VINTAGE QUEENS OF HORROR & EXPLOITATION
List activity
3.4K views
• 2 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
30 people
- Actress
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
She won a beauty pageant and attended il Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (The Center for Experimental Cinematography). In 1956, she received an offer to go to Hollywood and attend the Actor's Studio but didn't take the offer for undisclosed reasons.
She began her film career at the age of 15 with a role in the film I pinguini ci guardano (1955) (The Penguins Watch Us) in which the animals at the zoo watched the humans around them and cultivated some very interesting thoughts. Many sources, however, list her first film as Mogli pericolose (1958). She is uncredited in this comedy which was directed by Luigi Comencini.
Neri was also much in demand for erotic films. She played Zoe, in Jesús Franco's 99 Women (1969), a movie about women in prison who must turn to each other for comfort while dealing with a sadistic warden. In 1971 she was Eleanor Stuart, Farley Granger's 'wife' in Amuck! (1972).- Actress
- Producer
Edwige Fenech was born Edwige Sfenek on December 24, 1948, in Bone, Constantine, France, to a Maltese father and an Italian mother. She began her show-business career as a participant in beauty contests (she won the title of "Miss Mannequin de la Cote d'Azur" at age 16 and even won a Miss France beauty contest) and worked as a photo model prior to making her film debut in the comedy Toutes folles de lui (1967). She appeared in such saucy West German sex farces as Alle Kätzchen naschen gern (1969) and Sexy Susan Sins Again (1968).
With her lustrous and long black hair, lovely and sensuous face, full shapely figure and smoldering screen presence, Edwige soon became a very popular and much sought-after actress in a diverse array of European productions made in Italy, France, Spain and West Germany. She achieved her greatest enduring cult cinema popularity by starring in several superior Italian giallos for director Sergio Martino: The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971), They're Coming to Get You! (1972) and Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972) (she was the onetime girlfriend of Martino's producer brother, Luciano Martino).
Edwige also acted for Martino in a handful of racy Italian sex comedies and the Italian mini-series Delitti privati (1993). Other noted Italian film directors Fenech has worked for are Mario Bava (Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970)), Giuliano Carnimeo (The Case of the Bloody Iris (1972)), Andrea Bianchi (Strip Nude for Your Killer (1975)), Umberto Lenzi (The Biggest Battle (1978)), Steno (Dr. Jekyll Likes Them Hot (1979)), Dino Risi (Sono fotogenico (1980)) and Ruggero Deodato (Phantom of Death (1987)).
She demonstrated her exceptional range and skill as an actress with enjoyably uninhibited performances in such amusingly bawdy Italian comedic romps as Quel gran pezzo della Ubalda tutta nuda e tutta calda (1972) and The School Teacher (1975). Edwige became a television personality in the 1980s and made frequent appearances on an Italian chat show along with fellow giallo goddess Barbara Bouchet. Moreover, Fenech launched her own fashion line and founded her own film production company, Immagine e Cinema S.r.l., with her son Edwin Fenech (she co-produced the 2004 film The Merchant of Venice (2004) as well as various Italian TV mini-series and made-for-TV features).
In the mid-1990s Edwige was engaged to famous Italian industrialist Luca Cordero di Montezemolo. She made a welcome return to acting with a small but funny part as an alluring art class professor in Eli Roth's Hostel: Part II (2007).- Stunningly beautiful and charismatic blonde Barbara Bouchet was born Barbel Goutscherola on August 15th, 1943 in Liberec, Czechoslovakia, known as Reichenberg, during the German occupation. Her father, Fritz, was a war photographer.
Her family was forced to leave the country when Barbara was a little girl and her name was changed to Barbara Gutscher. They got separated, but ended up getting together again. They migrated in December 1956 and settled in San Francisco, California, where Barbara attended the prestigious Galileo High School, a polytechnic school with commercial and industrial branches. Bouchet speaks English, German and Italian with equal fluency. In an interview to Shock Cinema (Number 44), Barbara Bouchet says her name had been changed again to Bouchet at the start of her career, because it sounded like her German name.
Barbara was inspired to be a screen actress after seeing the work of German actress Christine Kaufmann in Der schweigende Engel (1954) ("The Silent Angel").
In 1959, her father submitted a photo of her to the "Miss Gidget" beauty contest, and she won. The contest was held by the local television station KPIX-TV, based on the character of what has been considered the first "beach party movie" in Hollywood history, Gidget (1959). The prize included a date with James Darren the famous star of that movie, and a screen test. The screen test never materialized.
Barbara was featured as a dancer on the teen-targeted rock'n'roll TV show, The KPIX Dance Party, from 1959 to 1962.
Bouchet began a career of teen model that led to her extensive magazine cover model (35 covers). In October 1983, at age 40, Bouchet did a nude pictorial for the Italian edition of "Penthouse" magazine.
Barbara acted in TV commercials. She made her film debut with an uncredited bit part in the comedy What a Way to Go! (1964). Bouchet soon became known for openly flaunting her spectacularly curvaceous figure in several pictures: clad in alluring silk harem robes in John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965), cavorting nude on the beaches of Pearl Harbor in the World War II epic In Harm's Way (1965), and wearing a bikini for the bulk of her screen time in Agent for H.A.R.M. (1966). She also portrayed "Ursula" in Bob Fosse's outstanding musical Sweet Charity (1969), made for a nicely sultry "Miss Moneypenny" in the tongue-in-cheek 007 outing Casino Royale (1967), and had guest spots on such TV series as The Virginian (1962), Star Trek (1966), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964), and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964).
