Paul Glickler, Writer and Director of ‘The Cheerleaders,’ Dies at 81

Paul Glickler, who directed, co-wrote, produced and edited the sex-filled 1973 independent film. the cheerleaders, has died. She was 81 years old.

Glickler died Sept. 19 of a heart attack at his Topanga home in Los Angeles, his sister, Louise GS Plaschkes, said. the hollywood reporter.

the cheerleaders stars Stephanie Fondue, Denise Dillaway and Jovita Bush in a playful film about Amorosa High School cheerleaders who have sex with the opposing team’s football players the night before a big game to take away their strength.

The R-rated movie (the filmmakers wanted an X-rating) was made for $120,000, saw a great return on its investment, got its name checked in a John Grisham novel, and spawned quick features including The swinging cheerleaders (1974), directed by Jack Hill, and Revenge of the cheerleaders (1976), directed by Richard Lerner, co-writer and producer of Glickler’s film.

Glickler described the cheerleaders as “suburban nonsense” and noted that his minor sexual antics initially offended his distributor, Cinemation. He said that he had to threaten to sue the company to recover the money he was owed.

Born in Philadelphia on February 13, 1941, and raised in the suburbs, Glickler graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1958 and Princeton University in 1962.

She moved to New York and worked in theater before becoming an assistant to producer Arnold Michaelis, accompanying him on the filming of interviews with Prime Ministers Mohammed Ayub Khan of Pakistan and Jawaharlal Nehru of India.

He worked as a production manager at Gauguin in Tahiti: the search for paradisea 1967 CBS documentary narrated by Michael Redgrave about the travels of painter Paul Gauguin.

With his then-wife, Cabell Smith, Glickler drove across the US for a documentary on Native American tribes, but the project was never completed. He then moved to California and co-directed and co-wrote the X-rated film with Lerner. hot circuit (1971).

Glickler subsequently directed and co-wrote running scared (1980), starring Ken Wahl and Judge Reinhold, and was a consultant to Wendy Apple on her 2004 documentary, The Vanguard: The Magic of Film Editing.