Abel Ferrara

Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
Born	(1951-07-19) July 19, 1951 (age 65) The Bronx, New York City, U.S.
Other names	Jimmy Laine
Occupation	director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor, cinematographer
Years active	1971–present
Spouse(s)	Nancy Ferrara Christina Ferrara
Website	www.abelferrara.com

Abel Ferrara (born July 19, 1951) is an American filmmaker, known for the provocative and often controversial content in his films, his use of neo-noir imagery and gritty urban settings. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best known films include Ms. 45 (1981), King of New York (1990), Bad Lieutenant (1992) and The Funeral (1996).

Ferrara was born in the Bronx of Italian and Irish descent. He was raised Catholic, which had a later effect on much of his work. At 15 he moved to Peekskill in Westchester, New York. He attended the film conservatory at SUNY Purchase, where he directed several short films, most of which are all available on The Short Films of Abel Ferrara collection. Soon finding himself out of work, he directed a pornographic film titled 9 Lives of a Wet Pussy Cat in 1976, which starred his then-girlfriend. Interviewed by The Guardian in 2010, he recalled having to step in front of the camera for one scene to perform in a hardcore sex scene: "It's bad enough paying a guy $200 to fuck your girlfriend, then he can't get it up."

Ferrara first drew a cult audience with his grindhouse movie The Driller Killer (1979), an urban slasher in the mold of Taxi Driver (1976), about an artist (played by Ferrara himself under the alias Jimmy Laine) who goes on a killing spree with a drill in hand. He followed it with Ms. 45 (1981), a "rape revenge" film starring Zoë Tamerlis, who later scripted Bad Lieutenant. Ferrara was next hired to direct Fear City (1984), starring Tom Berenger, Melanie Griffith, Billy Dee Williams, Rae Dawn Chong and María Conchita Alonso. True to form, it depicted a seedy Times Square strip club, where a "kung fu slasher" stalks and murders the girls after work. Berenger portrayed a disgraced boxer who has to use his fighting skills to defeat the killer.