In 1970, fed-up with being typecast as a mindless sexpot in Hollywood fare, she moved to Italy. She soon became one of Italy's top actresses, carving out a fruitful niche for herself in sex comedies, giallo murder mysteries and gritty crime thrillers. Among her most memorable roles in these Italian features are the brazen spoiled rich lady "Patrizia" in Lucio Fulci's disturbing Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) ("Don't Torture A Duckling"), prostitute "Francine" in The French Sex Murders (1972) ("The French Sex Murders"), modeling agency choreographer "Kitty" in The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972) ("Red Queen Kills 7 Times"), saucy love interest "Scilla" in the splendidly sleazy The Mean Machine (1973), and enticing stripper "Anny" in Death Rage (1976) ("Death Rage"). Bouchet had an unforgettably steamy lesbian love scene with Rosalba Neri in Amuck! (1972) ("Amuck"). Barbara Bouchet appeared alongside fellow Bond girls Barbara Bach and Claudine Auger in Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971) ("The Black Belly of the Tarantula"). Barbara Bouchet continues to act in both films and TV shows, alike, made in Italy. Barbara popped up in a small role (as the wife of giallo star David Hemmings) in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002).
Barbara married producer Luigi Borghese in 1976. They had two sons: Alessandro Borgese (b. 1974), a chef hosting a show on the Italian cable TV; and Massimiliano Borghese (b. 1989), a bartender. During the shooting of Diamond Connection (1984) in Istanbul, there was mention of a separation in the Turkish language "New World Video & Magazine" of September 1984, but the divorce happened much later.
In 1985, Bouchet started her own production company, opened her own health club in Rome, and launched her own line of fitness books and videos.
[based on woodyanders] - Actress
- Director
- Writer
A sensual, versatile legend of arthouse and grindhouse Italian cinema, Florinda Bolkan was born Florinda Soares Bulcão in Uruburetama, Ceará, Brazil, as the youngest of three children from a Brazilian father and an Indios mother. Her father, diplomat José Pedro Soares Bulcão, died when she was 14, and she began working as a secretary to support her family while attending school and learning English and French. Eventually, she began working as a flight inspector for Varig. In 1967, she visited Rome and was introduced by producer Marina Cicogna (who would become her lover over the next 21 years) to Luchino Visconti, who finally persuaded her to pursue modelling and acting. She quickly landed supporting roles in Crime Thief (1969), Candy (1968) (in which she played a sister to Ringo Starr) and Visconti's The Damned (1969). By this time, Florinda had chosen to use "Bolkan" as her last name, believing it to have more international appeal. Despite eventually becoming fluent in the language, she was usually dubbed in Italian due to her thick accent.
Upon beginning her new career, Bolkan quickly received acclaim as an upcoming talent: for her performance in Love Circle (1969), she shared the Golden Plate prize from the David di Donatello Awards alongside Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting. She would win two more David di Donatellos (for Best Actress) during her career, for The Anonymous Venetian (1970) and Cari genitori (1973). Bolkan appeared in two highbrow Italian films that were of considerable importance on an international scale: Elio Petri's Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970) (winner of the 1970 Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Picture) and the penultimate work of Vittorio De Sica, A Brief Vacation (1973). She also appeared in several lower-budget genre films throughout her prime, including Machine Gun McCain (1969), Detective Belli (1969), A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971)_, Don't Torture a Duckling (1972), The Master Touch (1972), Flavia, the Heretic (1974), Footprints on the Moon (1975), The Last House on the Beach (1978) and Collector's Item (1985). Aside from a few international productions, such as The Last Valley (1971), Royal Flash (1975), The Day That Shook the World (1975) and Some Girls (1988), Bolkan rarely worked outside of Italy. By the late 1980s, she had largely left cinema in favour of television and stage productions (such as The Word (1978) and La piovra (1984)), although Eu Não Conhecia Tururu (2000) - her only film as actor, writer, producer and director - received favourable coverage in her home country.
By 2006, Bolkan had retired from acting, and now owns and operates the Villa Voltarina in Bracciano. Her other endeavours aside from acting have included serving as a judge in the 1976 Miss Universe pageant, real estate work, publishing a gourmet cookbook and supporting Italian and Brazilian children in financial need.- Nieves Navarro was born on 10 November 1938 in Almería, Andalucía, Spain. She is an actress, known for Death Walks on High Heels (1971), Death Walks at Midnight (1972) and The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (1970). She was previously married to Luciano Ercoli.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Marina Malfatti was born on 25 April 1933 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. She was an actress, known for They're Coming to Get You! (1972), Il prato macchiato di rosso (1973) and Sherlock Holmes (1968). She was married to Umberto La Rocca. She died on 8 June 2016 in Rome, Italy.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Leggy, brunette-maned pin-up actress Caroline Munro was born in Windsor, Berkshire, England, and lived in Rottingdean near Brighton where she attended a Roman Catholic convent school. By chance, her mother and a photographer entered her picture in a "Face of the Year" competition for the British newspaper The Evening News and won. This led to modeling chores, her first job being for Vogue Magazine at age 17. She moved to London to pursue top modeling jobs and became a major cover girl for fashion and television commercials while there.
Decorative bit parts came her way in such films as Casino Royale (1967) and Where's Jack? (1969). One of her many gorgeous photo ads earned her a screen test and a one-year contract at Paramount where she won the role of Richard Widmark's daughter in the comedy/western A Talent for Loving (1973). She first met husband/actor Judd Hamilton filming this movie but they later divorced. Also in 1969, she became the commercial poster girl for "Lamb's Navy Rum", a gig that lasted ten years. She had no lines as Vincent Price's dead wife in The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) which, in turn, led to a Hammer Studios contract and such low-budget spine-tinglers as Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) and Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974). More noticeable roles came outside the studio as the slave girl/love interest in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), the princess in At the Earth's Core (1976), and a lethal Bond girl in the top-notch The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Her voluptuous looks sustained her for a bit longer but the quality of her roles did not improve with higher visibility. Later 70's and 80's roles included the lowergrade Starcrash (1978), Maniac (1980) and Slaughter High (1986), the last-mentioned written and directed by second husband George Dugdale, whom she married in 1990. He died in 2020.
