Zalman King

Zalman King (May 23, 1941 – February 3, 2012) was an American film director, writer, actor and producer. His films are known for incorporating sexuality, and are often categorized as erotica.

As a young man in 1964 King played a gang member in "Memo from Purgatory", an episode of the television series The Alfred Hitchcock Hour written byHarlan Ellison and featuring actors James Caan and Walter Koenig. In 1967 he played the outlaw Muley in "Muley", an episode of the TV show Gunsmoke. His character shoots Marshall Matt Dillon as part of a plan to rob the Dodge City Bank, but as he and his gang are waiting for Dillon to recover (so they can try again to kill him), Muley falls in love with one of the girls at the Long Branch Saloon, which thwarts the plan.

King played "The Man" in the 3rd episode of the first season of Adam-12. His character was an apparent drug addict who kidnaps an infant at gunpoint and Officer Malloy disarms him by some reverse psychology.

From September 1970 until May 1971, King played attorney Aaron Silverman on the drama The Young Lawyers, broadcast on the ABC television network. King later contributed a unique delivery to Trip with the Teacher (1975), portraying the psychopathic Al, a narcoleptic murdering motorbiker.

He appeared in Lee Grant's directorial debut feature film Tell Me a Riddle.

King directed several films, including Two Moon Junction (1988), Wild Orchid (1990), and Red Shoe Diaries (1992), which became a long-running television series for Showtime network. It spawned many sequels.

He is perhaps best known for his collaboration with director Adrian Lyne on the film 9½ Weeks which starred Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke. He produced (and usually directed) the television series and film ChromiumBlue.com and Showtime series Body Language.

Other work as director includes the 1995 film Delta of Venus based on the book by Anaïs Nin and starring Audie England as an American woman living in Paris in 1939.

King was married to writer/producer Patricia Louisianna Knop, with whom he collaborated on many projects, such as writing Wild Orchid, Delta of Venus and 9½ Weeks as well as many episodes of Red Shoe Diaries.

They have two daughters together, Chloe King and Gillian Lefkowitz.

King died on February 3, 2012 at the age of 70 after a battle with cancer.

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Zalman King THE ASK HOLLYWOOD INTERVIEW: PART 1

As a film maker Zalman King has become synonyms with the erotic romantic genre. King pioneered the sometimes controversial genre and enjoyed international success with the films 9 ½ Weeks, Wild Orchid andWild Orchid II. In 1992 King introduced Showtime viewers to David Duchovny who played the main character in a series named the Red Shoe Diaries. The series has run for an impressive 66 episodes the and has become the highest rated series ever for the Showtime.

The prolific director has recently applied his lushly beautiful style to more mainstream subject matter with the surfing film In God's Hands and continues to innovate with shows like ChormiumBlue.com for Showtime. In this interview Zalman King talks about picking tomorrows stars, using stunt doubles as actors and the challenges erotic romantic directors face.

HEAR THE AUDIO OF THE INTERVIEW! PART 1 (6:19) PART 2 (6:00) PART 3 (5:57)

INTERVIEWER: You've pioneered the erotic/romantic genre with the films 9 ½ Weeks and Wild Orchid. Did you anticipate the success of these movies while you were making them?

Zalman King has enjoyed international success with many of his movies. "Wild Orchid" generated $110 million in worldwide revenues in 1990.

ZALMAN KING: Well, in a way I did. It took me a very long time because I started with 9 ½ Weeks and then after that I did Two Moon Junction and then I did Wild Orchid. But with 9 ½ Weeks it took me a very long time when I first wrote it and I was producing it too.

It took me a long time to convince people that it was a film that would make a lot of money. Eventually I was able to do it but it took me...you know...A lot of people liked the story and a lot of people wanted to do it. When I say people I am talking about major studios And ultimately, I did have a major studio involved and they pulled out, it was Tristar at the last minute and we ended up financing it independently and then backed in with Mgm who distributed it in America. When we first made the film, people didn't like it at all. I don't think they knew what to make of it. And then all of a sudden it went to Europe and became this amazing success and then the sort of backed it into the American market again and they did very well, basically in video at the time, really, really well. That's what I think...But, did I anticipate the success? I did. But I think I was alone in that particular film.

