his role in a stag movie, a charming ...

9. David E. Durston

Writer | I Drink Your Blood

David E. Durston was born on September 10, 1921 in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a writer and director, known for I Drink Your Blood (1971). He died on May 6, 2010 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

10. Eric Edwards

Actor | Great Sexpectations

Eric Edwards was born on November 30, 1945 in Michigan, USA. He is an actor and editor.

11. João Fernandes

Cinematographer | Take Off

João Fernandes was born on July 21, 1939 in Brazil. He is a cinematographer and actor. He was previously married to Judith-Marie Bergan.

12. Arlene Farber

Actress | The French Connection

Arlene Farber was an extremely attractive and appealing brunette actress who appeared in a handful of enjoyably down'n'dirty exploitation pictures that were primarily made in the New York state area throughout the 1960's and 1970's. Farber was born on March 13, 1947 in New York. Arlene attended ...

13. Michael Findlay

Director | The Touch of Her Flesh

Film-maker Michael Findlay was killed in a helicopter accident on the roof of the (then) Pan Am Building in New York city. On his way to John F Kennedy airport to connect with a Paris-bound flight, Findlay was planning to demonstrate his new 3-D camera to potential backers in France. Findlay and ...

14. Roberta Findlay

Camera_department | The Altar of Lust

Noted adult and exploitation cinema filmmaker Roberta Findlay was born Roberta Hershkowitz in 1948 in New York City. The youngest in a family of three children, Roberta grew up in a tenement apartment in the Bronx. Findlay's Hungarian immigrant parents wanted her to be a pianist. Roberta met her ...

15. Jamie Gillis

Actor | The Opening of Misty Beethoven

Born in New York City, Jamie Gillis trained as a legitimate actor. In the early 1970s he drifted into performing in pornographic films, and continued to work in that field through the late 1990s. Despite the occasional foray into "legitimate" film, such as a cameo in Nighthawks (1981), Gillis ...

16. Theodore Gershuny

Writer | Kemek

Theodore Gershuny was born on October 30, 1933 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a writer and director, known for Kemek (1970), Monsters (1988) and Night of the Dark Full Moon (1972). He was married to Mary Woronov. He died on May 16, 2007 in New York City, New York, USA.

17. Lucy Grantham

Actress | The Last House on the Left

Lucy Grantham was born on October 13, 1951 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for The Last House on the Left (1972).

18. William Grefé

Director | Mako: Jaws of Death

William Grefé was born on May 17, 1930 in Miami, Florida, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Mako: The Jaws of Death (1976), Live and Let Die (1973) and Whiskey Mountain (1977). He was previously married to Grace Grefé.

19. Jerry Gross

Producer | Girl on a Chain Gang

Jerry Gross was a semi-legendary exploitation movie producer/distributor, but--unlike his more notorious colleagues in the exploitation business such as Kroger Babb, David F. Friedman and Dan Sonney--very little is actually known about the man himself.

He started in the film industry in the 1960s as...

20. David Hess

Actor | The Last House on the Left

David Alexander Hess was born in New York City in 1936. He began his professional career as a songwriter for Shalimar Music, in 1957, under the pseudonym of David Hill. His first recording was a quick hit, which was later performed by and credited to Elvis Presley, "All Shook Up."

David went on to ...

21. Lee Hessel

The Crazies

Brooklyn-born Lee Hessel attended Columbia but left to serve in the army. They sent him to engineering school at the University of Michigan and Michigan State but he left to work in his father's fur business in Manhattan. In 1950, he married a fashion photographer, but it lasted only a few weeks ...

22. Richard Hilliard

Director | The Lonely Sex

Richard Hilliard was born on November 7, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a director and producer, known for The Lonely Sex (1959), Wild Is My Love (1963) and Violent Midnight (1963). He died on August 17, 2012 in Henderson, Nevada, USA.

23. Alan V. Iselin

Producer | Come Spy with Me

Alan V. Iselin is known for Come Spy with Me (1967), Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster (1965) and The Horror of Party Beach (1964).

24. Chris Jordan

Actress | Confessions of a Young American Housewife

Chris Jordan was a pretty, vibrant and engaging blonde actress who greatly enlivened a handful of 70's soft-core movies and hardcore X-rated pictures alike with her sweetly attractive looks, winningly perky personality, and infectiously boundless upbeat energy. A gifted comedienne, Jordan began ...

25. Lloyd Kaufman

Producer | The Toxic Avenger

Stanley Lloyd Kaufman never really wanted to make movies, he wanted to work in Broadway musicals. During his years in Yale he was introduced to "B" pictures and the works of Roger Corman. Lloyd later got the opportunity to executive-produce a short movie made by a fellow student. The film, called "...

26. Camille Keaton

Actress | Day of the Woman

Camille Keaton was born on July 20, 1947 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, USA. She is an actress, known for I Spit on Your Grave (1978), I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu (2019) and What Have You Done to Solange? (1972). She was previously married to Sidney Luft and Meir Zarchi.

27. Robert Kerman

Actor | Cannibal Holocaust

Robert Charles Kerman was born on December 16, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York City. His father was a pickle maker and his mother did bookkeeping for the family business. He grew up in a in a middle-class Italian-Jewish neighborhood of Bensonhurst, sharing a two-family row house with his aunt and ...

28. Martin Kove

Actor | The Karate Kid

Martin Kove was born on March 6, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York. Strong-featured, narrow-eyed actor who has portrayed a mixed bag of both good guys and bad guys. He first turned up on screen in several minor roles, and was noticed as the villainous Nero the Hero in the low-budget road race Death Race ...

29. George Kuchar

Director | The Devil's Cleavage

George Kuchar was born on August 31, 1942 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and actor, known for The Devil's Cleavage (1975), Bongwater (1998) and Sparkle's Tavern (1976). He died on September 6, 2011 in San Francisco, California, USA.

30. Mike Kuchar

Director | Death Quest of the Ju-Ju Cults

Mike Kuchar was born on August 31, 1942 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a director and actor, known for Death Quest of the Ju-Ju Cults (1976), The Craven Sluck (1967) and Lure of the Woods (2005).

31. C.J. Laing

Actress | The Vixens of Kung Fu (A Tale of Yin Yang)

Porn star C.J. Laing was born Wendy Miller on August 1, 1956 in New York City. She first became involved in the adult cinema business while living in San Francisco (she was a groupie for the rock band Grateful Dead). She made her debut in a series of loops called "Juke Joint" made by the Mitchell ...

32. Sonny Landham

Actor | Predator

An actor with a powerful physique, booming voice and who has played several "Native American" characters, Sonny Landham first broke into mainstream film with a bit part as a police officer in the subway. He ends up getting tripped when Michael Beck throws the baseball bat at his legs, in Walter ...

33. Fred J. Lincoln

Actor | The Last House on the Left

Fred J. Lincoln was born Frederick Joseph Piantadosi in January 1936. He grew up in the Hell's Kitchen slum neighborhood of New York City. He is widely credited with helping to start the hardcore porn scene in his native New York in the early 1970s, His career spanned four decades in the adult ...

34. Linda Lovelace

Actress | Deep Throat

Linda Lovelace, the most famous porn star of all time, was born Linda Boreman in 1949. In the late 1960s she began a relationship with Chuck Traynor and eventually married him. She appeared in eight 8mm hardcore fetish loops, including one in which she had sex with a dog. She is most well known for...

35. Peter Locke

Producer | The Brave Little Toaster

Peter Locke is known for The Brave Little Toaster (1987), The Hills Have Eyes (1977) and The Hills Have Eyes (2006). He has been married to Liz Torres since March 28, 1975.

36. Lynn Lowry

Actress | Shivers

Lynn Lowry was born in 1947 in Illinois, but raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She began acting professionally at age 17 in a theater called Shawnee Summer Stock Theater. She relocated to New York City in the late 1960s to pursue other acting jobs to support her young son. Her first movie role was a ...