Following her marriage, she was less seen. The septuagenarian continued to perform sporadically on camera, primarily in England and often in the horror genre. Subsequent lead and supporting movie roles have included Heaven's a Drag (1994), Domestic Strangers (1996), Flesh for the Beast (2003), Vampyres (2015), Cute Little Buggers (2017) and House of the Gorgon (2019) which also featured her daughter, actress Georgina Dugdale.- Soledad Miranda was a Spanish actress who appeared in many films in the 1960s. Her remarkable beauty and her tragic untimely death make her story the stuff of legend. She was born on July 9, 1943 in Seville, Spain. She started her career when only eight years old as a flamenco dancer and singer. She made her film debut at age sixteen as a dancer. During the following years, the fragile beauty appeared in numerous comedies, dramas, B-movies, and horror films, mostly in Spain (over thirty films altogether from 1960 to 1970). Her biggest break came from legendary director Jess Franco, who cast Soledad in such cult classics as Count Dracula and Vampyros Lesbos. Soledad is generally regarded as Franco's greatest discovery. On August 18, 1970 Soledad was in a car accident on a highway in Portugal. She died hours later, survived by her husband (a former race-car driver) and young son. Shortly before this tragic accident, a German film producer had offered her a contract which would have made her a great star. Soledad was destined to become a legend. Not until the years after her death has she become a cult starlet with fans all over the world now discovering the beautiful, doomed actress.
- Actress
- Writer
Best known as Hammer Films' most seductive female vampire of the early 1970s, the Polish-born Pitt possessed dark, alluring features and a sexy figure that made her just right for Gothic horror! Ingrid Pitt (born Ingoushka Petrov) survived World War II and became a well-known actress on the East Berlin stage, however, she did not appear on screen until well into her twenties. She appeared in several minor roles in Spanish films in the mid 1960s, mostly uncredited, before landing the supporting role of undercover agent "Heidi", assisting Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton defeat the Third Reich in Where Eagles Dare (1968).
Her exotic looks and eastern European accent came to the notice of Hammer executives who cast Pitt as vampiress "Mircalla" in the sensual horror thriller The Vampire Lovers (1970). The film was a box office success with its blend of horror and sexual overtones, and Pitt was a beautiful, yet ferocious bloodsucker. Next up, Pitt was cast by Amicus Productions as another gorgeous vampire in the episode entitled "The Cloak" in the superb The House That Dripped Blood (1971). This time, Ingrid played an actress appearing in horror films alongside screen vampire Jon Pertwee, but then later reveals herself to be a real vampire keen on recruiting fresh blood.
Ingrid donned the fangs for her third vampire film in a row, Countess Dracula (1971) which was loosely based around the legend of the 16th century bloodthirsty Countess Elizabeth Bathory. Whilst not as successful, as the two prior outings, Ingrid Pitt had firmly established herself as one of the key ladies of British horror of the 1970s. She then appeared in the underrated at the time - now widely regarded as a classic - The Wicker Man (1973) as an uncooperative civil servant annoying Edward Woodward in his search for a missing child. Further work followed in The Final Option (1982), as "Elvira" in the adaptation of the John le Carré Cold War thriller Smiley's People (1982), Wild Geese II (1985) and The Asylum (2000).
Ingrid Pitt made regular appearances at horror conventions and fan gatherings, had penned several books on her horror career, and she relished talking to fans about her on screen vampiric exploits. Ingrid's fan club is known as the "Pitt of Horror"! A much loved and genuine cult figure of modern horror cinema, she died on November 23, 2010, just two days after her 73rd birthday.- Gorgeously svelte and classy redhead stunner Helga Line was born as Helga Lina Stern on July 14th, 1931 in Berlin, Germany. Helga began her career as a dancer and acrobat in circus performances in Portugal. She also later worked as a model. Line began acting in movies in the early 40s. Helga moved to Madrid, Spain in 1960. Line immediately established herself as a hugely popular and prolific actress in a large volume of horror pictures, spy films, thrillers and Westerns made throughout the 60s and 70s. Best known as the alluring spy Natasha in the terrific period Gothic fright feature treat Horror Express (1972), her other memorable roles include an enticing sea siren in the immensely enjoyable When the Screaming Stops (1973), a predatory vampire countess in the terrifically trashy _The Vampires' Night Orgy (1972)_ *qv), and the seductive middle-aged leader of a Satanic cult in the steamy _Black Candles (1982)_. Line starred with Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy in two entertaining offerings: Horror Rises from the Tomb (1973) and The Mummy's Revenge (1975). Helga was especially impressive in the Pedro Almodovar pictures Labyrinth of Passion (1982) and Law of Desire (1987). More recently Helga Line has done guest spots on a couple of Spanish TV shows.
- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
A new reigning 1960s international sex symbol took to the cinematic throne as soon as Raquel Welch emerged from the sea in her purposely depleted, furry prehistoric bikini. Tantalizingly wet with her garb clinging to all the right amazonian places, One Million Years B.C. (1966), if nothing else, captured the hearts and libidos of modern men (not to mention their teenage sons) while producing THE most definitive and best-selling pin-up poster of that time.
She was born Jo Raquel Tejada on September 5, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois, the first of three children of Bolivian-born Armando Carlos Tejada, an aerospace engineer, and his wife, Josephine Sarah (Hall). The family moved to San Diego, California (her father was transferred) when Raquel was only two. Taking dance lessons as a youngster, she grew up to be quite a knockout and nailed a number of teen beauty titles ("Miss Photogenic," "Miss La Jolla," "Miss Contour," "Miss Fairest of the Fair" and "Miss San Diego").
With her sights set on theater arts, she studied at San Diego State College on a scholarship starting in 1958 and married her first husband, high school sweetheart James Welch, the following year. They had two children: Damon Welch (born 1959), who later became an actor/production assistant, and actress Tahnee Welch (born 1961). Tahnee went on to take advantage of her own stunning looks as an actress, most notably with her prime role in Cocoon (1985).
