Tom DeSimone, Director of ‘Chatterbox,’ ‘Hell Night’ and ‘Reform School Girls,’ Dies at 87 – sigh. Dunno what to say, but NONE of the headlines mention the porno work – but you will get this – “who emerged from the world of 1970s gay adult movies to direct such mainstream cult films as…. I know I am biased.. anyway. I love the nude photo, I need to dig up the magazine (In Touch, perhaps) and scan better quality.
this is photo most obits show – I’d like to see the full bottle of wine!
Not an obit, written 2 years ago, but this – Unsung Auteurs: Tom DeSimone discusses his adult film career in more detail than any of the obits I’ve read since hearing the news last night.
Just last week I began re-working BJ’s TOM DESIMONE page; great gay film maker – but hadn’t hit “publish” yet.
I never met Tom, but he did email me many many years ago offering a copy of the then impossible to find Confessions of a Male Groupie – (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Electric Banana) – (1971) – one of his proudest works – and he asked (since I was an early blogger about porn) if I had an original copy of his The Idol (his PROUDEST work) because he had carefully selected the music, but Hand In Hand changed that not long after it put it out on VHS. I did not, but he sent a VHS copy of Confessions – and I was blown away – not for the sex, but the music, editing, and shear FUN! As he explained, everyone in this film were personal friends of his, the “freaks” he ran around with, and he was aching to do something other than typical porn.
the promo
Sweet Lady Mary –
My you can’t always get what you want post from some years back.
2 replies on “Tom DeSimone Dies at 87”
You can expect the same treatment when Joe Gage dies, any mainstream source is going to lead with his directing credits for Bad Girls Dormitory and Robot Holocaust. The latter especially since it was used as the basis of a (great and very early) episode of MST3K. It’s not that they dismiss the ‘other’ part of these men’s careers, at least not as much as they used to since they will get at least a passing mention. But not everyone is as well versed on the porn wing, let alone the gay porn tip of the porn wing, as we are.
Sad to hear about Tom’s passing, R.I.P.
I relatively recently found a plethora of Tom DeSimone films & come to appreciate his work. He really started in the golden age of gay porn in the early 1970’s & never stopped until he retired several years ago. His films have all kinds of distributions depending on the title & year.
RIP, Mr. DeSimone.