Matteo Ottaviano, professionally known as Matt Cimber, was born in 1936 and embarked on his career in the early 1960s, directing off-Broadway plays that showcased works by renowned authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tennessee Williams, and the US premieres of Jean Cocteau's trilogy.
During his theater years, Cimber rewrote John Steinbeck's "Burning Bright," which introduced Sandy Dennis, who later won an Academy Award for her role in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966).
Cimber then directed the Broadway revival of "Bus Stop," where he met his future wife, Jayne Mansfield. He made his cinematic directorial debut with the offbeat film "Single Room Furnished" (1966),which was also Mansfield's last movie.
He followed this with "The Sensually Liberated Female" (1970),based on J. best-selling book "The Sensuous Female." As the screenwriter/director of this film, Cimber created a satire that required the title to be changed for release due to the publisher rescinding the rights.
Cimber directed three blaxploitation pictures in the mid-1970s: "The Black 6" (1973),"Lady Cocoa" (1975),and "The Candy Tangerine Man" (1975),which was also Samuel L. Jackson's favorite film.
He made a rare foray into the horror genre with the disturbing psychological shocker "The Witch Who Came from the Sea" (1976).
Cimber's next work was based on a Mario Puzo story, a World War II drama "A Time to Die" (1982) starring Rex Harrison. Later that year, he teamed up with Pia Zadora for two films: the underrated "Butterfly" (1981) and the fun "Fake-Out" (1982).
"Butterfly" (1981) was the last film of the master filmmaker Orson Welles, for which he received one of the film's three Golden Globe nominations.
The following year, Cimber joined forces with actress Laurene Landon for the delightful action/adventure romps "Hundra" (1983) and "Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold" (1984).
Quentin Tarantino is quoted as saying Matt Cimber's films were among his favorites. In the late 1980s, Cimber created and directed the successful TV series "GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling" (1986),which lasted for four seasons on 103 stations in the US.
More recent years of Cimber's work were dedicated to the documentary genre. He wrote and directed "An American Icon: Coca-Cola, the Early Years" (1997) and "The History of United Nations" (1996).
He created and wrote the eight-minute intro for visitors to the United Nations, for which he received a special commendation from the UN. After a twenty-year absence in motion picture production, Cimber made a comeback with the independent drama "Miriam" (2006).