Off campus, she became a local TV weather girl in San Diego and eventually quit college. Following the end of her marriage in 1962 (although Raquel and James Welch didn't divorce until 1964), she packed up her two children and moved to Dallas, Texas, where she modeled for Neiman-Marcus and worked as a barmaid for a time.
Regrouping, she returned to California and made the rounds of film/TV auditions. She found work providing minor but sexy set decoration on the small screen (Bewitched (1964), McHale's Navy (1962) and The Virginian (1962)) as well as the large screen (Elvis Presley's Roustabout (1964) and Doris Day's Do Not Disturb (1965)). Caught in the midst of the "beach party" craze, it's not surprising to find out that her first major film role was A Swingin' Summer (1965), which concentrated more on musical guests The Righteous Brothers and Gary Lewis & The Playboys than on Welch's outstanding assets. But 20th Century-Fox certainly took notice and signed her up.
With her very first film under contract (actually, she was on loan out to Britain's Hammer Studios at the time), she took on One Million Years B.C. (1966) (the remake of One Million B.C. (1940), in the role originated by Carole Landis), and the rest is history. Welch remained an international celebrity in her first few years of stardom. In England, she was quite revealing as the deadly sin representing "lust" for the comedy team of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in their vehicle Bedazzled (1967), and as the title secret agent in the spy spoof Fathom (1967). In Italy, she gained some exposure in primarily mediocre vehicles opposite such heartthrobs as Marcello Mastroianni.
Back in the U.S., however, she caused quite a stir in her groundbreaking sex scenes with black athlete Jim Brown in the "spaghetti western" 100 Rifles (1969), and as the transgender title role in the unfathomable Myra Breckinridge (1970). Adapted from Gore Vidal's novel, she created some unwelcome notoriety by locking horns with septuagenarian diva Mae West on the set. The instant cult movie certainly didn't help Welch's attempt at being taking seriously as an actress.
Box office bombs abounded. Try as she might in such films as Kansas City Bomber (1972) and The Wild Party (1975), which drew some good reviews for her, her sexy typecast gave her little room to breathe. With determination, however, she partly offset this with modest supporting roles in larger ensemble pieces. She showed definite spark and won a Golden Globe for the swashbuckler The Three Musketeers (1973), and appeared in the mystery thriller The Last of Sheila (1973). She planned on making a comeback in Cannery Row (1982), even agreeing to appear topless (which she had never done before), but was suddenly fired during production without notice. She sued MGM for breach of contract and ultimately won a $15 million settlement, but it didn't help her film career and only helped to label her as trouble on a set.
TV movies became a positive milieu for Welch as she developed sound vehicles for herself such as The Legend of Walks Far Woman (1980) and Right to Die (1987), earning a Golden Globe nomination for the latter project. She also found a lucrative avenue pitching beauty products in infomercials and developing exercise videos (such as Jane Fonda).
Welch took advantage of her modest singing and dancing abilities by performing in splashy Las Vegas showroom acts and starring in such plausible stage vehicles as "Woman of the Year" and "Victor/Victoria". She spoofed her own image on occasion, most memorably on Seinfeld (1989). Into the millennium, she co-starred in the Hispanic-oriented TV series American Family (2002) and the short-lived comedies Welcome to the Captain (2008) and Date My Dad (2017), along with the movies Tortilla Soup (2001), Legally Blonde (2001), Forget About It (2006) and How to Be a Latin Lover (2017).
Her three subsequent marriages were to producer/agent Patrick Curtis (who produced her TV special, Raquel (1970)), director André Weinfeld (who directed her in several fitness videos), and pizza parlor owner Richie Palmer, who was 14 years her junior. All these unions ended in divorce.
She died at 2:25 a.m. on February 15, 2023, aged 82, at her Los Angeles home after suffering a cardiac arrest. She had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Barbara Goldbach was born to Howard and Marjorie Goldbach in Queens, New York. Her father was a policeman. She met her first husband Augusto Gregorini in New York while she worked as a model and he was visiting from Italy for business tourism in 1966. Barbara followed him to Italy to be with him and they married in 1968. They had two children, Francesca Gregorini and Gianni Gregorini. During Gianni's birth, he had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, nearly choking him, and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, although a later operation improved his condition.
In 1975, Barbara and Augusto Gregorini separated when she moved to Los Angeles, California. The couple separated in 1978, sharing custody of their two children. Barbara met Ringo Starr on the set of the comedy Caveman (1981), and they became a couple during the filming. Ringo and Barbara were on a holiday in December 1980 when her daughter called to inform them that John Lennon had been shot. Ringo and Barbara went to New York City to console Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon. Ringo and Barbara married on April 27, 1981.
Her acting career began in Italy, where she played Nausicaa in Odissea (1968), a television adaptation of Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey", directed by Franco Rossi and produced by Dino De Laurentiis. Bach co-starred with two other "Bond Girls", Claudine Auger and Barbara Bouchet in the mystery Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971) and had small roles in other Italian films. In 1977, she played Russian secret agent Anya Amasova in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). The following year, she appeared in the war film Force 10 from Navarone (1978), which also starred Robert Shaw and Harrison Ford.- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Pam Grier was born in Winston-Salem, NC, one of four children of Gwendolyn Sylvia (Samuels), a nurse, and Clarence Ransom Grier Jr., an Air Force mechanic. Pam has been a major African-American star from the early 1970s. Her career started in 1971, when Roger Corman of New World Pictures launched her with The Big Doll House (1971), about a women's penitentiary, and The Big Bird Cage (1972). Her strong role put her into a five-year contract with Samuel Z. Arkoff of American-International Pictures, and she became a leading lady in action films such as Jack Hill's Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974), the comic strip character Friday Foster (1975) and William Girdler's 'Sheba, Baby' (1975). She continued working with American-International, where she portrayed William Marshall's vampire victim in the Blacula (1972) sequel, Scream Blacula Scream (1973).
