Matt Cimber

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Matt Cimber (born Thomas Vitale Ottaviano; January 12, 1936)^[1][2][3] is an American producer, director, and writer of film, television, and theatre. He is known for directing diverse genre films The Candy Tangerine Man, The Witch Who Came from the Sea, and Hundra , and the controversial 1982 drama Butterfly. He was the co-creator and director of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW) professional wrestling promotion and syndicated television series.^[4][5] Cimber was the last husband of actress Jayne Mansfield, and directed her on stage and in the 1968 film Single Room Furnished.^{[6][unreliable source?]}

Career[]

Theater[]

Cimber began his career in the early 60s directing off-Broadway plays including works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tennessee Williams and the US premieres of the Jean Cocteau trilogy. During his theater years, Cimber adapted Burning Bright by John Steinbeck which introduced Sandy Dennis who went on to win an Academy Award for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). Cimber then directed the Broadway revival of Bus Stop, where he met his future wife Jayne Mansfield.

Film[]

Matt made his cinematic directorial debut (credited on-screen as Matteo Ottaviano)^[1][7] with the offbeat drama Single Room Furnished (1966), which was also Mansfield's last finished film before her death in 1967. Cimber proceeded to direct a string of sexploitation films under the pseudonyms Gary Harper and Rinehart Segway, including Man and Wife (1969), Sex and Astrology (1971), and The Sexually Liberated Female (1970), which was based on a best-selling book The Sensuous Woman by Joan Garrity.

Cimber helmed three blaxploitation films in the mid-70s; The Black Six (1973), Lady Cocoa (1975) and The Candy Tangerine Man (1975), the latter of which Samuel L. Jackson and Quentin Tarantino have cited as one of their favorite films.^[8][9] In 1976, Cimber made a rare foray into the horror genre with the disturbing psychological shocker The Witch Who Came from the Sea, starring Millie Perkins and Lonny Chapman. His next film was A Time to Die, a World War II thriller based on a novel by Mario Puzo, starring Rex Harrison and Rod Taylor. The film was shot in 1979, but was not released until 1983.

In 1982, Cimber teamed up with actress Pia Zadora for the caper film Fake-Out and the crime drama Butterfly, based on the novel The Butterfly by James M. Cain. The film received overwhelmingly negative critical reception, winning three Golden Raspberry Awards (Worst New Star, Worst Actress, Worst Supporting Actor) with additional seven nominations (Worst Director, Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor, Worst Supporting Actress, Worst Original Song, Worst Musical Score). Despite this, Zadora won the Golden Globe Award for Best Female Newcomer, with accusations that the award had been "bought" by her husband Meshulam Riklis. The following year Cimber collaborated with actress Laurene Landon for the adventure films Hundra and Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold (1984).

Television[]

In 1986, Cimber was one of the key principal co-creators behind the professional wrestling promotion GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, serving as executive producer and director of the promotion syndicated television program. The show lasted for four seasons.

Later career[]

Cimber's recent work has been in the documentary genre. He wrote and directed An American Icon: Coca-Cola, the Early Years (1997) and The History of United Nations (1996). He created and wrote the eight-minute intro for visitors to the United Nations for which he received a special commendation from the UN.

After a twenty years absence in motion picture production, Cimber made a comeback with the independent drama Miriam (2006).

Personal life[]

Cimber married Jayne Mansfield in 1965, they have one son, Antonio ("Tony", b. 1965). They divorced in 1966.

Awards and nominations[]

Cimber was nominated for three Golden Raspberry Awards; Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay for Butterfly (1982).

Filmography[]

References[]

External links[]

• Matt Cimber at IMDb
• Matt Cimber and Kliph Nesteroff – Behind the Scenes of Candy Tangerine Man