Dan Sonney: Difference between revisions
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== Obituary == | == Obituary == | ||
Sonney, Dan L. <ref group="Source">https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/dan-sonney-obituary?id=28155238</ref> | Sonney, Dan L. <ref group="Source">https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/dan-sonney-obituary?id=28155238</ref> | ||
Pioneer exploitation film producer, distributor and exhibitor, died at his Canoga Park home March 3 of heart failure, following a short illness. He was 87. Sonney was president of Sonney Amusements, Inc., a firm founded by his father, Louis Sonney, in 1922. The elder Sonney, previously a police officer in Centralia, Washington, became nationally known the previous year when he captured Roy Gardner, one of the most wanted criminals in the nation. Vaudeville magnate Alexander Pantages signed Louis to do personal appearances on the stages of his Pantages theatres. Sonney's "Crime Does Not Pay" presentation combined film with a live lecture. He toured the country with great success. In 1931, at the age of 16, Dan, the youngest of Louis' four children, began accompanying his father on the roadshow routes. Father and son later began buying "states rights" to exhibit such classic exploitation films as "Marijuana", "Wages of Sin", "Gambling with Souls", and "The March of Crime". In the early 1930s. the Sonneys started work on a motion picture complex on Cordova Street in Los Angeles, the heart of the city's old "Film Row". Their property housed several independent film distribution offices, shipping rooms, rental film vaults, and a small sound stage. After Louis' death in 1949, Dan assumed leadership of the prosperous company. Sonney financed or produced dozens of low-budget "Torn from the Headlines" features during the ensuing decade. He also owned and operated five theatres in downtown Los Angeles. In 1962, Sonney bought distribution rights for the western states to a little horror movie titled "Blood Feast" from producer David F. Friedman. This began a long association between the two men. Sonney brought Friedman from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1964. For the next 25 years, they produced and distributed some 50 feature films. They are the subjects of "Mau Mau Sex Sex", a film documentary currently in release in theatres and on video that chronicles their careers. In 1968, Sonney took over an abandoned theatre on Hill Street with the intention of showing what was then labeled "adult movies". He named the theatre "Pussycat", which became a cognomen that became generic in the field. Sonney is survived by his wife Margaret and four daughters, Rosa Lee, Judy, Kathy Hodel, and Vivian Kolhof. The Sonneys had been married 65 years. | Pioneer exploitation film producer, distributor and exhibitor, died at his Canoga Park home March 3 of heart failure, following a short illness. He was 87. Sonney was president of Sonney Amusements, Inc., a firm founded by his father, Louis Sonney, in 1922. The elder Sonney, previously a police officer in Centralia, Washington, became nationally known the previous year when he captured Roy Gardner, one of the most wanted criminals in the nation. [[Vaudeville]] magnate Alexander Pantages signed Louis to do personal appearances on the stages of his Pantages theatres. Sonney's "Crime Does Not Pay" presentation combined film with a live lecture. He toured the country with great success. In 1931, at the age of 16, Dan, the youngest of Louis' four children, began accompanying his father on the roadshow routes. Father and son later began buying "states rights" to exhibit such classic exploitation films as "Marijuana", "Wages of Sin", "Gambling with Souls", and "The March of Crime". In the early 1930s. the Sonneys started work on a motion picture complex on Cordova Street in Los Angeles, the heart of the city's old "Film Row". Their property housed several independent film distribution offices, shipping rooms, rental film vaults, and a small sound stage. After Louis' death in 1949, Dan assumed leadership of the prosperous company. Sonney financed or produced dozens of low-budget "Torn from the Headlines" features during the ensuing decade. He also owned and operated five theatres in downtown Los Angeles. In 1962, Sonney bought distribution rights for the western states to a little horror movie titled "Blood Feast" from producer David F. Friedman. This began a long association between the two men. Sonney brought Friedman from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1964. For the next 25 years, they produced and distributed some 50 feature films. They are the subjects of "Mau Mau Sex Sex", a film documentary currently in release in theatres and on video that chronicles their careers. In 1968, Sonney took over an abandoned theatre on Hill Street with the intention of showing what was then labeled "adult movies". He named the theatre "Pussycat", which became a cognomen that became generic in the field. Sonney is survived by his wife Margaret and four daughters, Rosa Lee, Judy, Kathy Hodel, and Vivian Kolhof. The Sonneys had been married 65 years. | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
*[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0814427 IMDb profile] | *[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0814427 IMDb profile] | ||
Revision as of 23:27, 1 October 2022
Dan Sonney (✦23 January 1915-†3 March 2002) was a director, producer and distributor of exploitation films. He was the son of Louis Sonney, who founded Sonney Amusements, the husband of Margaret Sonney, and a long-term business partner of David F. Friedman.
In 2001 he co-starred in the documentary Mau Mau Sex Sexalong with Friedman.
Obituary
Sonney, Dan L. [Source 1] Pioneer exploitation film producer, distributor and exhibitor, died at his Canoga Park home March 3 of heart failure, following a short illness. He was 87. Sonney was president of Sonney Amusements, Inc., a firm founded by his father, Louis Sonney, in 1922. The elder Sonney, previously a police officer in Centralia, Washington, became nationally known the previous year when he captured Roy Gardner, one of the most wanted criminals in the nation. Vaudeville magnate Alexander Pantages signed Louis to do personal appearances on the stages of his Pantages theatres. Sonney's "Crime Does Not Pay" presentation combined film with a live lecture. He toured the country with great success. In 1931, at the age of 16, Dan, the youngest of Louis' four children, began accompanying his father on the roadshow routes. Father and son later began buying "states rights" to exhibit such classic exploitation films as "Marijuana", "Wages of Sin", "Gambling with Souls", and "The March of Crime". In the early 1930s. the Sonneys started work on a motion picture complex on Cordova Street in Los Angeles, the heart of the city's old "Film Row". Their property housed several independent film distribution offices, shipping rooms, rental film vaults, and a small sound stage. After Louis' death in 1949, Dan assumed leadership of the prosperous company. Sonney financed or produced dozens of low-budget "Torn from the Headlines" features during the ensuing decade. He also owned and operated five theatres in downtown Los Angeles. In 1962, Sonney bought distribution rights for the western states to a little horror movie titled "Blood Feast" from producer David F. Friedman. This began a long association between the two men. Sonney brought Friedman from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1964. For the next 25 years, they produced and distributed some 50 feature films. They are the subjects of "Mau Mau Sex Sex", a film documentary currently in release in theatres and on video that chronicles their careers. In 1968, Sonney took over an abandoned theatre on Hill Street with the intention of showing what was then labeled "adult movies". He named the theatre "Pussycat", which became a cognomen that became generic in the field. Sonney is survived by his wife Margaret and four daughters, Rosa Lee, Judy, Kathy Hodel, and Vivian Kolhof. The Sonneys had been married 65 years.
External links
Sources
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