Perry Pirkkanen is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
actor. He is best known for starring in the 1980
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
cannibal film ''
Cannibal Holocaust''. In the movie he is erroneously credited as 'Perry Pirkanen'. Pirkkanen, then a student at
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
's
Actors Studio, was hired by director
Ruggero Deodato
Ruggero Deodato (born 7 May 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and sometime actor.
His career has spanned a wide-range of genres including peplum, comedy, drama, poliziottesco and science fiction, yet he is perhaps best known f ...
who was looking for unknown actors to play the film's four protagonists. In the film, he was in an infamous scene where he butchered a large turtle. He is even seen holding the turtle's head next to his mouth. However, after filming the scene, he cried and had an emotional breakdown off camera.
So realistic was the film that shortly after it was released, its director
Ruggero Deodato
Ruggero Deodato (born 7 May 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and sometime actor.
His career has spanned a wide-range of genres including peplum, comedy, drama, poliziottesco and science fiction, yet he is perhaps best known f ...
was indicted for the actors' murder. In the film, he was seen getting his penis cut off, getting decapitated, and his body being eaten by the natives next to his head. The actors had signed contracts to stay out of the media for a year in order to fuel rumours that the film was a
snuff movie
A snuff film, or snuff movie, or snuff video, is a type of film that shows, or purports to show, scenes of actual homicide. The concept of snuff films became known to the general public during the 1970s, when an urban legend alleged that a clan ...
. The court was only convinced that they were alive when the contracts were cancelled and the actors appeared on a television show as proof.
Ruggero Deodato
Ruggero Deodato (born 7 May 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and sometime actor.
His career has spanned a wide-range of genres including peplum, comedy, drama, poliziottesco and science fiction, yet he is perhaps best known f ...
(interview), ''In the Jungle: The Making of Cannibal Holocaust'', Alan Young Pictures, Italy, 2003.Ruggero Deodato
Ruggero Deodato (born 7 May 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and sometime actor.
His career has spanned a wide-range of genres including peplum, comedy, drama, poliziottesco and science fiction, yet he is perhaps best known f ...
, interview with Sage Stallone and Bob Murawski, ''Cult-Con 2000'', Cannibal Holocaust DVD Commentary, Tarrytown, New York, 2000.
He has also starred in
Perfect Crime
Perfect crimes are crimes that are undetected, unattributed to an identifiable perpetrator, or otherwise unsolved or unsolvable as a kind of technical achievement on the part of the perpetrator. The term is used colloquially in law and fiction (es ...
as the original inspector Ascher.
He has moved away from public life and does not want to be in tv or movies since then, and very little to none is known about his personal life or what happened to him after the movies he starred in.
Filmography
*''
Cannibal Holocaust'' (1980) - Jack Anders
*''
City of the Living Dead
''City of the Living Dead'' ( it, Paura nella città dei morti viventi, lit=Fear in the city of the living dead, also released as ''The Gates of Hell'') is a 1980 Italian supernatural horror film co-written and directed by Lucio Fulci. It stars ...
'' (1980) - The Blonde Gravedigger
*''
Cannibal Ferox
''Cannibal Ferox'', also known as ''Make Them Die Slowly'' in the US and as ''Woman from Deep River'' in Australia, is a 1981 Italian cannibal exploitation horror film written and directed by Umberto Lenzi. Upon its release, the film's US dist ...
'' (1981) - Paul
*''
Cruel Jaws
''Cruel Jaws'', also known as ''The Beast'', is a 1995 direct-to-video Italian horror thriller film shot in Florida including the Theater of the Sea. The film stars Richard Dew and David Luther and was directed by Bruno Mattei (under the name o ...
'' (1995) - (Unconfirmed) (Uncredited)
See also
*
Carl Gabriel Yorke
Carl Gabriel Yorke (born November 23, 1952) is an American actor.
He was one of four actors who the Italian police believed had been murdered in the making of the 1980 horror film, '' Cannibal Holocaust''.Ruggero Deodato (interview), ''In the Ju ...
*
Francesca Ciardi
Francesca Ciardi (born 26 July 1954) is an Italian film actress.
She was one of four actors whom the Italian police believed had been murdered in the making of the 1980 horror film '' Cannibal Holocaust''. The film was considered so realistic, th ...
*
Luca Barbareschi
Luca Barbareschi (born 28 July 1956 in Montevideo) is an Italian-Uruguayan actor, television presenter, and former member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies. Barbareschi is Jewish.
He was one of four actors whom the Italian police believed ha ...
References
External links
*
American people of Finnish descent
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
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