The same sort of reactions basically happened when I completed Two Moon Junction and the same thing happened with Wild Orchid. It didn't look like it was going to be successful at first and then somehow the audiences came out and supported it especially in Europe and then on video. There was no DVD then. And then with Red Shoes, I realized that if I could do it on a consistent basis I had a feeling it would be successful and it was. 

INTERVIEWER: Many of your projects have helped catapult actors into star status. For example David Duchovny in the Red Shoe Diaries and Kim Bassinger in 9 ½ weeks. What do you look for in an actor when casting that has enabled you to pick future stars?

Many of Zalman King's films have helped actors and actresses launch thier carrers. Kim Bassinger stared in King's most successful film "9 ½ Weeks" which grossed $200 million in worldwide revenues. Here she is accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in "LA Confidential".

ZALMAN KING: I am very appreciative of talent and you get a real instinct of who can do it and who can't but because of the nature of the films that I am doing, a lot of times I don't get 100% of the talent because of the nudity involved and the subject matter. So, basically, I have a much smaller talent pool usually than most directors or producers to choose from so it becomes a little bit more difficult and you just have to.

I don't know. I've been lucky. I've had Sherlyn Fenn, and Mickey Rourk, and like you said, Duchovny but a lot of other kids Matt LeBlanc. So many kids started with me. I was an actor myself. I started as an actor so I have a particular appreciation I guess for really talented people. 

INTERVIEWER: The premise for the Red Shoe Diaries is very interesting. The series revolves around a character named Jake, played by David Duchovny. Could you tell us a little bit about this character and his story.

ZALMAN KING: Basically, Red Shoe Diaries started with a movie that I did for Showtime and in the movie it was about a young man that David Ducuvny was playing who was absolutely in love with a woman. He was about to marry her. He was an architect. He thought he knew everything about the woman. Basically, when he got closer and closer the woman she went in to buy a pair of red shoes (That's where the title comes from-Red Shoe Diaries) from a shoe store and the salesman there was very, very beautiful. He was played by a guy named Billy Worth who is very beautiful. Basically, that some how catapults into an affair unbeknownst to David Duchonvy's character and the guilt in the concept of the woman who basically is self destructing.

She found the perfect man in David Ducuvny. She is perfectly happy, there is absolutely nothing wrong. He's a beautiful lover, he is doing well in his life, he has a beautiful lifestyle, everything is great and she goes out and she begins to self destruct. And basically she doesn't understand why and ends up killing herself. David Ducuvny after she died, he discovers her body in the bathtub and he discovers her diary which is the red shoe diary and basically where she describes her absolute love for David's character but the foolishness and the guilt that drove her into having and continuing the affair.

She just couldn't figure out what was wrong. She just disappointed herself so completely that she ended up killing herself. It threw her into a terrific depression. David Ducuvny's character then realizes, he then begins advertising for other women's diaries basically asking for women with similar experiences because he realizes in a way to keep her alive and as he's getting over this sort of heartbreak. So he just gets this idea and he basically begins to advertise for other women's diaries so they can share. If they have no one else to share their sexual anxiety with, they can share it with him.

INTERVIEWER: What qualities does David Duchonvy have that made you choose him for this part?

David Duchonvy is another actor Zalman King helped launch into stardom.

ZALMAN KING: I love David. I never even thought of anybody else. He's very intelligent. He has a real (I hate to say this but...) He's like an elevated everyman. It is very hard to find the qualities that David has which is he looks like he went to Princeton yet he has a sexual...not that people who go to Princeton don't have sexuality. But you can find exotic actors and you can find rough actors and you can find all kinds but the kind of actor that can play the Wall Street guy or the architect or the lawyer and really do it convincingly and still carry a real sex appeal with it is hard to find and David certainly does it, I think, very, very, well. And that's what I was looking for in David and that's what I saw in David.

Like in Mickey (Rourk) when Mickey was playing in 9 ½ Weeks it was a stretch to think of him as this Wall Street type tycoon and everything. I think he pulled it off well. But, we played on the fact that he was basically a stranger in a strange land doing very, very well. Mickey's an outsider, David's an insider. 

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