During the 1980s she became a regular on Miami Vice (1984) and played a supporting role as an evil witch in Ray Bradbury's and Walt Disney Pictures' Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983), then returned to action as Steven Seagal's partner in Above the Law (1988). Her most famous role of the 1990s was probably Jackie Brown (1997), directed by Quentin Tarantino, which was an homage to her earlier 1970s action roles, She occasionally did supporting roles, as in Tim Burton's Mars Attacks! (1996), In Too Deep (1999) and a funny performance in Jawbreaker (1999). She also appeared in John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars (2001) and co-starred with Snoop Dogg in Bones (2001). Her entire career of over 30 years has brought only success for this beautiful and talented actress.
A sister of Grier's died from cancer in 1990 and the son of that sister committed suicide because of his mother's illness. Pam herself was diagnosed with cancer in 1988 and given 18 months to live, which has had an effect on how she has chosen to live. She has never been wed, although she has been romantically linked to Richard Pryor and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the past.- Actress
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Meiko Kaji was born on March 24, 1947 in the Kanda area of Tokyo, Japan. Following graduation from the Yakumo Academy High School in Meguro, Tokyo, Japan in 1965, Kaji first began acting in films in the mid-1960's under her real name of Masako Ôta. She was given the stage name Meiko Kaji by director Masahiro Makino. Meiko achieved her greatest enduring cult cinema popularity with her fierce portrayals of various tough outlaw characters which include young rebellious delinquents in the Stray Cat Rock series, the lethal Sasori from the Female Prisoner Scorpion pictures, and, most famously, the ruthless and driven titular assassin in the Lady Snowblood films. Kaji won a plethora of awards for her stand-out performance in Double Suicide of Sonezaki (1978). In the 1980's Meiko started acting more on television. Moreover, Kaji has also eked out a career as a singer: She not only sang the haunting theme song "Flower of Carnage (Shura No Hana)" for Lady Snowblood (1973) and the theme song "Urami-Bushi" for Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972), but also has recorded and released several albums and singles. ("Flower of Carnage (Shura No Hana)" and "Urami-Bushi" were both featured on the soundtracks to Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), respectively.) In addition, Meiko has turned down offers to act in Hollywood movies because she believes she can't give a good performance in a language other than Japanese.- Actress
- Soundtrack
The quintessential jet-set Euro starlet, Ursula Andress was born in the Swiss canton of Berne on March 19, 1936, one of six children in a strict German Protestant family. Although often seeming icily aloof, a restless streak early demonstrated itself in her personality, and she had an impetuous desire to explore the world outside Switzerland. (For instance, she was tracked down by Interpol for running away from boarding school at 17 years old.) The stunning young woman found work as an art model in Rome and did walk-on parts in three quickie Italian pictures before coming to Hollywood in 1955 and getting nowhere professionally; a four-month fling with rising star James Dean brought her good publicity but not much else. That same year, still just 19, she met and had an affair with fading matinée idol John Derek, who left his wife Pati Behrs and two kids for Ursula even though she spoke almost no English at the time. In 1957 they eloped to Las Vegas, and the new bride put her acting aspirations on hold for a few years thereafter.
1962 saw the relatively unknown Swiss beauty back on the set, playing opposite Sean Connery in the first movie version of Ian Fleming's fanciful "James Bond" espionage novels, Dr. No (1962). Andress' role as bikini-clad Honey Ryder was somewhat brief, and her Swiss/German accent so thick that her entire performance had to be dubbed by a voiceover artist. Nevertheless, her striking looks and smoldering screen presence made a strong impression on moviegoers, immediately establishing her as one of the most desired women in the world and as an ornament to put alongside some of the most bankable talent of the era, such as Elvis Presley in Fun in Acapulco (1963) and Dean Martin in 4 for Texas (1963). In 1965, she was one of several European starlets to co-star in What's New Pussycat (1965) -- a film that perhaps sums up mid-'60s pop culture better than any other -- written by Woody Allen, starring Allen and Peter Sellers, with music by Burt Bacharach, a title song performed by Tom Jones and much on-screen sexual romping.
Andress appeared in many more racy-for-their time movies in both the United States and Europe, including The 10th Victim (1965), in which she wore a famously ballistic bra, and The Blue Max (1966), where she was aptly cast as the sultry, insatiable wife of an aristocratic World War I German general. She was also featured in Casino Royale (1967), a satirical foray into the world of James Bond, and gave a sparkling performance in the T&A-filled crime caper Perfect Friday (1970). Roles as a prostitute kidnapped by outlaws in Red Sun (1971), a stewardess living on the edge in Loaded Guns (1975), and a bombshell nurse hired to titillate a doddering millionaire to death in The Sensuous Nurse (1975) all provided plenty of excuses to throw her clothes to the wind. In Slave of the Cannibal God (1978), she was notoriously stripped and slathered in orange paint by a pair of nubiles. Then she took on the sophisticated role of Louise de la Valliere, slinky, conspiratorial mistress of King Louis XIV (Beau Bridges) in The Fifth Musketeer (1979).
As for her personal life, Andress separated from Derek in 1964 and got divorced two years later, after falling in love with French superstar Jean-Paul Belmondo on the Malaysian set of Up to His Ears (1965). (Ron Ely, John Richardson and Marcello Mastroianni kept her company during the interim.) The relationship with Belmondo hit a wall in 1972, and she was next attached to her leading man from Stateline Motel (1973), Italian heartthrob Fabio Testi. When that didn't work out, Andress jumped into the dating pool, sporadically involved with a host of Lotharios including (but by no means limited to) Dennis Hopper, Franco Nero, John DeLorean and Ryan O'Neal. In 1979, she began what would be a long-term romance with Harry Hamlin, her handsome young co-star from Clash of the Titans (1981) (in which she was cast, predictably, as "Aphrodite"). While subsequently traveling in India, Andress' belly began to swell out of her clothing, and she felt very nauseous. What at first seemed a severe case of "Delhi Belly" turned out to be pregnancy, her first and only, at age 43. Hamlin encouraged her to have the baby, and on May 19, 1980, the international sex symbol gave birth to a boy named Dimitri Hamlin amid much hoopla.
