Virtual_Burlesque
Former Ecdysiast
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- Mar 31, 2004
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Soft-Core Porn Film Maker Russ Meyer Dies in L.A.
Wed Sep 22, 2004
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Film/Pix/pictures/2004/09/22/meyer325234343353.jpg
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Director Russ Meyer, whose soft core porn films, "The Immoral Mr Teas," "Vixen" and "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" earned him millions of dollars and the title of Hollywood's "King Leer," has died at age 82, his film company said on Wednesday.
Meyer died on Saturday of pneumonia at his home in the Hollywood Hills, his company, RM Films International Inc., said.
The son of an Oakland, California, policeman and a nurse, Meyer parlayed a talent as a cameraman and an obsession with the female bosom into a legendary film career.
After a brief stint as a centerfold photographer for Playboy, Meyer used his own money to make "The Immoral Mr Teas" in 1959 for $24,000 and saw it gross a million dollars.
From then on there was no stopping him with one work, "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" getting labeled by one critic as "the worst film ever made." But the millions he made from his films won Hollywood's attention and 20th Century Fox gave him the go-ahead to make "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" with a script by film critic Roger Ebert.
Filmmakers like John Waters and Michael Winterbottom cite him as one of their inspirations.
Meyer's film were strong on nudity and double-entendres but actual sex was kept to a minimum.
Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas once wrote: "No one projects heterosexual male fantasies with greater gusto and resolute dedication than Meyer, who at heart is a Puritan and who has always been a bigger tease than any burlesque queen."
Meyer made a total of 26 films, almost all self-financed and the titles reflected his obsession: "Erotica," "Heavenly Bodies," "Wild Gals of the Naked West," "Mondo Topless" and "Supervixens."
Many of his films became cult and film festival favorites.
He titled his autobiography "A Clean Breast" and once told the London Times: "I love big-breasted women with wasp waists. I love them with big cleavages."
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
Wed Sep 22, 2004
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Film/Pix/pictures/2004/09/22/meyer325234343353.jpg
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Director Russ Meyer, whose soft core porn films, "The Immoral Mr Teas," "Vixen" and "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" earned him millions of dollars and the title of Hollywood's "King Leer," has died at age 82, his film company said on Wednesday.
Meyer died on Saturday of pneumonia at his home in the Hollywood Hills, his company, RM Films International Inc., said.
The son of an Oakland, California, policeman and a nurse, Meyer parlayed a talent as a cameraman and an obsession with the female bosom into a legendary film career.
After a brief stint as a centerfold photographer for Playboy, Meyer used his own money to make "The Immoral Mr Teas" in 1959 for $24,000 and saw it gross a million dollars.
From then on there was no stopping him with one work, "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" getting labeled by one critic as "the worst film ever made." But the millions he made from his films won Hollywood's attention and 20th Century Fox gave him the go-ahead to make "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" with a script by film critic Roger Ebert.
Filmmakers like John Waters and Michael Winterbottom cite him as one of their inspirations.
Meyer's film were strong on nudity and double-entendres but actual sex was kept to a minimum.
Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas once wrote: "No one projects heterosexual male fantasies with greater gusto and resolute dedication than Meyer, who at heart is a Puritan and who has always been a bigger tease than any burlesque queen."
Meyer made a total of 26 films, almost all self-financed and the titles reflected his obsession: "Erotica," "Heavenly Bodies," "Wild Gals of the Naked West," "Mondo Topless" and "Supervixens."
Many of his films became cult and film festival favorites.
He titled his autobiography "A Clean Breast" and once told the London Times: "I love big-breasted women with wasp waists. I love them with big cleavages."
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
