William Lustig

William Lustig was born on February 1, 1955 in Bronx, New York. During his teenage years, Lustig avidly watched a huge volume of lowdown trashy exploitation fare at numerous 42nd Street grind house theaters in Manhattan and also worked as a movie theater usher in Fort Lee, New Jersey. After graduating from high school, he took a few film classes at New York University. Lustig began his film career in his mid to late teens, working behind-the-scenes in various minor production capacities on a handful of hardcore X-rated porno pictures as well as a production assistant on both "The Seven Ups" and "Death Wish." He made his debut as a director, producer and editor with the hardcore porn features "Hot Honey" and "The Violation of Claudia." Lustig directed both of these movies under the alias Billy Bagg. In 1980, Lustig found himself at the center of a storm of controversy when he made the grim, gory and disturbing slasher sleaze splatter landmark "Maniac," which boasts an incredibly inten