37. Alex Mann

Actor | The Darkness

Handsome and muscular actor, writer, and real life tough guy Alex Mann was born in the rough neighborhood of Brownsville in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a pool player nicknamed "Cue Stick" and his mother worked at the candy counter at Loew's Pitkin Theater. Mann was involved with criminals in...

38. Joseph P. Mawra

Director | White Slaves of Chinatown

Joseph W. Mawra grew up in Queens , NY. From 1956-59 he attended Hofstra University, where he took courses in such subjects as English and creative writing. He got his start in show business as a freelance joke writer for talk show host Jack Paar. Mawra went on to edit advertising spots and ...

39. Radley Metzger

Director | The Opening of Misty Beethoven

One of the pioneers of American adult cinema, Radley Metzger was born in New York. He first made a name in erotic cinema by importing and distributing European erotic films, including the Danish sex film I, a Woman (1965). At around the same time Metzger decided to direct his own features, which ...

40. Mary Mendum

Actress | Confessions of a Young American Housewife

Mary Mendum was born on February 21, 1952. She grew up in a poor family outside of Chicago. She began her acting career in the early '70s in stage productions of her then boyfriend Michael Butler such as "Hair" and "Lenny". Mendum started appearing in movies with small parts in adult pictures for ...

41. Andy Milligan

Director | The Degenerates

Andy Milligan was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1929. He was a self-taught film maker, playwright, script writer and costume designer. He grew up mostly in Minnesota, but he and his family moved around the country a lot. His father, Andrew Milligan Sr. (1894-1985) was a captain in the U.S. Army ...

42. Sharon Mitchell

Actress | Sexcapades

Sharon Mitchell was born on January 18, 1956 in New Jersey, USA. She is an actress and director.

43. Chesty Morgan

Actress | Double Agent 73

Chesty Morgan was born on October 15, 1937 in Poland. She is an actress, known for Double Agent 73 (1974), Deadly Weapons (1974) and The Old Stripper (2018). She was previously married to Dick Stello and Joseph Wilczkowski.

44. Sandra Peabody

Actress | The Last House on the Left

Throughout her diverse career, Sandra Peabody starred in several cult films, soap operas, commercials, and stage plays, was a pioneer in producing award-winning local family television shows that involved the ideas of children, and is widely recognized in the industry for being an influential ...

45. Jeramie Rain

Actress | The Last House on the Left

Jeramie Rain was born on August 23, 1948 in Charleston, West Virginia. After appearing on episodes of General Hospital (1963) and The Doctors (1963), she gained international recognition in 1972 for her convincing portrayal of the sadistic Sadie in Wes Craven's controversial debut film The Last ...

46. Joel M. Reed

Director | Killer Zombies from the Titanic

Joel M. Reed was born on December 29, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Killer Zombies from the Titanic, The G.I. Executioner (1971) and The Renegade Ghouls of Kaplan's Swamp. He died on April 14, 2020 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA.

47. Harry Reems

Actor | Deep Throat

Harry Reems was born on August 27, 1947 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and director. He was married to Jeanne Sterret. He died on March 19, 2013 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

48. Robert L. Roberts

Director | Sweet Savior

Robert L. Roberts was born on August 16, 1928 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and writer, known for The Love-Thrill Murders (1971). He died on November 15, 2002 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.

49. George A. Romero

Writer | Land of the Dead

George A. Romero never set out to become a Hollywood figure; by all indications, though, he was very successful. The director of the groundbreaking "Living Dead" films was born February 4, 1940 ,in New York City to Ann (Dvorsky) and Jorge Romero. His father was born in Spain and raised in Cuba, and...

50. Joseph W. Sarno

Director | Confessions of a Young American Housewife

Joseph W. Sarno is one of the pioneering directors of the sex-exploitation or "sexploitation" film genre. Known for a distinctly economic style and an abiding interest in tense, psycho-sexual character development, Sarno has also come to be recognized as one of the true geniuses to emerge from the ...

