Profile Text
Birth Name: Hirshel/Herschell B. Goldberg
Date of Birth: June 15, 1926
Place of Birth: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Date of Death: September 26, 2016
Place of Death: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
Herschell Gordon Lewis was an American director, screenwriter, and filmmaker. Credited with creating the “splatter” genre, he was known as “The Godfather of Gore.” He directed the films The Adventures of Lucky Pierre , Living Venus , both of which he co-wrote; Blood Feast (1963), Goldilocks and the Three Bares , Scum of the Earth! , Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964), both of which he also wrote; Monster a Go-Go , which he co-directed; Color Me Blood Red , which he wrote; Jimmy, the Boy Wonder ; A Taste of Blood , The Gruesome Twosome (1967), Something Weird , The Girl, the Body, and the Pill ; Blast-Off Girls , She-Devils on Wheels , both of which he also wrote; Just for the Hell of It , Suburban Roulette , which he co-wrote; The Wizard of Gore , This Stuff’ll Kill Ya! , which he wrote; The Gore Gore Girls , Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat , and The Uh-Oh! Show , which he also wrote. He appeared in several of his own films, and in Smash Cut . He was also billed as Lewis H. Gordon, Armand Parys, Mark Hansen, Sheldon Seymour, and R.L. Smith.
Herschell was the son of Russian Jewish parents, Geraldine (Waldman) and Calvin Manuel/Emmanuel Goldberg. He was raised mostly in Chicago, Illinois.
Sources: https://www.rogerebert.com
Hirshel/Herschell B. Goldberg/Herschell Gordon Lewis on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Marriage record of Herschell’s parents – https://www.familysearch.org