Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Donald Cammell was the son of Charles
Richard Cammell, heir to the Cammell Laird shipbuilding fortune. Cammell
started out his career as a painter and found popularity amongst the
hip in 1960s Swinging London. He entered the film world by scripting
The Touchables (1968). Directed by Robert Freeman and rewritten by Ian
La Frenais, the ludicrous story revolved around a pop idol abducted
by four girl fans. This was quickly followed by Cammell’s first co-writing
credit with Duffy (1968), the story of an aging hippy who sets out to
kill the wealthy father of greedy half-brothers. Cammell's directorial
debut was the psychedelic psychodrama Performance
(1970), starring Mick Jagger and James
Fox, the story of a London gangster who hides out with a reclusive
rock star in his bohemian household remains a cult favourite.
Demon Seed (1977), was originally intended as a comedy by Cammell but
the studio opted instead for a rather slow-paced sci-fi thriller. The
story involved a super computer that firstly imprisons, and then attempts
to impregnate the wife of its creator. Following Demon Seed, Cammell
did not complete another directorial project until the mystical serial
killer film White of the Eye (1987). Cammell's final directorial effort
was Wild Side (1995), an erotic thriller starring Christopher Walken
and Anne Heche. The film was cut extensively by the production company
much to the fury of Cammell who had his name removed from the credits;
eventually it was released straight-to-video with the director credit
going to 'Frank Brauner'. In April of 1996, Cammell committed suicide
by a gunshot to the head.
