Zalman King Dead: Director, Writer, Producer Dies At 70

LOS ANGELES -- Actor and filmmaker Zalman King, who became known for his erotic work after writing and producing his breakthrough film "9 1/2 Weeks," has died. He was 70.

King's son-in-law Allison Burnett says the filmmaker died Friday morning at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., after a six-year battle with cancer.

Born Zalman King Lefkovitz in 1941, King began his career as an actor in the 1960s. He and wife, Patricia Louisianna Knop, collaborated on the screenplay for "9 1/2 Weeks," which became a cult hit starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke.

King's other credits include "Wild Orchid" and "Two Moon Junction," which he wrote and directed.

He is survived by his wife and daughters Chloe King and Gillian Lefkovitz.

Watch the famous food scene from "9 1/2 Weeks":

Comments

[traceymarie]

03:43 PM on 02/07/2012

Zalmon kings "red shoe diary's" was a fantastic weekly program, very sexy.

[aurora97]

07:57 AM on 02/07/2012

Ah, Mickey Rourke in this movie looked amazing. He was really handsome. I liked this movie.

[Waltereg0]

06:59 AM on 02/06/2012

Most people just know 9 1/2 weeks and the red shoe diaries, but "Two Moon Junction" was the best of them all. Sherilyn Fenn was beyond gorgeous and the scenes/story went way past the tease of 9 1/2 weeks, hot stuff. Made quite the imprint on my adolescence.

[rabit818]

07:56 AM on 02/06/2012

I hate it when HP labels him as "erotic" film maker on the headline just to make you read. A simple "film maker" is fine.

[WSS61]

01:45 AM on 02/06/2012

Not too many people remember a TV series titled "The Young Lawyers," 1970-71, which starred Zalman as (per wikipedia) Aaron Silverman as part of a group of young, idealistic students at a top Boston law school who open a legal aid center, the "Neighborhood Law Office," to help the poor. As these young students have not yet been admitted to the bar, they receive guidance from established Boston lawyer David Barrett.
Cast:
Lee J. Cobb as David Barrett
Zalman King as Aaron Silverman
Judy Pace as Pat Walters
Phillip Clark as Chris Blake

It was a powerful series but the subject matter was too controversial for the times.

[jamsie]

04:08 AM on 02/06/2012

I remember it - barely. It was considered almost as scandalous as "Peyton Place" by some people and I think both ended up on that list of condemned movies/TV shows the Catholic church was so fond of publishing. To this day I still can't figure out what the big deal was with both of those shows.

I'd love to see "TYL" again just for the heck of it. Going to look into if it's available on tape or DVD.

[robiform]

11:03 AM on 02/06/2012

I remember "The Young Lawyers"--at the time it aired, there were quite a few television dramas featuring young lawyers, doctors, etc. What I remember about the show is Zalman King--he wasn't exactly the stereotypical handsome young actor and he was Method Acting to the nth degree!

I did see many of his movies and television shows that he made as a director--very controversial for their time! Now, I think they would be somewhat mainstream!

[SukiTheCat]

11:12 PM on 02/05/2012

I remember when I was a kid and would hide and watch "Red Shoe Diaries" on Showtime. RIP

[lizr]

09:48 PM on 02/05/2012

I hate it when people I knew start dying.. and then I remember how old we all are.

[Linda Sinclair]

09:13 PM on 02/05/2012

Rest In Peace...My condolences to his family, and friends, for your loss.

[zjin]

08:38 PM on 02/05/2012

Leave it to an American director to make stuffing one's face with a lot of different foods an erotic journey. At least it was mostly fruits and veggies. No wonder the US has skyrocketing obesity. I wonder if the film clip went on to show the actress sticking her finger in her mouth seductively to gag herself and barf up the binge.

[yellowdoggie]

10:27 AM on 02/07/2012

I'm just guessing, but I think not.

[Mochilero]

08:35 PM on 02/05/2012

Face it. The majority of porn is mechanistic and boring, and anything but erotic. King's movies, Red Shoe Diaries and Body Language were all about romance, fantasy, yearning and build-up. He used real women with real bodies. In terms of sexiness, he left most of the competition in the dust. And i'm a guy.

[Pilatunes]

10:37 PM on 02/05/2012

'Red Shoe Diaries' featured one of the most spectacular behinds in the history of moviedom. Just saying...

[Susan Keeling Blakeman]

07:42 PM on 02/05/2012

9 1/2 Weeks has one of the sexiest scenes ever.

[GeeBee]

12:04 AM on 02/06/2012

To each his own. I would put that movie in my top ten worst movies of all time.

[jeffhintx]

07:40 PM on 02/05/2012

Had a blast at his house on Rose and Walgrove and appreciated his visual cues.

[T Pol]

07:16 PM on 02/05/2012

May he RIP. I remember early in his career, he played a very creepy, stalker kind of guy...and he did it VERY well!

91/2 weeks didn't do much for me, but then, I don't respond well to movies about self-destructive, obsessed people, so as the subject matter goes, it was well done...yes, particularly the food scene.

Anyway, 70 is way to young to die in my book, and I'm sorry to hear it was a long-term cancer battle. My sympathies to his family.

[msanonymous222]

07:11 PM on 02/05/2012

Awww. Loved him in "The Young Lawyers" (with Lee J. Cobb) on TV way back when. RIP.

[LLNYRN]

09:00 PM on 02/05/2012

Hell.
I thought I was the ONLY one these days who remember that show.
That one and "THE YOUNG REBELS".

[Sharon F]

09:30 PM on 02/05/2012

I remember him so well from that series. I always wondered why it didn't launch him on a major acting career. Rest in peace.

[Deleuzian Nomad]

07:08 PM on 02/05/2012

RIP

[Qualtrough]

07:07 PM on 02/05/2012

I remember when a girlfriend and I eagerly anticipated watching 9 1/2 weeks after we had rented the video, thinking we would be seeing this fantastic erotic film everyone had talked about. We turned it off after 15 minutes and made our own, it was that bad. RIP nonetheless.