Vale – Zalman King

One of my childhood heroes, Zalman King, has passed away. Mr King was a director/producer who gave us such memorable classics as Two Moon Junction and the Kim Basinger flick 9½ Weeks. The majority of his work was generally soft erotica (and as a young lad, this was, of course, essential viewing), and many a furtive screening of Two Moon Junction (starring hottie Sherilyn Fenn and Richard Tyson) gave me a reason to …. ahem… love cinema. The Mickey Rourke/Carre Otis flick Wild Orchid, which was initially rated X in the US due to some graphic sex scenes (it was trimmed to bring it down to an R rating, because at the time the NC17 rating had not been created) was a bomb, although the controversy surrounding the steamy on-set affair between the two leads led to it being a mild success.

Mickey Rourke would go on to appear alongside Kim Basinger in the steamy erotic drama, 9½ Weeks, with King producing the film over director Adrian Lyne. This film was a commercial success, and remains King’s most popular work.

Mr King passed away from cancer on February 3rd, aged 69.

Who wrote this?

Rodney Twelftree

“Some people say I like films. Those people are wrong. I *love* films.” – Me. I said this.

Rodney has been writing about films for well over two decades, appreciates a good wine, the love of his wife and kids, and the affection of his dog and cats. He has a fondness of cheesy 90’s action and classic Hollywood, hates that physical media is disappearing, and wishes somebody would make a high-budget series of The Neverending Story.

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