William Girdler

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia William Girdler October 22 1947 January 21 1978 was an American filmmaker In a span of seven years from 1972 to 1978 he directed nine feature films in such genres as horror and action Girdler also wrote and produced three of his features Abby Sheba Baby and The Manitou Girdler born in Louisville Kentucky started Studio One Productions in his early twenties and directed his first feature a lowbudget film entitled Asylum of Satan which was briefly released to theaters Girdlers second effort was a gory if overlong slasher thriller entitled Three on a Meathook Both Asylum of Satan and Three on a Meathook were filmed in his home town and although both films received little notice the films got the attention of Samuel Z Arkoff and American International Pictures AIP Girdler next directed three blaxploitation films The first in 1973 was a long lost thriller titled The Zebra Killer starring Austin Stoker By coincidence another Louisville native Rich Miles appeared in this picture in a small role as the local cop who discovers some of the bodies Girdlers next feature was an Exorcist clone titled Abby with Carol Speed in the lead role and costarring William H Marshall from Blacula and Oscar nominee Juanita Moore Abby became Girdlers breakthrough film The picture opened in 1974 to major box office success earning nearly 9 million Warner Brothers thought Abby was too derivative of Exorcist and the film was suddenly pulled from theaters after two weeks The last blaxploitation film Girdler directed was the Pam Grier vehicle Sheba Baby and his first effort in the action genre Sheba Baby was another major hit in theaters even though it is often cited as one of Pam Griers more weaker vehicles than her other similar themed action films Coffy and Foxy Brown Girdler was then finished with his contract with Arkoff and AIP Girdlers sixth feature was another action themed film starring Leslie Nielsen in one of his more serious roles as an agent tracked by the government in the political thriller Project Kill which was given a limited theatrical release Grizzly released in 1976 was Girdlers most financially successful film A Jaws clone from start to finish the film was about an oversized grizzly bear terrorizing a National Park The movie starred Christopher George Andrew Prine and Richard Jaeckel and went on to become one of the most successful motion pictures of the year earning an impressive 39 million worldwide After this triumph Grizzlys producer and distributor Edward L Montoro and Film Ventures International decided to keep the financial profits Girdler and the films screenwritersproducers Harvey Flaxman and David Sheldon who also worked with Girdler on previous films sued Montoro and Film Ventures to have the profits returned Girdler directed The Day of the Animals another effort for Montoro which is sometimes cited as a sequel to Grizzly The film had an allstar cast including Christopher George Leslie Nielsen Richard Jaeckel Ruth Roman and Lynda Day George It was Girdlers second approach to natureversusman films but was not as successful as Grizzly The Manitou was the last film directed by Girdler Based on a best selling novel by Graham Masterton and starring Tony Curtis and Susan Strasberg The Manitou was perhaps Girdlers most expensive production It was acquired by AVCO Embassy Pictures and released in 1978 and was also a major hit in theaters He was killed in a helicopter crash in Manila Philippines on January 21 1978 while scouting locations for his tenth film project Description above from the Wikipedia article William Girdler licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia