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Backdrop from a project of Matt Cimber
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Matt Cimber

1936 (89) • Directing

Writer, director and producer Matt Cimber was born as Matteo Ottaviano in 1936 and began his career in the early 60s directing off-Broadway plays including works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tennessee Williams and the US premieres of the Jean Cocteau trilogy. During his theater years, Cimber rewrote Burning Bright with John Steinbeck which introduced Sandy Dennis who went on to win an Academy Award for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) . Cimber then directed the Broadway revival of Bus Stop, where he met future wife Jayne Mansfield. Matt made his cinematic directorial debut with the offbeat Single Room Furnished (1966), which was also Mansfield's last movie. He followed this movie with the film The Sexually Liberated Female (1970) which was based on a best-selling book The Sensuous Female by J. As the screenwriter / director of this film, Cimber made a satire which required the title be changed for release because the publisher rescinded the rights. Cimber did three immensely enjoyable blaxploitation pictures in the mid 70s: The Black 6 (1973), Lady Cocoa (1975) and the terrifically trashy The Candy Tangerine Man (1975) which was also Samuel L. Jackson 's favorite film. Matt made a rare foray into the horror genre with the disturbing psychological shocker The Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976). His next work was based on a Mario Puzo story, a World War II drama A Time to Die (1982) starring Rex Harrison. Later that year Matt teamed up with Pia Zadora for two films: the underrated Butterfly (1981) and the fun Fake-Out (1982). Butterfly (1981) was the master filmmaker Orson Welles last film for which he received one of the film's three Golden Globe nominations. The following year Matt joined forces with actress Laurene Landon for the delightful action/adventure romps Hundra (1983) and Yellow Hair and the Pecos Kid (1984). Quentin Tarantino is quoted as saying Matt Cimber films were among his favorite. In the late 80s, Cimber created and directed the successful TV series GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (1986) . The show was lasted for four seasons on 103 stations in the US. More recent years of Cimber's work were dedicated to a documentary genre. He wrote and directed "An American Icon: Coca-Cola, the Early Years" (1997) and "The History of United Nations" (1996). He created and wrote the eight-minute intro for visitors to the United Nations for which he received a special commendation from the UN. After a twenty years absence in motion picture production, Matt Cimber made a comeback with the independent drama Miriam (2006).

Known For

The Witch Who Came from the Sea

59%

Director

1976

Man & Wife: An Educational Film for Married Adults

31%

Director

1969

Hundra

48%

Director

1983

Butterfly

49%

Adaptation

1982

Single Room Furnished

47%

Director

1968

Lady Cocoa

45%

Arthur (as Gary Harper)

1975

The Candy Tangerine Man

50%

Director

1975

The Black Six

49%

Director

1973

Deconstructing Dunning

2016

Tides and Nightmares

Himself

2016

42nd Street Memories: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Notorious Street

78%

Self

2015

Jayne Mansfield: The Tragedy of a Blonde

64%

Self (archive footage)

2015

Miriam

75%

Director

2006

Stallone's Knockouts

10%

Director

1990

Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold

37%

Director

1984

Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold

37%

Screenplay

1984

Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold

37%

Characters

1984

Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold

37%

Story

1984

Hundra

48%

Director

1983

Hundra

48%

Writer

1983

Hundra

48%

Story

1983

Fake-Out

41%

Hit Man #2

1982

Fake-Out

41%

Director

1982

Fake-Out

41%

Screenplay

1982

A Time to Die

40%

Screenplay

1982

A Time to Die

40%

Director

1982

Butterfly

49%

Adaptation

1982

Butterfly

49%

Screenplay

1982

Butterfly

49%

Director

1982

Butterfly

49%

Producer

1982

Tiger Man

90%

Director

1978

Tiger Man

90%

Screenplay

1978

The Witch Who Came from the Sea

59%

Director

1976

The Witch Who Came from the Sea

59%

Producer

1976

That Girl from Boston

90%

Director

1975

Lady Cocoa

45%

Arthur (as Gary Harper)

1975

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