 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(January 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Irving Klaw | |
|---|---|
 Teaserama film poster | |
| Born | (1910-11-09)November 9, 1910 New York City, US |
| Died | September 3, 1966(1966-09-03) (aged 55) |
| Occupation | Erotic photographer |
| Years active | 1938–1964 |
| Known for | Merchandising fetish art, burlesque photography, and fetish films; patron of illustrative fetish artistsEric Stanton,Gene Bilbrew |
Irving Klaw (November 9, 1910 – September 3, 1966), self-named the "Pin-up King",[1] was an influential American merchant of sexploitation, fetish, and Hollywood glamour pin-up photographs and films. Like his predecessor,Charles Guyette,[2] who was also a merchant of fetish-themed photographs, Klaw was not a photographer,[3] but a merchandiser of fetish art imagery and films.[4] He would commission fetish art (with models likeBettie Page, June King, Joan Rydell, Jackie Miller, et al.) and sponsor illustrative artists (likeEric Stanton,Gene Bilbrew, and many others), and indirectly promote the legacy ofCharles Guyette andJohn Willie.[5] Irving Klaw is a central figure in what fetish art historian Richard Pérez Seves has designated as the "Bizarre Underground," the pre-1970 fetish art years.[6]
Klaw was born on November 9, 1910, inBrooklyn,New York, to a BMT subway conductor, his fatherdied when Irving was in high school. His divorce-combined family included three boys and three girls.[7] Paula Klaw is astep-sister.[7]
Klaw's business, which eventually becameMovie Star News, began in 1938[8] when he and his sister Paula opened a struggling basement level used bookstore at 209 E. 14th St. in Manhattan.[9]
After he discovered teenagers were frequently tearing out photos from his movie magazines,[7] he switched to selling movie star stills and lobby photo cards which sold so well he stopped selling books and moved the store from the basement to the street-level storefront. Business thrived, and the self-named "Pin-Up King" moved to 212 E. 14th St., asIrving Klaw's Pin-Up Photo,[7] eventually taking the nameMovie Star News. Klaw also had a brisk international mail-order business selling cheesecake photos and Hollywood glamour pin-ups.[7]
In 1948, a collector/enthusiast known as Little John "inspired/sponsored Klaw's full-blown entry into the fetish art business."[10] Irving Klaw was also influenced by magazine publisherRobert Harrison.[11] Early Klaw fetish models included Harrison models Barbara Leslie, Vicky Hayes, Joan "Eve" Rydell, Lili Dawn, Shirley "Cici" Maitland, Kevin Daley, Roz Greenwood, and Bettie Page.[12]
Inspired by John Willie,[13] Klaw also commissioned and distributed illustrated adventure/bondage chapter serials byfetish artists Eric Stanton, Gene Bilbrew, Adolfo Ruiz, and others.
Irving Klaw had this loft and he was acquainted with an awful lot of strippers... His mode of operation was that he would take these separate segments, one with me, and one with Betty (Bettie) Page, and all these other girls, then he would splice these together until he had enough time, fifty minutes or whatever, and make what he would call a full picture...a bunch of segments of ten or twelve different girls doing their various acts... He'd piece them together in several different movies
After the surprise success of the B-movieStriporama, a 1953burlesque revue with famous striptease artists and model Bettie Page, Klaw quickly duplicated the formula and directed his own burlesque features. Using a professional camera crew and richly saturated Eastman color filmstock,Varietease (1954) andTeaserama (1955) featuredLili St. Cyr,Tempest Storm, and Bettie Page (and were released on DVD in the U.S. in 2000). He produced and directed a third film in 1956,Buxom Beautease, without Page.
Also during this period, Klaw set up weekend home-movie sessions where he produced scores of silent 8 mm and 16 mm black-and-white film loops. These featured striptease acts and an assortment of fetishistic subjects based on special requests from his clientele. Titles such asRiding the Human Pony Girl,Bondage in Leather Harness, andBooted Amazon Fights Again depicted women in skimpy lingerie and high heels engaging in elaborate bondage, cat-fights, spanking, and slave training. Nearly all of these featurettes were shot on a single, sparsely decorated set, either in the studio above Movie Star News or at a nearby loft space. At least two films with Bettie Page (Rumble Seat Bondage andJungle Girl Tied to Trees) were shot outdoors at secluded locations.
