David Hamilton-Grant, Britain's self-proclaimed 'King of Sexploitation', was a notorious figure in the sexploitation industry from the late 1960s to the late 1970s. Grant began his career in photography, publishing a self-published photo-book 'Love Variations', which was an early sex education manual.
Using the name 'Terry Gould', Grant directed a film version of 'Love Variations' in 1969, which was a success due to its taboo-breaking use of full-frontal nudity. This allowed Grant to continue his career, and he went on to form 'Oppidan' pictures with sexploitation jack of all trades Ray Selfe.
Grant's productions were known for their threadbare production values, plots Xeroxed from other British sex comedies, and scant running times. He personally shot hardcore scenes for most of his films' overseas release. By the mid-1970s, Grant and Selfe became co-owners of several sex cinemas in London, which showed hardcore films to a membership-only audience.
Both Oppidan productions and the sex cinemas brought in vast amounts of money, but Grant's love of gambling and poor financial decisions led to financial disasters. He produced several films, including 'The Great McGonagall' with Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, but they were unsuccessful.
Grant's career was marked by bad moves, including hiring and firing future Oscar winner Jonathan Demme, and plans to import Deep Throat director Gerard Damiano for a sex drama. When the age of cinema sexploitation passed, Grant shed Selfe and went it alone, forming 'Video World of 2000', a video distributor of exploitation titles.
However, it was Video World of 2000's release of "Nightmares in a Damaged Brain", an ultra-violent US horror film, that caused controversy and led to Grant's arrest on obscenity charges. He was sent to prison for 18 months.
After his release, Grant's life became a chaotic blur of legal charges and police hassles, including arrests for drink-driving, video copyright offences, and assault. Grant eventually disappeared, resurfacing as a delicatessen owner in Cyprus, before being deported to Turkey.
Grant's death in 1991 was in mysterious circumstances, and he remained a fixture of sensationalist UK newspaper articles, each claiming he was involved in more nefarious activities than the last.
