Dwain Esper
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Dwain Esper | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 7, 1894 Snohomish, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | October 18, 1982 (aged 88) San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, producer |
| Spouse |
Hildagarde Stadie (m. 1920) |
| Children | 2 |
Dwain Atkins Esper (October 7, 1894 – October 18, 1982) was an American director and producer of exploitation films.
Dwain Esper was born in Snohomish, Washington. He was a veteran of World War I.
Career
Esper worked as a building contractor before switching to the film business in the mid-1920s. He produced and directed inexpensive pictures including Sex Maniac, Marihuana, and How to Undress in Front of Your Husband. To enhance the appeal of these low-budget features, he included scenes containing gratuitous nudity and violence that led some to label him the "father of modern exploitation."[1]
Esper's wife, Hildagarde Stadie, wrote many of the scripts for his films.[2] They employed extravagant promotional techniques that included exhibiting the mummified body of notorious Oklahoma outlaw Elmer McCurdy before it was acquired by Dan Sonney.[3]
Maniac (1934)
Maniac, also known as Sex Maniac, an exploitation/horror film directed by Esper, is a loose adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe story "The Black Cat" and follows a vaudeville impersonator who becomes an assistant to a mad scientist.
Personal life
Esper's wife was Hildagarde Stadie, born 14 July 1895, Chicago, Illinois, died: 21 July 1993, Bullhead City, Arizona, also known as: Mollie Hildagarde, Hildagarde Stadie, Hildagarde Stadie Jackson, and Hildagarde Stadie Esper.[4]
Esper died in San Diego, California at the age of 88.[5] He and Hildagarde had two children.
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