Del Tenney(1930-2013)
- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Del Tenney was born in Mason City, Iowa, and moved to California with
his parents when he was 12. Attending Los Angeles City and State
college, he developed an interest in the theater, became an actor and
made a living at it for most of his young adult life. He acted on
stage, did extra work in films
(Stalag 17 (1953),
The Wild One (1953)) and then came
to New York looking for work. He found it--working in restaurants and
as a detective--but he also managed to land roles in summer stock.
Deciding to move behind the camera, Tenney started off as assistant
director on some risqué low-budget pictures, then co-wrote and
co-directed (without credit) his production of
Violent Midnight (1963), a
Connecticut-made suspenser with
Shepperd Strudwick,
Jean Hale,
'Sylvia
Miles' and
Margot Hartman (Mrs. Tenney). Tenney next
made schlock horror history, bringing to the screen the cheapo classics
The Horror of Party Beach (1964)
and (his favorite)
The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964).
