LAS VEGAS–According to his Web site, actor, director, producer Ray Dennis Steckler died here. Jan. 7, a couple of weeks short of his 71st birthday. He was the producer, director and one of the stars of the movie in episode 812 – THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES. MSTies may also remember his bit part as “guy thrown into pool” in the movie in episode 506 – EEGAH!
Born in Reading, Penn., Steckler learned about film photography during a hitch in the Army, and relocated to Los Angeles after he left the service. He worked on the crew of several TV shows (Alfred Hitchcock himself once reportedly fired him from the set of “Alftred Hitchcock Presents”), then got his first cinematography experience on Timothy Carey’s “The World’s Greatest Sinner.” He also served as cinematographer in “Secret File: Hollywood,” Frenzy,” “Goof on the Loose,” “Scream of the Butterfly,” “The Velvet Trap” and “The Erotic Adventures of Pinocchio.” He wrote the screenplay for and acted in 1961’s “Drivers in Hell” (aka “Wild Ones on Wheels”).
Steckler also worked with Arch Hall Sr., directing the movie “Wild Guitar.” Steckler also appeared in the movie, using the stage name Cash Flagg. He was also billed as Cash Flagg in 1963’s TISCTSLABMUZ. Cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and future Oscar winner Vilmos Zsigmond both worked on that film, in one of their first gigs in the business. It also featured Steckler’s wife, Carolyn Brandt. Later came the serial killer saga “The Thrill Killers” “Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters” and the inexplicable “Rat Pfink a Boo-Boo.” (It was supposed to be titled “Rat Pfink AND Boo-Boo” but according to legend someone at the lab “screwed up”). Steckler also did some of the cinematography for “Eegah!”
Some of his films were shown in “Hallucinogenic Hypno-vision,” which essentially meant the ushers (and sometimes Steckler himself) would run up and down the theater aisles wearing monster masks. He also directed the video for Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit.”
Here’s a Stecker anecdote that only MSTies will appreciate: In 1969, just after he had wrapped production on “Super Cool,” Steckler was walking to his car when he encountered Coleman Francis, drunk and lying in the gutter. Steckler felt so bad about Francis’ condition that, even though he had finished work on the movie, he decided on the spot to add some scenes just to give Francis some work and some badly needed cash. Steckler gave Francis some money and told him to report to the studio the next next day. Steckler and his crew were astonished when Francis showed up for work bright-eyed, clean shaven and nicely attired (Francis had used the advance pay to buy a decent second-hand suit and make a trip to the barber), which was a bit of a problem, since Steckler had wanted him to play the part of a disheveled bum.
In the ’70s, Steckler moved to Las Vegas and continued crank out low-budget work, including 1971’s “Blood Shack” (aka “The Chooper”). Steckler began using pseudonyms for his direction (including Wolfgang Schmidt, Sven Christian, Sven Hellstrom, Harry Nixon, Michael J. Rogers, Michel J. Rogers, Cindy Lou Steckler–Steckler denies that he ever used the name Cindy Lou Sutters), especially when he began to dabble in porn. Titles from that era include “The Mad Love Life of a Horny Vampire” and “Sexorcist Devil.” He later opened a video store in Las Vegas, called Mascot Video, selling it in 1995.
He sold videos of his works via the Web, including six volumes of footage of young actresses and dancers in nude auditions. He was very accessible and always cordial with fans, though, like many moviemakers, he was not a big fan of MST3K and reportedly he did not find the MSTing of TISCTSLABMUZ amusing.
He had two daughters with Brandt. In 1985 he married his second wife, Katherine, and they had two daughters. He also had two grandchildren.