| Anthony Spinelli | |
| Birth Name: | Sam Weinstein |
| Birth Date: | 21 February 1927 |
| Birth Place: | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Death Place: | Los Angeles, California |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Film director |
| Relatives: | Jack Weston (brother) |
| Known For: | Nothing to Hide (1981) Dixie Ray, Hollywood Star (1982) |
Anthony Spinelli (February 21, 1927 – May 29, 2000) was an American mainstream actor and producer, who later became a pornographic film director.[1]
Spinelli was born Sam Weinstein, to a Jewish family.[2] He is the brother of actor Jack Weston and the father of porn director Mitchell Spinelli.[3]
Under his original stage name, Sam Weston, he produced the mainstream films Gun Fever (1958) and One Potato, Two Potato (1964).[4] [5] As an actor, he appeared on several TV shows in the 1960s, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Green Acres, and That Girl. After those films, he was unable to find further work in mainstream entertainment, and became an encyclopedia salesman to support his family.[4] After seeing a pornographic film in an adult theater, he decided to try his hand in the genre, starting with Diary of a Nymph (1971).[4]
Spinelli produced and directed scores of pornographic films, occasionally also appearing in non-sex roles, usually uncredited. From the mid-1980s, most of his work was direct to video.[6] David Jennings, a cinematographer and director who worked with Spinelli during this phase of his career, describes him as a "master" and an "actor's director":[7]
Jennings says Spinelli focused on the "meticulous direction" of dialogue scenes, sometimes leaving sex scenes to be completed by his assistants.[7] Nothing to Hide is one of Spinelli's most highly regarded X-rated films, ranking number two in a 2001 list of all-time greatest adult movies published by AVN (Adult Video News).[8]
Selected credits only.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Taxi Driver | Season 1 Episode 13: "Bonfire" | |
| 1964 | The Patsy | Man on Phone | Uncredited | |
| 1964 | One Potato, Two Potato | Johnny Hruska | Producer | |
| 1971 | Sexual Therapist | Doctor | Voice, uncredited | |
| 1971 | Journal of Love | Dr. Mariner | Voice, uncredited | |
| 1972 | Diary of a Bed | The Bed | Voice, uncredited | |
| 1974 | Youthful Sexual Madness | Narrator | Voice, uncredited | |
| 1976 | Night Caller | Policeman at Door | Voice, uncredited | |
| 1977 | Sex World | Director | ||
| 1978 | Easy | Man in Bar | Director | |
| 1979 | China Sisters | Man on Tape Recorder | Voice, uncredited | |
| 1980 | Talk Dirty to Me | Herbie | Director | |
| 1980 | Skin on Skin | J.J.'s Father | Director | |
| 1981 | Vista Valley PTA | Friend in the Bar | Director | |
| 1981 | Exposed | Max Green | ||
| 1981 | Nothing to Hide | Herbie | Director | |
| 1981 | Between the Sheets | Bed | Voice; director | |
| 1983 | Dixie Ray: Hollywood Star | Hotel Clerk | Uncredited; director | |
| 1990 | Sizzle | Director |