On his KLSX FM 97.1 radio show, Ed Powers received a call around 2:45 am, Sunday. A friend tells me: "The caller sounded older... a distinctive New York voice.
"Ed acknowledged the caller with a friendly voice of recognition; he called him Frank. He said Frank was in showbiz.
"Frank called to thank Ed for sending him some of Ed's videos. Frank said "You're a great guy."
"Ed was very chummy with Frank.
"Ed said that a movie was made that was based on Frank's life.
"At the end of the approx three minute call, Ed blurted out the words: "29th Street."
"Ed added: "There! I said it."
"Well, today I logged-on to the Internet Movie Database, typed in the movie title "29th Street" and it is revealed that our mysterious caller is actor/writer Frank Pesce, who was the first person to win the New York State Lottery.
"Luke, you've heard that all roads lead to Rome; well, if you look at Frank's credits, you will find that a lot of relationships may not lead to porn but at least dance around it.
"While Frank has been in some terrific movies, most notably, playing the role of Carmine in "Midnight Run," he has also been in the PAMELA PRINCIPLE, THE (1991), a movie directed by Philip Toubus, Aka: Judy Blue, Toby Phillips, Philip Tobias, P.Thomas, Paul Thomas.
"Frank was in MANIAC (1980), a movie directed by William Lustig. Sharon Mitchell has a small walk-on in Maniac.
"William Lustig learned his craft by directing the X-rated features: Hot Honey (1977) and The Violation of Claudia (1977) using the name Billy Bagg.
Frank is in AMERICAN GIGOLO (1980) , directed by Paul Schrader.
Paul Schrader wrote the classic "Taxi Driver." But one of his most underrated movies is "HardCore" (1979).
"Hardcore" was critically bashed by the adult industry at the time of its release.
But if viewed today, almost 20 years later, the film reveals a wonderfully structured screenplay, and great performances by Peter Boyle as the cynical private detective, and a genius performance by Leonard Gains, as the porn distributor .
Frank was in Fingers (1978), directed by James Toback.
Writer Joanne Parrent writes in the editor's introduction to the book "You'll Never Make Love in This Town Again":
"...A year or so later, I was coming out of the Writers' Guild building when James Toback, a writer-director (Gambler, Bugsy), approached me, introduced himself, and asked if I was an actress. I said I had studied acting. (I had started to write dramatic films now and thought studying acting would be helpful.) He asked me if I was free for lunch. He wanted to talk to me about a role in a script he had just written. He thought I would be perfect for it...
"At lunch, he asked me a "philosophical" question--would I sleep with someone for a million dollars? I later learned that this question preoccupies many men in Hollywood--the glamorized male-fantasy film "Indecent Proposal" was certainly a product of this widespread preoccupation. I was also later to hear the joke that when a woman answers "yes" to the million dollar question, then the guy says, "Well, will you sleep with me for five dollars?" Indignant, the woman says, "No! I'm not a whore!" He smiles and, in typical Hollywooddeal-making style, says, "We already established that you're a whore. Now, we're just negotiating the price."
"Back to my lunch with Toback, I didn't take the bait. I told him I wouldn't sleep with a guy I didn't want to sleep with even for a million dollars. I wondered what this stupid question had to do with his script. Nothing, it turned out. But he did ask me to read the script he'd written and meet with him later. It had to be today because he was going back to New York tomorrow. That bait I took. I read the script....
"I met Toback again
later that afternoon...Toback told me I was perfect for the lead in
this movie. If the studio wouldn't agree to let me play the lead, he
promised, then I could at least have the role of the second female lead...I
agreed to go back to Toback's house to "run lines" from the script with
him. It wasn't long, however, before this "audition" became more like
a scene from a soft-porn movie. Toback suddenly grabbed my thigh and
stuck his other hand into his pants, clutching his little hard thing,
moaning and pulling it out. I jumped up and told him I was leaving.
He reluctantly put his penis back in his pants, apologized, and then
tried to get my sympathy by telling me that he was sexually abused as
a child by an older man. I suggested that he see a therapist and was
soon out of there, grateful that he hadn't tried to use force."