Russ Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer (March 21, 1922–September 18, 2004) was an American motion picture director.
He made a number of amateur films at the age of 15, and worked during World War II as a newsreel cameraman. Upon returning to civilian life, he became a glamour photographer, and found himself working for Hugh Hefner's newly launched Playboy magazine.
From here, he became a director of nudie films. His films are more ribaldry than pornography, and seem unusually focused on women with large breasts. His later films are almost entirely devoted to this vision; his discoveries include Kitten Natividad and Uschi Digard. He co-wrote Beyond the Valley of the Dolls with film critic Roger Ebert. Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is usually considered to be his greatest, or at least his most idiosyncratic, picture.
Meyer was known for his quick wit. While participating with Roger Ebert in a panel discussion at Yale University, he was confronted by an angry woman who accused him of being "nothing but a breast man." His immediate reply: "That's only the half of it."
Meyer died at his home in the Hollywood Hills, of complications of pneumonia and dementia.
Selected filmography
- 1950 - The French Peep Show
- 1959 - The Immoral Mr. Teas
- 1959 - This Is My Body
- 1960 - Eve and the Handyman
- 1960 - Naked Camera
- 1961 - Erotica
- 1962 - Wild Gals of the Naked West
- 1963 - Europe in the Raw
- 1963 - Heavenly Bodies!
- 1963 - Skyscrapers and Brassieres
- 1964 - Lorna
- 1964 - Fanny Hill
- 1965 - Mudhoney
- 1965 - Motorpsycho
- 1966 - Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
- 1966 - Mondo Topless
- 1967 - Common Law Cabin
- 1967 - Good Morning...and Goodbye!
- 1968 - Finders Keepers, Lovers weepers!
- 1968 - Vixen
- 1969 - Cherry, Harry and Raquel
- 1970 - Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
- 1971 - The Seven Minutes
- 1972 - Blacksnake
- 1975 - SuperVixens
- 1976 - Up!
- 1978 - Who Killed Bambi? (unfinished)
- 1979 - Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens
External links
- RM Films (http://www.rmfilms.com/)
- Russ Meyer (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000540/) at the Internet Movie Database
- "King of the funny skin flicks" (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040922/ESSAYS/40921010) (obituary by Roger Ebert)
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