We've lost one of the grindhouse / drive-in era's most popular icons, as the sad word has come out that actress Dyanne Thorne passed away on January 28th.
Born in Greenwich, Connecticut in either 1936 or 1943 (there seems to be some disagreement over the year), Thorne started her screen acting career in the early 1960s, and by the end of the decade even appeared on an episode of Star Trek. By the mid-'70s she was working as a chauffeur, but then came her greatest success, when she was cast as the title character in director Don Edmonds' Nazispoitation hit ILSA: SHE WOLF OF THE SS. Inspired by horrific true stories, ILSA was about
a sexy but evil Nazi Commandante who gleefully performs sadistic experiments on (mostly female) prisoners and has a nasty penchant for castrating potential lovers who fail to satisfy her.
Even if you haven't seen ILSA: SHE WOLF OF THE SS, chances are you're familiar with the title. The film did so well at grindhouses and drive-ins that it spawned two official sequels, 1976's ILSA, HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHEIKS and 1977's ILSA THE TIGRESS OF SIBERIA. Thorne also worked with the legendary Jess Franco on an Ilsa knock-off called WANDA, THE WICKED WARDEN, a.k.a. GRETA THE MAD BUTCHER, a.k.a. ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN, a.k.a. ILSA – THE MAD BUTCHER. Those knock-offs sure could rake up the alternative titles.
Thorne's other genre credits include 1972's BLOOD SABBATH and 1985's HELLHOLE. After 1987, she was absent from the screen for more than twenty-five years, but then did a few more films in the last decade, including HOUSE OF FORBIDDEN SECRETS and HOUSE OF THE WITCHDOCTOR.
Thorne married musician/actor Howard Maurer in the mid-'70s, and they remained together until her death last month. The pair produced Las Vegas showroom productions and were also ordained ministers who provided "scenic outdoor weddings as an alternative to a traditional wedding chapel".
I have attended conventions where Thorne was a guest, and have seen firsthand that the Ilsa films remain very popular to this day. Thorne was an icon of the '70s, it's sad to see her go and it's sad that we've lost another connection to that era.
Our condolences go out to Thorne's family, friends, and fans.
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