Biography
Someone once asked me to write a book about my experiences. I planned to call it: "Twenty Years in the Porn Business, and I Never Got Laid." Unfortunately, it's a true story!
Charles Davis Smith, a versatile figure in exploitation cinema, was born on June 18, 1930, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After serving in the US Air Force, Smith began his film career in the 1950s working on industrial films. Throughout the 1960s, he took on multiple roles—shooting, editing, directing, writing, and acting—in numerous low-budget softcore sexploitation films.
Following a period in mainstream television, Smith returned to his roots in grindhouse cinema, filming several hardcore pornographic movies around New York City during the 1970s. He is perhaps best remembered as the cinematographer for a series of films by the legendary DIY schlock auteur Doris Wishman, including Bad Girls Go to Hell (1965), Another Day, Another Man (1966), Deadly Weapons (1974), Double Agent 73 (1974), Satan Was a Lady (1975), and A Night to Dismember (1983). Additionally, Smith worked on films with directors such as Victor Milt, Cecil Howard, and Zebedy Colt. Beyond film, he also edited music videos for The Manhattans, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Run-D.M.C. Smith contributed engaging and insightful commentaries on DVD releases of various gritty grindhouse films he had been involved with during his vibrant East Coast underground cinema career. He passed away at the age of 87 on September 21, 2017.