Still photos taken during the sessions were also sold at the store and in the bi-annual mail-order catalogCartoon and Model Parade.[14]
In 1956,Abe McGregor Goff, general counsel of thePost Office Department, denied Klaw use of the U.S. mails, insisting he was "one of the nation’s largest dealers in pornographic material".[7]
In 1956, Klaw's sister, Mrs. Fanny Cronin, was arrested for operating a $2 million New Jersey "pornographic films and photos mill".[7]
TheKefauver Hearings of theSenate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in 1957 marked the beginning of the end of Irving Klaw's mail-order fetish art business in New York. The investigation tried to link pornography to juvenile delinquency. TheMcCarthy-style hearings branded Klaw as a degenerate pornographer and ushered in a new wave of media censorship. Bettie Page was also summoned to the hearings but was never called to testify (parts of the hearings are recreated in the filmThe Notorious Bettie Page). She retired from modeling soon afterwards.Because of the political, social and legal pressures he faced, Klaw closed his storefront business and burned many of his negatives. It is estimated that more than 80% of the negatives were destroyed. However, his sister Paula secretly kept some of the better images, which can be seen today.[15][16]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(January 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
After the Senate hearings and the ensuing legal difficulties with state authorities, Klaw was barred from continuing his business in New York. Shortly thereafter he moved his Nutrix Publishing Company, along with the associated Satellite Publications (Stanley Malkin & Pat Martini), to an office building in Jersey City, New Jersey. Both companies sold similar fetish-oriented photos and magazines.
To further avoid prosecution, Klaw's Nutrix publishing imprint was restricted to a mail-order-only business. For several years he published a number of small illustrated bondage/fetish photo-booklets. Titles such asGirl Psycho Handled with Restraint (1960), which includes old photos of Bettie Page,Girls Punishment at School of Discipline (1962),Tortured Models in the Wax Exhibit (1962), andPaddled Severely During Sorority Initiation (1963) are typical examples. Eventually he sold this business to Ed Mishkin, who changed the company name from Nutrix to Mutrix, adding the first initial of his last name.
Klaw relocated toFlorida where he briefly returned to filmmaking in 1963, producing two films:Larry Wolk'sIntimate Diary of an Artist's Model andNature's Sweethearts, co-directing the latter. Photographer Bunny Yeager worked closely with him during this period. She had multiple duties on these films, including casting, writing dialog, etc. Unlike his previous movies, both pictures were exploitation "nudie cuties" that featured a number of topless women. Irving continued to photograph bondage in Miami as well, with models like Maria Stinger.
In 1963, Robert F. Kennedy led the campaign to convict Klaw and his brother-in-law, Jack Kramer, of conspiracy to send pornographic materials through the U.S. mail.[7]
Irving Klaw died on September 3, 1966 from complications of untreatedappendicitis. He was survived by two sons, Arthur and Jeffrey. His nephew Ira Kramer, son of Paula and Jack Kramer, took over the family business, Movie Star News, which was located on 18th Street but closed in 2012, and relocated toLas Vegas,Nevada.
Klaw was portrayed byDukey Flyswatter in the 2004 biographical filmBettie Page: Dark Angel and byChris Bauer in the 2005 filmThe Notorious Bettie Page.
Due to the revival of interest in Bettie Page that began in the 1980s, various compilations of Klaw's films have been released on video and DVD. Background music and narration were added to the silent fetish loops for the two-volume videoIrving Klaw Bondage Classics (1984) by London Enterprises.
In 2005, Cult Epics released both volumes on one DVD under the titleBettie Page: Bondage Queen. Also in 2005, Cult Epics put outBettie Page: Pin Up Queen, a DVD compilation of her burlesque performances fromStriporama,Varietease andTeaserama, plus six black-and-white film loops of dancing and a cat-fight.
More of Klaw's bondage film reels, including one with Bettie Page, are in DVD format inBizarro Sex Loops (Volumes 4 and 20). These are compilations of vintage fetish films released bySomething Weird Video (2008).
In 2012 Klaw was inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame.[17]
Sin, Sex & Subversion: How What Was Taboo in 1950s New York Became America's New Normal, (Carrel Books, February 2016) ISBN-13: 978-1631440441, ISBN-10: 1631440446
Due to his rising profile, Klaw was targeted by the Kefauver Hearings of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, and preemptively destroyed more than 80% of his pin-up negatives and photos to prevent further prosecution by pro-censorship elements in the government. While his sister Paula cannily hid away some of the originals, the negatives offered here in large part represent Klaw's subsequent effort to recreate the lost material from surviving sources.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