51. Herschel Savage

Actor | DarkSide

Herschel Savage, the star of such tongue-in-cheek productions as Orifice Party (1985), is one of the old lions of the porno film business, having appeared in close to a thousand features, videos and assorted shoots. Born Harvey Cowen on November 25, 1952 in New York City, the renamed Savage got his...

52. Don Schain

Producer | Frozen

Writer/director/producer Don Schain made his feature debut with the softcore outing The Love Object (1970). A former Manhattan movie theater manager, Schain and his partner Ralph T. Desiderio conceived the idea for the notoriously trashy "Ginger" exploitation picture trilogy in 1970. Schain wrote ...

53. Robert Shaye

Producer | Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Robert Shaye was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He is a producer, director, and actor, particularly known for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002). He has been married to Eva ...

54. Del Tenney

Producer | The Horror of Party Beach

Del Tenney was born in Mason City, Iowa, and moved to California with his parents when he was 12. Attending Los Angeles City and State college, he developed an interest in the theater, became an actor and made a living at it for most of his young adult life. He acted on stage, did extra work in ...

55. Richard Towers

Actor | The Last House on the Left

Richard Towers was born on May 20, 1927 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Last House on the Left (1972), Fleshpot on 42nd Street (1972) and Deadly Weapons (1974). He was married to Cathryn Damon. He died on February 27, 2016 in Englewood, New Jersey, USA.

56. Chuck Vincent

Director | Roommates

Writer/director/producer/editor Charles Vincent Dingley was born on September 6, 1940, in Garden City, Michigan. He began his show-business career in regional theater as a director and stage manager. He subsequently moved east and worked for both Yale Repertory and the Negro Ensemble Company prior ...

57. John Waters

Writer | Pecker

Growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s, John Waters was not like other children; he was obsessed by violence and gore, both real and on the screen. With his weird counter-culture friends as his cast, he began making silent 8mm and 16mm films in the mid-'60s; he screened these in rented Baltimore ...

58. Roger Watkins

Director | The Last House on Dead End Street

Roger Watkins was born September 17, 1948, in Binghamton, NY. The son of Leland and Elizabeth Watkins, Roger first started making movies at the age of ten. He attended the liberal arts college the State University of New York in Oneonta and continued to make films whenever he could. Noted SUNY ...

59. Jennifer Welles

Actress | Little Orphan Sammy

Jennifer Welles was born and raised in northern New Jersey, the youngest of two daughters of a German aircraft designer and his wife who had fled when the Nazi Party rose to power. Her father left the family for another woman when Welles was nine and she never saw him again. She was raised by her ...

60. Doris Wishman

Director | Satan Was a Lady

Doris Wishman was born on June 1, 1912 in New York City, New York, USA. She was a director and producer, known for Satan Was a Lady (2001), Nude on the Moon (1961) and Keyholes Are for Peeping (1972). She was married to Louis Silverman and Jack Abrahms. She died on August 10, 2002 in Miami, Florida...

61. Claire Wilbur

Actress | Score

Lovely, striking, and commanding brunette Claire Wilbur was born on June 8, 1933 in Connecticut. Claire portrayed predatory and calculating bisexual swinger Elvira in the Off-Broadway stage production of the racy Jerry Douglas play "Score," which ran from October 28, 1970 to November 15, 1970 at ...

62. Larry Wolk

Director | Nature's Sweethearts

Larry Wolk is known for Nature's Sweethearts (1963), Hideout in the Sun (1960) and Eternal Summer (1961).

63. Mary Woronov

Actress | Eating Raoul

Mary Woronov was born on December 8, 1943, at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. A surgeon's stepdaughter, she was raised in Brooklyn Heights and attended Cornell University as a sculpting major. After a class trip to Andy Warhol 's Silver Factory, she joined Warhol's entourage and starred ...

64. Meir Zarchi

Producer | Day of the Woman

Meir is a filmmaker most known for I Spit on Your Grave (1978) about one woman and a group of maniacs. In 2010, Steven R. Monroe directed the remake I Spit on Your Grave (2010) starring Sarah Butler & Jeff Branson. Meir executive produced the film and was an associate producer for the remake as ...