Zalman King
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Zalman King (May 23, 1942 - February 3, 2012) was an American film director, writer, actor and producer. His films are known for incorporating sexuality, and are often categorized as erotica.
Contents |
Acting
As a young man in 1964 King played a gang member in "Memo from Purgatory", an episode of the television series The Alfred Hitchcock Hour written by Harlan Ellison and featuring actors James Caan and Walter Koenig. In 1967 he played the outlaw Muley in "Muley", an episode of the TV show Gunsmoke. His character shoots Marshall Matt Dillon as part of a plan to rob the Dodge City Bank, but as he and his gang are waiting for Dillon to recover (so they can try again to kill him), Muley falls in love with one of the girls at the Long Branch Saloon, which thwarts the plan.
King played "The Man" in the 3rd episode of the first season of Adam-12. His character was an apparent drug addict who kidnaps an infant at gunpoint and Officer Malloy disarms him by some reverse psychology.
From September 1970 until May 1971, King played attorney Aaron Silverman on the drama The Young Lawyers, broadcast on the ABC television network. King later contributed a unique delivery to Trip with the Teacher (1975), portraying the psychopathic Al, a narcoleptic murdering motorbiker.
He appeared in Lee Grant's directorial debut feature film Tell Me a Riddle.
Directing
King directed several films, including Two Moon Junction (1988), Wild Orchid (1990), and Red Shoe Diaries (1992), which became a long-running television series for Showtime network. It spawned many sequels.
He is perhaps best known for his collaboration with director Adrian Lyne on the film 9½ Weeks which starred Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke. He produced (and usually directed) the television series and film ChromiumBlue.com and Showtime series Body Language.
Other work as director includes the 1995 film Delta of Venus based on the book by Anaïs Nin and starring Audie England as an American woman living in Paris in 1939.
Personal Life
King was married to writer/producer Patricia Louisianna Knop, with whom he collaborated on many projects, such as writing Wild Orchid, Delta of Venus and 9½ Weeks as well as many episodes of Red Shoe Diaries.
They have two daughters together, Chloe King and Gillian Lefkowitz.
Death
King died on February 3, 2012 at the age of 69 after a battle with cancer.
