Donald Cammell

British director 'Donald Cammell' (qv), born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1934, came from a wealthy shipbuilding family. He began his career as a painter and by the mid-'60s was celebrated among the "Swinging London" crowd. He made his foray into the film industry when he wrote the script for _The Touchables (1968)_ (qv), a painfully pretentious--and, seen today, terribly dated--tale of a rock singer kidnapped by four beautiful female fans. He followed that up with _Duffy (1968)_ (qv), about an aging hippie who helps two brothers rob their rich father. His directorial debut came with _Performance (1970)_ (qv), about a London gangster who hides out in the house of a strange rock star. The now cult-classic film starred 'Mick Jagger' (qv) in one of his earliest dramatic performances. Cammell's _Demon Seed (1977)_ (qv) was intended to be a comedy, but the studio for some reason decided to turn it into a bizarre sci-fi thriller, which didn't really satisfy anyone, Cammell least of all.He didn't make a film for ten years after "Demon Seed", when he directed the atmospheric _White of the Eye (1987)_ (qv), about a serial killer. His final film as director, _Wild Side (1995)_ (qv), was a thriller that was extensively re-edited by the producers. Cammell was so incensed with the result that he had his name taken off the credits, and it was credited to the non-existent "Frank Brauner".In April 1996 a despondent Cammell committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.::frankfob2@yahoo.com