David F. Friedman(1923-2011)
- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
David F. Friedman was born in Birmingham, Alabama. His father was a
local newspaperman and his mother was a professional musician who
played the piano and organ in silent-movie theaters and in churches.
Friedman was exposed to the adult world at the age of four or five when
his parents took him out "on the town" to restaurants, movies and stage
shows. His father, already in his 50s when he was born, died when
Friedman was 13. His mother re-married a few years later. After
graduating from high school, Friedman was drafted into the US Army and
served in Europe during World War II. After his discharge in 1945 he
settled in Chicago, where he married and found work in filmmaking at
Essanjay Films, where he knew co-owner
Irwin Joseph, and they collaborated on
making 8mm and 16mm underground sex hygiene films.
During the 1950s Friedman worked for Paramount Pictures as well as
Essanjay Films--which later became Modern Films--as well as the
independent Apex Attractions in producing and working on a number of
short pictures of the underground softcore set. Friedman met
Herschell Gordon Lewis in 1960
while he was working in Chicago pitching for producers for his first
low-budget film,
The Prime Time (1960). He and
Lewis formed a partnership, with Friedman in charge of obtaining
production financing, to make what were known as "nudie-cuties", very
low-budget, crudely made films featuring female nudity, which was not
seen in "mainstream" films.
Over the next few years Friedman and Lewis worked as mercenary
filmmakers, with Friedman being the producer and sound man and Lewis
being the director and cameraman. They made a series of softcore sex
films, the first of which was
The Adventures of Lucky Pierre (1961),
then
Daughter of the Sun (1962),
Nature's Playmates (1962),
Goldilocks and the Three Bares (1963),
Boin-n-g (1963) and their first
"roughie", a softcore sex film with some rather strong violence
committed on the female characters, called
Scum of the Earth (1963). Most
of these films were shot on location in and around Miami, Florida,
during winters when Friedman and Lewis lived there, away from the cold
winters in Chicago.
Wanting a change of pace away from the nudie-cutie exploitation genre,
Friedman and Lewis worked together to produce
Blood Feast (1963), which was filmed
in Miami only a few days after filming their last nudie-cutie effort,
Bell, Bare and Beautiful (1963). Despite many bad reviews and
the low production values, "Blood Feast" brought in more money than
they had gotten making "nudie-cuties", which soon led to their turning
out
Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964),
followed by
Color Me Blood Red (1965).
After that Friedman ended his partnership with Lewis for a variety of
reasons, both artistic and financial. Friedman moved to Los Angeles in
1964 to continue his production work there.
In 1965 Friedman formed his own filmmaking company to make "roughies",
and produced, co-wrote and co-directed
The Defilers (1965), a low-budget
exploitation film about two guys who kidnap and hold hostage a young
woman "just for kicks". The film was a hit and restarted his career in
the softcore field. A stream of more roughie and soft-core exploitation
movies followed throughout the 1960s, which he produced, co-wrote and
even acted in; some of these were
A Sweet Sickness (1968),
A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine (1966),
The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill (1966),
The Brick Dollhouse (1967),
The Lustful Turk (1968), among
many others.
By 1969, Friedman's career began to slide as the Hollywood film industry
abolished the Hays Code and adopted the new Motion Picture Association
of America (MPAA) rating system in which independent and Hollywood
mainstream filmmakers began producing X-rated, hardcore sex films,
which soon swept aside the softcore roughie genre. Unwilling to get into the
hardcore adult film industry, which was very profitable (but also very
illegal), Friedman turned down several offers to direct hardcore sex
films because he felt that it was "not as fun" as producing or
directing the simulated roughie films. He continued to produce and
direct a number of softcore sex films during the early and mid 1970s,
such as
The Adult Version of Jekyll & Hide (1972),
The Erotic Adventures of Zorro (1972),
Come One, Come All (1970) and
the violent grindhouse vigilante flick
Johnny Firecloud (1975).
In addition to producing, Friedman also ran a theater in Los Angeles
for several years which ran many of his exploitation films. Though
producing exploitation movies was no longer lucrative, he occasionally
dabbled in various independent productions in Los Angeles through the
1970s and into the 1980s. By then, Friedman more or less retired from
film producing and re-settled back in Alabama, though he continued to
come out of retirement to lend a hand at producing independent erotic
or gore horror films, as he put it, "just for fun." Most recently was
when he was reunited with Herschell Gordon Lewis in 2001 to produce
Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat (2002),
as well as co-produce a remake of "Two Thousand Maniacs!" that was
titled 2001 Maniacs (2005).
local newspaperman and his mother was a professional musician who
played the piano and organ in silent-movie theaters and in churches.
Friedman was exposed to the adult world at the age of four or five when
his parents took him out "on the town" to restaurants, movies and stage
shows. His father, already in his 50s when he was born, died when
Friedman was 13. His mother re-married a few years later. After
graduating from high school, Friedman was drafted into the US Army and
served in Europe during World War II. After his discharge in 1945 he
settled in Chicago, where he married and found work in filmmaking at
Essanjay Films, where he knew co-owner
Irwin Joseph, and they collaborated on
making 8mm and 16mm underground sex hygiene films.
During the 1950s Friedman worked for Paramount Pictures as well as
Essanjay Films--which later became Modern Films--as well as the
independent Apex Attractions in producing and working on a number of
short pictures of the underground softcore set. Friedman met
Herschell Gordon Lewis in 1960
while he was working in Chicago pitching for producers for his first
low-budget film,
The Prime Time (1960). He and
Lewis formed a partnership, with Friedman in charge of obtaining
production financing, to make what were known as "nudie-cuties", very
low-budget, crudely made films featuring female nudity, which was not
seen in "mainstream" films.
Over the next few years Friedman and Lewis worked as mercenary
filmmakers, with Friedman being the producer and sound man and Lewis
being the director and cameraman. They made a series of softcore sex
films, the first of which was
The Adventures of Lucky Pierre (1961),
then
Daughter of the Sun (1962),
Nature's Playmates (1962),
Goldilocks and the Three Bares (1963),
Boin-n-g (1963) and their first
"roughie", a softcore sex film with some rather strong violence
committed on the female characters, called
Scum of the Earth (1963). Most
of these films were shot on location in and around Miami, Florida,
during winters when Friedman and Lewis lived there, away from the cold
winters in Chicago.
Wanting a change of pace away from the nudie-cutie exploitation genre,
Friedman and Lewis worked together to produce
Blood Feast (1963), which was filmed
in Miami only a few days after filming their last nudie-cutie effort,
Bell, Bare and Beautiful (1963). Despite many bad reviews and
the low production values, "Blood Feast" brought in more money than
they had gotten making "nudie-cuties", which soon led to their turning
out
Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964),
followed by
Color Me Blood Red (1965).
After that Friedman ended his partnership with Lewis for a variety of
reasons, both artistic and financial. Friedman moved to Los Angeles in
1964 to continue his production work there.
In 1965 Friedman formed his own filmmaking company to make "roughies",
and produced, co-wrote and co-directed
The Defilers (1965), a low-budget
exploitation film about two guys who kidnap and hold hostage a young
woman "just for kicks". The film was a hit and restarted his career in
the softcore field. A stream of more roughie and soft-core exploitation
movies followed throughout the 1960s, which he produced, co-wrote and
even acted in; some of these were
A Sweet Sickness (1968),
A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine (1966),
The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill (1966),
The Brick Dollhouse (1967),
The Lustful Turk (1968), among
many others.
By 1969, Friedman's career began to slide as the Hollywood film industry
abolished the Hays Code and adopted the new Motion Picture Association
of America (MPAA) rating system in which independent and Hollywood
mainstream filmmakers began producing X-rated, hardcore sex films,
which soon swept aside the softcore roughie genre. Unwilling to get into the
hardcore adult film industry, which was very profitable (but also very
illegal), Friedman turned down several offers to direct hardcore sex
films because he felt that it was "not as fun" as producing or
directing the simulated roughie films. He continued to produce and
direct a number of softcore sex films during the early and mid 1970s,
such as
The Adult Version of Jekyll & Hide (1972),
The Erotic Adventures of Zorro (1972),
Come One, Come All (1970) and
the violent grindhouse vigilante flick
Johnny Firecloud (1975).
In addition to producing, Friedman also ran a theater in Los Angeles
for several years which ran many of his exploitation films. Though
producing exploitation movies was no longer lucrative, he occasionally
dabbled in various independent productions in Los Angeles through the
1970s and into the 1980s. By then, Friedman more or less retired from
film producing and re-settled back in Alabama, though he continued to
come out of retirement to lend a hand at producing independent erotic
or gore horror films, as he put it, "just for fun." Most recently was
when he was reunited with Herschell Gordon Lewis in 2001 to produce
Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat (2002),
as well as co-produce a remake of "Two Thousand Maniacs!" that was
titled 2001 Maniacs (2005).