Gerard Damiano
| Gerard Damiano | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 4, 1928 The Bronx, New York, US |
| Died | October 25, 2008 (aged 80) Fort Myers, Florida, US |
| Occupation | Director, producer, writer |
| Years active | 1969–1994 |
| Spouse(s) | Paula Morton (1975–2008; his death) |
| Children | Gerard Damiano Jr. |
Gerard Damiano (August 4, 1928 – October 25, 2008) was an American director of adult films. He wrote and directed the 1972 cult classic Deep Throat. He also directed the smash hit The Devil in Miss Jones, which ranked #7 in Variety's list of the top-grossing pictures of 1973. (Deep Throat came in at #11 that year, its second consecutive year on the list.) Damiano is one of the seminal directors of what is known as The Golden Age of Porn.
He was born to an Italian American Catholic family in the Bronx, New York City. When he was 6, his father died; his mother never remarried. The day he turned 17, he joined the United States Navy for 4 years. Before this, he was a shoeshine boy in Times Square and worked in an automat. Afterwards, he studied X-ray technology on the G.I. Bill and was an x-ray technician at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York, then opened a hairdressing salon with a friend in New York City. Frequently overhearing sexual gossip at the salon convinced him that pornographic films made to appeal to couples would be a commercial success.
Damiano took an interest in film-making after his accountant introduced him to a producer who was making a low-budget horror film. Intrigued, Damiano began helping out as he could on the set, and went on to work as a crew member on numerous New York sexploitation films in the late 1960s.
He directed the famous film Deep Throat (1972) starring Linda Lovelace and Harry Reems. The film is regarded as pioneering, and its success is credited with helping to launch the modern adult-entertainment industry. Damiano was surprised that the film attracted such attention. The film was financed by organized crime, and Damiano did not benefit from the film's substantial commercial success. Other notable films made by Damiano include The Devil in Miss Jones (1973), Memories Within Miss Aggie (1974), The Story of Joanna (1975), Let My Puppets Come (1976), Odyssey (1977), The Satisfiers of Alpha Blue (1980) and Skinflicks (1981).
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