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David Hess: Prolific Polymath Passes by Steven Middlestein
He was a garrulous, bigger than life character at indie director Rob Nilsson’s cine club screenings, which included films in which he appeared. David Hess—who died last week in Tiburon, Marin County, from a heart attack, age 75 (he looked 65)—was also a prolific songwriter and musician, a music executive and an athlete who played for the US Rugby Team.
He wrote hits for Elvis, worked at Mercury Records and starred in Wes Craven’s first film, the critically reviled but now revered, “The Last House on the Left,” (1972) where he played the leader of the gang which kidnaps, rapes and kills the hippie girls.
“He was a force of nature… You can’t create a David Hess nor can you destroy him. He’s just… there,” noted Nilsson, who featured Hess in his “Go Together” and his latest “The Steppes.”
Although David Hess played in over 30 films, he was often typecast as the psycho, jailbird killer. photo: courtesy D. Hess
"David was very generous soul,” Nilsson said. “A nonjudgmental person living in the cutthroat world of film and music who never initiated a conversation that was vicious—he even brought me back a few times to a less strident point of view.”
“He would come down to the Tenderloin [acting group Nilsson ran] but never rank anybody or judge. If he saw anyone talking beyond their level—and he was quite knowledgeable—he would kid them in a graceful way.”
Born in New York City in 1936 to an opera singer mother, Marjory, the “Mad Hessian,” as his kids called him, grew up in the bosom of Jewish bohemia. At 20, he joined Manhattan’s Tin Pan Alley music scene, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Paul Simon, and soon penned the world-famous "All Shook Up" for Otis Blackwell, which went to number one in 1957 for Elvis Presley.
The poster to Craven's 'Last House on the Left,' which shocked a nation and starred Hess as the crazed killer. photo: courtesy W. Craven
He also composed "Start Movin'" for Sal Mineo, "Rockin' Shoes" for the Ames Brothers, and “Your Hand, Your Heart, Your Love" for Andy Williams, as well as continuing with Elvis in "Come Along" and "Sand Castles". “I loved his song ‘Vagabond’ and used it in three of my films,” Nilsson said.
By1969, Hess's day job was as an executive heading A&R (Artists and Repertoire) at Mercury Records while he continued to make music at night. With classical composer John Corigliano, he wrote the Grammy award-winning rock opera, “The Naked Carmen,” and with Irish actor Malachy McCourt, the album “The Children Toll the Passing of the Day.” By that time, however, he was looking west, ready to make a career change and even join the hippies himself.
He eventually acted in over 30 films but his debut in Craven's classic slasher "Last House on the Left" is remarkable and much remarked upon. Although the film is rough hewn and borderline snuff, on occasion, Hess, who also composed the play-against-type soundtrack, is its best feature. He played the heavy again in Craven’s 1982 "Swamp Thing."
In the interim, Hess moved to Germany for PolyGram doing translation—he was fluent in German, French and Italian, film dubbing and writing, notably penning the English-language scripts for Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Reinhard Hauff, and Peter Schamoni.
Upon his return, he settled in Marin, married Regina Mardek and had four children Steve Morris, and Jesse, Sasha and Sara Hess.
Soon, he was directing his first feature, "To All A Good Night," the 1980 horror about some teens being stalked by a psycho in a Santa Claus costume. He also continued acting low-budg horror like, “The House on the Edge of the Park” (1979) and "Body Count" (1985).
Hess, circa 1980, directing his first horror feature, "To All A Good Night," about some teens stalked by a psycho Santa. photo: courtesy D. Hess
Despite his typecasting, he used to hang with John Casavettes in LA and he continued to pursue more pleasant or high art projects: scoring the award-winning score "Buck at the Edge of the Heaven," 1991, a children's film based on Jack London stories, collaborating with Peter Schamoni on “Max Ernst—My Wanderings, My Unrest” and producing, with Niki de Saint Phalle, “Who is the Monster, You or Me?” in 1996.
David's more recent musical achievements include two CDs, "Caught Up In The Moment," and "Live & Unplugged in Hollywood," and six songs for Lion's Gate’s horror feature "Cabin Fever," 2002. Filmically, he was in Lee Demarbre's comedic horror “Smash Cut,” 2009, also starring adult film star Sasha Grey, and he will soon appear in “The Beautiful Outsiders,” by writer/director Andrew Jones, about some Bonnie and Clyde-like lovers on the run.
“[Hess’s] passions led him to lead a passionate life,” continued Nilsson. “There is weariness and fault in that. But ‘Attack, defend and forgive’ [was his motto].”
“When you live a passionate and active sexual life, people are bound to get hurt but we are all trying to live as deeply as we can. He was generous and forgiving, still in close touch with his ex, loved by his kids, living simply in a little condo in Corte Madera.”
Hess with baby-faced adult film marathoner Sasha Grey with whom he starred in “Smash Cut”, 2009. photo: courtesy D. Hess
“His finest roll, I feel, was in [my new film] ‘The Steppes,’“ Nillson said. “People are saying, ‘Where did you find this guy?’ There was a new element emerging. My workshops were part of helping him let go of the horror films and get into the nuances of more personal acting. I wanted him to be in my [upcoming] de Kooning picture since he had finally relaxed into a treasure trove of sensibilities.”
“It is a particular tragedy he had to go at this point, there were so many things he still had do with his life.” Indeed, there were. Hess recently joined the California Film Institute where he was a big hit with the teens teaching acting and improv. He even appeared at the Mill Valley Film Festival’s Opening Night on October 6th.