Don Edmonds

'Don Edmonds' (qv) was born on September 1, 1937, in Kansas City, MO. He came to Hollywood in the mid to late 1950s. He studied acting with noted acting coach Estelle Harmon and began performing in various California stage productions. His initial forays into television acting included such live TV shows as _Playhouse 90 (1956)_ (qv), _Studio One in Hollywood (1948)_ (qv) and _The Loretta Young Show (1953)_ (qv). He was usually cast as a goofy sidekick in such "beach party"-type movies as _Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961)_ (qv), _Beach Ball (1965)_ (qv) and _Wild Wild Winter (1966)_ (qv). He made guest appearances on such TV shows as _Hunter (1984)_ (qv), _Green Acres (1965)_ (qv), _Combat! (1962)_ (qv), _Petticoat Junction (1963)_ (qv), _The Munsters (1964)_ (qv), _Gidget (1965)_ (qv) and _Father Knows Best (1954)_ (qv).Edmonds made his directorial debut with the soft-core features _Wild Honey (1972)_ (qv) and _Tender Loving Care (1973)_ (qv). He achieved his greatest enduring cult exploitation cinema popularity by directing the infamous Nazisploitation classic _Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975)_ (qv) and its marvelously outrageous sequel _Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976)_ (qv). After "Ilsa" Edmonds went on to direct the superbly gritty urban action winner _Bare Knuckles (1977)_ (qv), the cruddy slasher horror entry _Terror on Tour (1980)_ (qv), the action comedy _Tomcat Angels (1991)_ (qv) and the pilot of the TV series _Silk Stalkings (1991)_ (qv). As the vice president of production at Producers Sales Organization, Don was responsible for getting movies like _Short Circuit (1986)_ (qv), _8 Million Ways to Die (1986)_ (qv) and _The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986)_ (qv) greenlit and subsequently made. He had also been involved as either a producer, co-producer or executive producer on a sizable number of pictures, including _Larceny (2004)_ (qv), _Fast Money (1996)_ (qv), _True Romance (1993)_ (qv) (he was part of the production team which helped 'Quentin Tarantino' (qv) get his early professional filmmaking career off and running), _Skeeter (1993)_ (qv) and _The Night Stalker (1986)_ (qv). In later years, Don attended screenings of his 1970s drive-in flicks and appeared as a guest at film conventions held all over the country.He died at age 71 of liver cancer on May 30, 2009.::woodyanders (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous