Erica Gavin | |
|---|---|
 Gavin on the poster for Vixen! | |
| Born | Donna Graff July 22, 1947 |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1968–present |
| Website | http://www.ericagavin.com/ |
Erica Gavin (born Donna Graff; [1] July 22, 1947) is an American film actress best known for playing the title role in Russ Meyer's 1968 film Vixen! .
Gavin was born in Los Angeles, California. At age 19, she worked as a topless dancer in Hollywood with two other future Russ Meyer stars, Haji and Tura Satana. While waiting in a dentist's office, she saw an advertisement in Variety for girls to audition for the new Russ Meyer movie Vixen! She auditioned and won the role, which launched her to stardom in low budget, independent films, incorrectly called "B" films, which refer to a type of film made during the Studio Era. [2]
Following Vixen!, Gavin appeared in one more Russ Meyer film, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls , written by famed film critic Roger Ebert. [3] She also appeared in Jonathan Demme's women-in-prison film Caged Heat . [4]
Gavin currently[ when? ] resides in Los Angeles, California, where she works as a stylist and occasionally makes appearances at movie memorabilia conventions. She said in a 2006 interview that she is bisexual. [5]
Russell Albion Meyer was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. He is known primarily for writing and directing a series of successful sexploitation films that featured campy humor, sly satire and large-breasted women, such as Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. Meyer often named Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) as his definitive work.
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is a 1970 American satirical musical melodrama film starring Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Marcia McBroom, Phyllis Davis, John LaZar, Michael Blodgett, and David Gurian. The film was directed by Russ Meyer and screenwritten by Roger Ebert from a story by Ebert and Meyer.
Tura Satana was a Japanese American actress, vedette, and exotic dancer. From 13 film and television credits, some of her work includes the exploitation film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), and the science fiction horror film The Astro-Zombies (1968).
Uschi Digard is the stage name of a softcore pornographic actress and pin-up model active between 1968 and 1982. Born in Europe, she was said to be aged thirty-two in 1977 and sixty in 2006, but her date of birth is not known. She emigrated to the United States in 1968 and settled in California. She is remembered particularly for her work with Russ Meyer.
Supervixens is a 1975 American film directed by American filmmaker Russ Meyer. The cast features Meyer regulars Charles Napier, Uschi Digard, and Haji. The film also features Shari Eubank in one of her only two film roles and Christy Hartburg in her only film role.
Francesca Isabel Natividad, known professionally as Kitten Natividad, was a Mexican-American film actress and exotic dancer. She was noted for her 44-inch bust, and appearances in cult films made by her ex-partner, director Russ Meyer.
Edwina Beth Williams is an American television and film actress who is best known for her acting work in the films of Russ Meyer, to whom she was married from 1970 to 1975.
Caged Heat, also known as Renegade Girls, is a 1974 women in prison film. It was written and directed by Jonathan Demme for New World Pictures, headed by Roger Corman. The film stars Juanita Brown, Roberta Collins, Erica Gavin, Ella Reid, Rainbeaux Smith, and Barbara Steele.
Eve Meyer was an American pin-up model, motion picture actress, and film producer. Much of her work was done in conjunction with sexploitation filmmaker Russ Meyer, to whom she was married from 1952 to 1969. She was killed in the Tenerife airport disaster in 1977.
Who Killed Bambi? was to be the first film featuring the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, and was due to be released in 1978. Russ Meyer and then Jonathan Kaplan were due to direct from a script by Roger Ebert and Pistols' manager Malcolm McLaren.
Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens is a 1979 satirical sexploitation film directed by American film-maker Russ Meyer and written by Roger Ebert and Meyer. It stars Kitten Natividad and Ann Marie with a cameo by Uschi Digard.
Dolly Martin is an English pinup model and actress. She is best remembered for her appearance in Playboy magazine and as the lead character in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. She sometimes is credited as Margaret Read, Dolly Read Martin or Dolly Martin.
Vixen! is a 1968 American drama film and satiric softcore sexploitation film directed by Russ Meyer and starring Erica Gavin. It was the first film to be given an X rating for its sex scenes, and was a breakthrough success for Meyer. The film was developed from a script by Meyer and Anthony James Ryan.
Phyllis Ann Davis was an American actress who appeared primarily on television. She co-starred on the 1978–1981 dramatic detective series Vega$ as Beatrice Travis, office manager, and girl Friday for the show's main character, Las Vegas private detective Dan Tanna, played by Robert Urich.
John LaZar is an American actor of both stage and screen, best remembered for his lead role as Ronnie 'Z-man' Barzell in the Russ Meyer film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), co-written by Meyer and Roger Ebert.
Stuart Gage Lancaster was an American actor known for roles in Russ Meyer films.
Michael Blodgett was an American actor, novelist, and screenwriter. Of his many film and television appearances he is best known for his performance as gigolo Lance Rocke in Russ Meyer's 1970 cult classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. He retired from acting in the late 1970s and began a writing career.
The Seven Minutes is a 1971 American drama movie directed and produced by Russ Meyer. The movie was based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Irving Wallace.
Roberta Collins was a film and television actress who was known for her attractive physique, blonde, curly hair, and Marilyn Monroe appearance. She starred in many exploitation films, including the prostitute Clara in Tobe Hooper's Eaten Alive and Matilda the Hun in the science-fiction film Death Race 2000.
RM Films International is a film distribution company based in Hollywood, California. It was started by filmmaker Russ Meyer to distribute his movies. Since Meyer's death in 2004, RM Films International has been owned and operated by the Russ Meyer Charitable Trust and is a recognized 501(c) private foundation.
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