After the birth of her son, Andress scaled back her career, which now focused on slight European productions, as she was raising Dimitri in Italy. This meant turning down a big-budget Mel Brooks film in lieu of Red Bells (1982) (starring old flame Nero). Occasional television stints on the soap opera Falcon Crest (1981) and critically lauded miniseries Peter the Great (1986) helped maintain her visibility as an actress. Dumped by Hamlin in 1983, she started seeing Fausto Fagone, a Sicilian student three decades her junior, in 1986. In 1991, she met a new man when things dwindled with Fagone -- karate master Jeff Speakman. Since the breakup of that relationship, her love life has gone undocumented. She last worked on a film in 2005. Apparently retired from acting, Ursula makes the rounds of charity events and pops up on foreign talk shows every now and then. She divides her time between family in Switzerland, friends in Virginia and Spain, and her properties in Rome and L.A.- Anita Strindberg was born on 29 May 1938 in Sweden. She is an actress, known for The Case of the Scorpion's Tail (1971), Puzzle (1974) and The Two Faces of Fear (1972).
- Malisa Longo was introduced to the world of art in her native city of Venice very young, where she took her first steps as a poet and painter. It's 1968 and the city enjoyed one of its most experimental cultural upheaval that focused in the development of the Academy and in the Biennale.
In this highly creative atmosphere, inspired by the magic of the lagoon, Musa and protagonist of its own works, the artist expresses her art in a whirlwind of colors, full of lights and shadows, but also eruptions of brightness. Looking for new ideas, Malisa arrives in Rome where she is captured by the world of movies. Here she begins a long journey as an actress, playing in more than 70 films, alongside actors like Ben Gazzara, Arthur Kennedy, Bruce Lee and Christopher Mitchum. Some of these movies, true cult of international cinema, were directed by Federico Fellini, Terence Young and Tinto Brass.
With a rewarding careers that expresses itself with a literary vein, Malisa stands out as a writer, screenwriter and journalist. Amongst her most acclaimed works, to be mentioned, is the novel "Just as I am" (prelude by Tinto Brass), the book of poems "Il cantico del corpo" and the book and interviews collection, "Aggiungi un seggio al tavola. Politica e curiosità culinarie" (Graus), a finalist for the award "Minori on the Amalfi Coast, the novel "Vita di Elisa" (Mondadori), and the book of poems "Appunti dell'anima" (Lietocolle), that in September 2014 won the literary prize "Spoleto Art Festival Expo".
Despite her busy artistic commitments, Malisa Longo never abandoned her first love for painting. A love that continued to grow with a continued passion, and took centre stage in several painting exhibitions, winning several awards. Malisa Longo actually lives and works in Rome, Ital - Actress
- Producer
Luciana Paluzzi's an Italian actress, best known for playing SPECTRE assassin ,Fiona Volpe, in the fourth James Bond film, Thunderball.
In the film, Thunderball she had auditioned for the part of the lead Bond girl, Dominetta "Domino" Petacchi, but producers cast Claudine Auger, changing the Domino character from an Italian to a Frenchwoman and renaming her Dominique Derval.
Paluzzi's first film was an uncredited walk-on part in Three Coins in the Fountain (1954).- Erika Blanc was born on 23 July 1942 in Brescia, Lombardy, Italy. She is an actress, known for Sacred Heart (2005), Espionage in Lisbon (1965) and A Man for Emmanuelle (1969). She was previously married to Bruno Gaburro.
- Dagmar Lassander was born on 16 June 1943 in Prague, Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress, known for Devil Fish (1984), Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970) and I racconti fantastici di Edgar Allan Poe (1979).
- Not just another tall, beautiful brunette, Valerie Leon had extensive experience in British theatre, television and films, before she became a fixture in the "Carry On" series, appearing in seven of them. In addition to comedy, she also excelled in horror films, playing a dual role in one of Hammer's best, Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971), and had the distinction of appearing with two different James Bonds, Roger Moore and Sean Connery.
- Actress
- Producer
Barbara Magnolfi was born in France to an Italian father and French mother. Raised in Rome, Italy, she began studying ballet at age four. Falling in love with the art of dance, she rose to the level of lead ballerina by age 10. Making the leap from stage to screen at 13, Barbara was spotted at a restaurant by director Antonio Pietrangeli and cast her on sight for his current film, Come, Quando, Perché. Innately comfortable in front of the camera, this experience with a master Italian lens-man was Barbara's confirmation of her chosen path.
Determined to pursue her dreams, at 15 she was forced to leave an abusive home situation. Out of necessity, she supported herself by working as a couture model at an upscale atelier for elite clients. There, she caught the eye of the fashion photographer and major print ads for Fiorucci and Coca-Cola to name a few soon followed. By the early 70s, it was evident that Barbara's star power was on the rise.
Making her entrance on the Italian silver screen in the mid 70s, Barbara officially debuted as the fetching Floriana in Sergio Martino's 1975 thriller, The Suspicious Death of a Minor. 1976 saw her in Duccio Tessari's "commedia all'italiana" romp La Madama and the romantic drama Ready for Anything, directed by Giorgio Stegani.
But the actress is most beloved for her standout performance in 1977 as the slinky, scene-stealing Olga, the nail-painting gossipy girl who takes great pleasure in harassing Jessica Harper about snakes in Dario Argento's classic film, Suspiria. Bringing a captivating element of electrically feminine power to the role, even Argento noted her beguiling presence, calling her 'La Mia Streghina' (my little witch). With an epic ensemble cast featuring classic Hollywood legends such as Joan Bennett and Alida Valli, and cited often as one of the greatest horror films of all time, Barbara's cinematic legacy was sealed through her indelible contributions to this genre-defying film.
She then starred in Umberto Silva's Difficile Morire, as an intrepid noblewoman living through Italy's social upheavals between 1911 and 1944. Shot at Cinecitta, the iconic Roman film studios, Barbara's workday often began by sharing breakfast and banter in the studio's cafeteria with none other than legendary director Federico Fellini, who was there preparing for his next film. In 1978, she played the main character in Enzo Milioni's The Sister of Ursula, a dark psychological thriller. However, during filming the producers decided to add unscripted scenes without the star's knowledge nor consent. Despite this devious attempt to associate the film with a disreputable genre, Barbara's outstanding lead performance as the complex Ursula was lauded by critics and fans alike. She wrapped up the decade as a sweet 16 year old girl who comes of age in director and scriptwriter Gianni Martucci's 1978's Blazing Flowers, where the set's family-like atmosphere offered Barbara a welcome respite from her recent professional tensions.
By the early 80s, Barbara was a young widow, as her husband, actor Marc Porel, died from meningitis due to complications of drug addiction. Barbara then devoted herself to informing the public about the dangers of drugs. To inspire others on their journey back to life, she spearheaded a series of anti-drug campaigns, opened an information center in Paris, was a celebrity speaker at many events for "Dico No alla Droga" (I say No to Drugs).
She turned to television in 1985-1986 when she co-starred with Fabio Testi in I figli dell'Ispettore, a prestigious television show directed by Aldo Lado, and worked once again with Sergio Martino, in his miniseries Caccia al Ladro d'Autore.
Her next roles took her to Australia, where in 1991 she guest starred in top-rated television series Police Rescue and the short film Gotcha. After focusing on her family for several years, in 1996 she accepted what proved to be a fateful invitation to visit Southern California. A sold out screening of Suspiria at the American Cinematheque at which she was a guest of honor marked her arrival in Hollywood.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Gorgeous and voluptuous brunette beauty Britt Christina Marinette Lindberg was born on December 6, 1950, in Gothenburg, Sweden, to a working-class family, with one sister and two brothers.
When she was a teenager, she lived in the isle of Hisingen, At high-school, she studied Latin and planned on being an archaeologist. Before graduation, with her lustrous long brown hair, doe eyes, sweetly comely face and full, ripe, well-endowed figure, Christina quickly became a popular pin-up girl. She did some modeling in bathing suits for several newspapers, and in 1970 she started doing nude pictorials in men's magazines such as "FIB-Aktuellt", "Penthouse" (Penthouse Pet of the Month in the June 1970 issue), "Playboy", "Lui", Oui" and "Mayfair." Also in 1970, she recorded a two-sided 45 rpm vinyl single with her face on the cover, for the FIB-Aktuellt label.
Christina's film debut was a starring role as the naive, virginal, yet enticing, 16-year-old Inga in Maid in Sweden (1971). She went on to both minor and major roles as tantalizing sexpots in racy exploitation fare as Rötmånad (1970), The Depraved (1971), Campus Swingers (1972), The Swinging Co-eds (1972), Secrets of Sweet Sixteen (1973) and Anita (1973).
Christina Lindberg is especially memorable as British spy and gambler Christina, in the Japanese crime pink movie Sex & Fury (1973). She appeared in two soft-core flicks for acclaimed adult picture writer-director Joseph W. Sarno: the lackluster Swedish Wildcats (1972) and the gloriously bizarre Young Playthings (1972). Her most enduring cult cinema fame stems from her outstanding performance as Frigga, a much abused and traumatized one-eyed mute junkie prostitute, who exacts a harsh retribution on her tormentors in the brutal and controversial revenge opus Thriller: A Cruel Picture (1973).
In the early 1970s, she was the onetime girlfriend of Swedish king King Carl XVI Gustaf.
Her acting career began to falter in the mid 1970s because of her refusal to do hardcore sex scenes. Christina studied journalism in the late 1970s and subsequently wrote articles for various men's magazines. Lindberg returned to movies in 2000, in a cameo of her Frigga character in the over-the-top parody Sex, Lies and Video Violence (2000).
Christina is an animal rights activist, an environmentalist, and a vegetarian. She owns two Siamese cats and is a keen mushroom picker, and shared her knowledge in 1993 in a a 20-minute short, "Christina's Mushroom School".
Christina Lindberg lives in Stockholm, Sweden. She's the owner and editor-in-chief of the aviation magazine "Flygrevyn," which she took over following her fiancee Bo Sehlberg's death in 2004.- Actress
- Producer
- Stunts
Maria Rohm was one of the rare gems in the movie business - acting, and in particular theatre and movies was truly her life's work. She started acting on-stage at the famous Vienna Burgtheatre as a child actor from ages 4 through 13. Having performed in such classics as William Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream", Lev Tolstoy's autobiography "Und das Licht scheint in der Finsternis", Ferdinand Raimund's "Der Bauer als Millionär" etc. She worked with many of the great German stage actors such as Attila Hörbiger, Paula Wessely, Curd Jürgens, Annemarie Düringer, Heinrich Schweiger, Judith Holzmeister to name a few.
The young Ms. Rohm continued her theatrical work until she auditioned for Harry Alan Towers at age 18, it was then that her movie career took off. Towers, smitten with the blonde beauty cast her as a lead in a number of his feature films - Maria's extraordinary acting abilities took over from there. Both stunning and immensely talented she soon became highly sought after as a leading lady all across Europe. Her movie roles took her to more than a dozen countries where she shared the screen with such greats as Frankie Avalon, Klaus Kinski, Christopher Lee, Vincent Price and Jack Palance .
Extensive traveling eventually took it's toll, and having 30 on-camera movie credits to her name combined with 4 decades experience as an actress, Rohm made the decision to join Towers, her now husband as a producer. Her considerable experience in the industry revealed an astute business woman, and Mr. & Mrs. Towers became power a couple in the independent feature market. The duo worked happily together until Harry Tower's death July 31st, 2009.
The last 10 years or her life, Ms. Rohm although largely retired from the business, continued to consult periodically in the industry and share her expertise of the business that she fondly remembers as bringing her together with the love of her life.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Tura Satana started exotic dancing when she was only 13 years old. She integrated acrobatics, humor, and sensual beauty to her dancing art form. As a dancer, she started doing guest appearances in films such as Our Man Flint (1966) and Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963) and made several films with low-budget auteur Ted V. Mikels. Her skills as a martial artist landed her small roles in TV shows such as Hawaiian Eye (1959), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964), The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1966), The Greatest Show on Earth (1963) and Burke's Law (1963).- Actress
- Make-Up Department
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Haji was a Cando-American actress renowned for starring in Russ Meyer's sexploitation classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), in which she made her theatrical film debut. Barbarella Catton was born in Quebec City, Quebec on January 24, 1946, and at the age of 14, began dancing topless. The renamed Haji caught the eye of cinema's "King Leer" while performing as an exotic dancer.
He also cast her as one of three go-go dancers who turn into avenging furies in "Pussycat" Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) after her theatrical film debut in Motorpsycho! (1965) technically released before Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965). She also appeared in Meyer's potboiler Good Morning... and Goodbye! (1967), his big budget Hollywood sextravaganza Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), and his cartoonish amalgamation of sex and violence, Supervixens (1975).
Haji died on August 10, 2013 at the age of 67.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Miki Sugimoto is almost inseparable from fellow 1970s Toei film star Reiko Ike. Both stared in numerous "sukeban" films throughout the 1970s and helped build a generation of "Toei porn".
A fashion model and star of "Go Go Girl in All Night Fuji" (a Japanese TV program), she made her film debut in "Hot Springs Mimizu Geisha" (Onsen mimizu geisha (1971)) and was later known for her film "Zero Woman - Red Handcuffs" (Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (1974)), one of the most over-the-top Japanese crime films of the 1970s. She left the film industry in 1978 to marry a former classmate-turned-businessman and become a nursery school teacher.- Reiko Ike was still in her late teens when she was "discovered" by Japan's Toei Studios (stories of her "discovery" are inconsistent, ranging from being scouted in a nightclub to being spotted as a model). Along with Miki Sugimoto she was Toei's top sex star throughout the 1970s, and the focus of the "sukeban" or female girl boss phenomenon of 1970s Japanese cinema. Beginning with "Girl Boss Guerilla" (Sukeban gerira (1972)), Ike made 12 films, almost all in the Pinky Violence/Yakuza Girl genre. Despite real-life trouble with the law--she was arrested once for drugs and once for illegal gambling--she worked throughout the decade, appearing in at least two of Kinji Fukasaku's "Battles Without Honor & Humanity" (Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1973) series (1973-79). Her last film before disappearing from the public eye was "The Golden Dog" (Dog of Fortune (1979)).
The bulk of her work was for Toei in 1973, when she appeared in the films "Sex & Fury" (Sex & Fury (1973)), "Girl Boss" (Girl Boss Revenge: Sukeban (1973)), "Terrifying Girls' High School: Lynch Law Classroom" Terrifying Girls' High School: Lynch Law Classroom (1973)), "Criminal Woman: Killing Melody" (Zenka onna: Koroshi-bushi (1973)) and "Sex & Fury"'s sequel "Female Yakuza Tale: Inquisition and Torture" (Female Yakuza Tale (1973)). This rush of films established her as a major sex icon in Japan and created a tabloid rivalry with fellow Toei contact player Miki Sugimoto, who was her co-star in several films.
The recent reissues of "Sex & Fury" and "Female Yakuza Tale"--along with the release of a Pinky Violence box set consisting of "Terrifying Girls School", "Criminal Woman" and "Girl Boss Guerilla"--has rekindled her cult following. - Sultry, slinky and slender brunette knockout Anitra Ford was born as Anitra Joy Weinstein in 1942 in California. Anitra began her career in the 60s as a model. She made her film debut in an uncredited small role as a model in "The Love Machine." Ford gave a funny and spirited performance as cheery and sassy free-spirited nymphomaniac actress Terry Rich in Jack Hill's delightful babes-behind-bars romp "The Big Bird Cage." Anitra was likewise excellent and impressive as the alluring Dr. Susan Harris in the fantastic drive-in exploitation classic "Invasion of the Bee Girls." Ford was also memorable as the ill-fated Laura in the offbeat and atmospheric zombie horror shocker "Messiah of Evil." She made a brief, but effective appearance as Burt Reynolds' bitchy rich girlfriend Melissa Gaines in Robert Aldrich's terrific "The Longest Yard." Anitra achieved her greatest enduring popularity as one of host Bob Barker's beauties on the game show "The Price Is Right." Among the TV shows Ford had guest spots on are "Starsky and Hutch," "The Streets of San Francisco," "Baretta," "Mannix," and "The Odd Couple." Anitra called it a day as an actress in the mid 70s and went on to work in real estate. Moreover, Anitra Ford is a published poet, accomplished photographer and successful artist whose work has been displayed in various galleries in Santa Barbara, California.
- The daughter of an English father and a Burmese mother, Me Me Lai was born in Burma in 1952. Little is known about her childhood. She moved to England in her teens and began working as an actress, appearing in bit parts on television and in low-budget British films, most notably in Au Pair Girls (1972). In 1972 she appeared in Sacrifice! (1972), the first of several "cannibal" movies filmed in Italy.
She returned as the lead female native girl in Ruggero Deodato's Last Cannibal World (1977) and Umberto Lenzi's Eaten Alive! (1980) (her death scene in the former was re-used in the latter). Of her small movie roles, she is perhaps best known as a Chinese hooker in the Peter Sellers comedy Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978). During the 1980s she was again cast in various small roles before she left the movie business.
She has recently embraced her acting past, particularly the cannibal films, and appeared at film festivals and conferences around Europe and the US, including Spaghetti Cinema with Ruggero Deodato in May 2014.