Howard Maurer | |
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| Born | December 30, 1935 New York City, US |
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Howard Maurer (born December 30, 1935) is an American musician, performer and actor from New York City. He is known for his roles in the Ilsa series of films in addition to 30 years of producing and performing musical and comedy revues in Las Vegas.
Maurer began his music career at the age of 14, playing piano at parties which led to him leading bands at weddings and conventions. After graduating college and serving in the Army, he partnered with his brother Mathew Maurer in musical act The Brothers Cain which played across the globe. He eventually settled down in Los Angeles and spent much of his time working the show rooms in Las Vegas before moving there permanently with wife Dyanne Thorne. [1]
During his career, Maurer has performed as a pianist, vocalist and band leader throughout the Las Vegas circuit, [2] including Las Vegas Sands, Flamingo Las Vegas, The Mirage, Caesar's Palace and the now demolished Riviera. He has also composed several pieces including Jerry Wallace track Mandom, Lovers of the World, [3] [4] which he wrote with his brother Mathew [5] [6] and hit number one in the Japanese charts, and Pepper's Little People for a TV show in Las Vegas. [7]
Maurer launched his film career in 1974 with a role in Don Edmonds' Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS , which starred his future wife Dyanne Thorne in the lead role. After marrying Thorne in 1975 and gaining his Screen Actors Guild card, Maurer went on to star in the Ilsa sequels Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks , [8] Ilsa, the Tigress of Siberia [9] and director Jess Franco's unofficial entry, Ilsa, the Wicked Warden . Maurer continued to appear in film and television, both alongside Thorne [10] and on his own, including experimental anthology film Aria and Sylvester Stallone boxing film, Rocky IV .
Alongside his acting roles on TV and film, Maurer pursued a career in theatre, starring in Las Vegas comedy show Sex Over 40 with wife Dyanne Thorne. [11] They followed this by writing, directing and starring in their own comedy show Burlesque-a Poppin. In 1975, Maurer was hired to run the new Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts.
Maurer currently serves as a non-denominational, ordained and licensed minister for his outdoor wedding company, A Scenic Wedding, [12] which operates in Las Vegas. The business specialises in outdoor weddings with Maurer also providing optional musical services for the ceremonies.
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Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS is a 1975 Canadian exploitation film about Ilsa, a sadistic and sexually voracious Nazi prison camp commandant. The film is directed by American filmmaker Don Edmonds and produced by David F. Friedman for Cinépix Film Properties in Montreal. The film stars Dyanne Thorne in the titular role, who is loosely based on Ilse Koch, a convicted war criminal and overseer at the Buchenwald concentration camp.
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Dyanne Thorne was an American actress, stage performer and vocalist. She was known for her stage work in Las Vegas and as the lead actress in the Ilsa film franchise which began with Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975).
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Nazi exploitation is a subgenre of exploitation film and sexploitation film that involves Nazis committing sex crimes, often as camp or prison overseers during World War II. Most follow the women in prison formula, only relocated to a concentration camp, extermination camp, or Nazi brothel, and with an added emphasis on sadism, gore, and degradation. The most infamous and influential title is a Canadian production, Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1974). Its surprise success and that of Salon Kitty and The Night Porter led European filmmakers, mostly in Italy, to produce similar films, with just over a dozen being released over the next few years. Globally exported to both cinema and VHS, the films were critically attacked and heavily censored, and the sub-genre all but vanished by the end of the seventies.
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Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks is a 1976 sexploitation women in prison film, the first sequel to Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS.
Ilsa, the Tigress of Siberia is a sexploitation "men in prison" style of film that was produced in Canada in 1977. It is the third sequel to Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS.
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