AUTHOR & CREW BIOS
Austin Williams holds a degree in film and critical writing from
the University of Southern California. He is the co-author (with Erik Quisling) of Straight Whisky: A Living History of Sex, Drugs,
and Rock ’n’ Roll on the Sunset Strip (Bonus Books, 2003).
CRIMSON ORGY is Austin’s first novel. He lives in Los Angeles and
is preparing his next novel, HARPOON CITY, for publication in 2010.
THE CRIMSON CREW
Sheldon Meyer enjoyed a prolific career writing and directing dozens of Z-grade
exploitation movies starting in the late ’50s. CRIMSON ORGY was his only foray
into the horror genre. The fact that Meyer chose the fifteenth anniversary of
CRIMSON ORGY’s wrap day to blow his brains out with a shotgun has led many
scholars to believe he carried a burden of guilt based on what the making of that
film did to everyone involved.
Gene Hoffman, a bona fide legend on the Miami exploitation scene, worked as Shel
Meyer’s producing partner since co-founding Stupendous Pictures with him in 1958.
Despite the tragic events surrounding CRIMSON ORGY, Hoffman was adamant about
seeing a return on his investment. It’s widely believed he pressured Meyer to complete
the film, resulting in a bitter falling out between the two men. Hoffman later moved to
Los Angeles, where he produced a string of lucrative soft-core porn movies before dying
of a massive coronary in 1973.
Barbara Cheston had no previous acting experience when she was approached to play
the female lead in CRIMSON ORGY. Her co-star Vance Cogburn met Gene Hoffman while
tending bar at Augie’s in Coral Gables, and agreed to tackle the movie’s leading male role.
Neither of these two appealing amateurs ever appeared in another motion picture.
Jerry Cooke was a familiar presence in many Stupendous productions. Aside from his chilling performance as the crazed killer in CRIMSON ORGY, he is best remembered for doing
yeoman’s work on the South Florida dinner theater circuit during the late ’50s and early ’60s.
