Joe D'Amato, born Aristide Massaccesi on December 15, 1936, in Rome, Italy, began his career at the age of 14, working for his father's company A.C.M. and later as a stagehand and stage cameraman on various film sets.
Massaccesi attended grade school from 1953-57 and then worked for his father until 1969. He then joined Mole Richardson, a motion picture company, as an assistant cameraman and later became a director of photography and assistant director for several films until 1974.
In 1972, Massaccesi directed his first film, Stay Away from Trinity... When He Comes to Eldorado, under the pseudonym Dick Spitfire. However, it was a commercial failure. He then directed a western under the name Oskar Faradine and used his assistant's name, Romano Gastaldi, for his next film, Fra' Tazio da Velletri.
Massaccesi used multiple aliases, including Michael Wotruba, to disguise the authorship of some films. He entered the horror genre with Death Smiles on a Murderer (1973) and later directed soft-core, erotic films starring Laura Gemser, such as Emanuelle and Francoise (1975) and Emanuelle in America (1977).
In the 1980s and 1990s, D'Amato directed over 100 hardcore porn sex films for the Italian video market, while continuing to direct and produce other films under his many pseudonyms. One of his notable films during this period was StageFright (1987),which he produced.
D'Amato's other notable films include The Emperor Caligula: 'The Untold Story' (1982),Deep Blood (1989),Ghosthouse (1988),L'alcova (1985),Pomeriggio caldo (1989),and Hitcher in the Dark (1989).
Joe D'Amato passed away on January 23, 1999, at the age of 62, due to a fatal heart attack at his home in Rome. He left behind a legacy as a talented director, scriptwriter, producer, and cinematographer with scores of films and more than a dozen aliases to his credit.
