{"id":1593,"date":"2012-02-24T12:09:05","date_gmt":"2012-02-24T18:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=1593"},"modified":"2012-02-24T12:09:05","modified_gmt":"2012-02-24T18:09:05","slug":"r-i-p-zalman-king-king-of-softcore-cinema","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=1593","title":{"rendered":"R.I.P. Zalman King, King Of Softcore Cinema"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Hollywood Reporter has news of the death of Zalman King, the actor turned director and producer behind such mainstream softcore staples as Two Moon Junction, Wild Orchid, Red Shoe Diaries, and 9 1\/2 Weeks. King died of cancer at the erotically appropriate age of 69. (Also oddly appropriate: His death was first reported by his friend, Charlie Sheen.)<\/p>\n

King started his career as an actor, turning up in small parts on television shows such as Adam-12, The Munsters, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Gunsmoke, Charlie\u2019s Angels, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (in the memorable \u201cMemo From Purgatory\u201d episode written by Harlan Ellison and co-starring James Caan and Star Trek\u2019s Walter Koenig). He also landed a starring role on ABC\u2019s short-lived The Young Lawyers\u2014alongside guests such as Barbra Streisand, Martin Sheen, Gary Busey, and Richard Pryor\u2014playing an idealistic law student who tries to aid the impoverished in Boston under the supervision of Lee J. Cobb.