David Hess, American actor (The Last House on the Left), singer and songwriter, died from a heart attack he was 75.

David Alexander Hess ^[3] was an American actor, singer, and songwriter.

(September 19, 1936 – October 8, 2011)

Early life

Hess was born in New York City.

Music career

In 1956, Hess recorded the original version of the Otis Blackwell composition "All Shook Up" under the stage name David Hill.^[1] The next year the song became a #1 hit single for Elvis Presley.
He began his professional career as a songwriter for Shalimar Music, in 1957. He composed "Start Movin'" for Sal Mineo and "Rockin' Shoes" for the Ames Brothers. In 1959 he recorded a cover version of Cliff Richard's "Living Doll" for Kapp Records and it became a mild placed charter for him on the US Billboard charts. He continued to write songs for Elvis Presley throughout the 1950s and 1960s, which include "Come Along," and "Sand Castles". "Your Hand, Your Heart, Your Love" became a 1960s hit when it was performed by Andy Williams. In 1962, Hess wrote and recorded "Speedy Gonzales," (as David Dante)^[1] which became a #6 single for Pat Boone in the US and a #2 in the UK, selling more than eight million copies worldwide. Hess then recorded two solo albums for Kapp Records, again topping the charts, this time with a Top Ten folk hit called "Two Brothers."
In 1969, he became head of A&R at Mercury Records in New York. There he linked up with Western classical composer John Corigliano, and together they wrote the Grammy award-winning rock opera, The Naked Carmen, which became a big hit of the Berlin Ballet Week in 1970. His work with Mercury also included And the Children Toll the Passing of the Day, a 1969 album he wrote for Irish actor Malachy McCourt.

Acting career

In 1972, his career split off into several new directions with his starring role in the Wes Craven horror classic The Last House on the Left (1972), for which he also composed the soundtrack.^[1] He went on to score Buck at the Edge of the Heaven, a children's film based on a collection of Jack London stories. The film won the top prize for film and direction at the Giffoni Film Festival. He also had roles in Hitchhike and The House on the Edge of the Park.
A subsequent job offer from PolyGram' German affiliate gave Hess the opportunity to move to Munich, Germany, and a multilingual career in film dubbing from 1972 to 1976 which in turn led him to writing the English language shooting scripts for such German directors as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Reinhard Hauff, and his present collaborator, Peter Schamoni.
In 1980, he directed his first American feature film, To All a Good Night, for Media Home Entertainment in 1980. He also appeared in two horror films directed by Ruggero Deodato, La Casa sperduta nel parco (1980) and Camping del terrore (1987). He appeared as a villain in Wes Craven's Swamp Thing in 1982.
In 1991, he played the part of the American in Peter Schamoni's Max Ernst—My Wanderings, My Unrest (1991). From 1993 to 1995 he produced Niki de Saint Phalle: Wer ist das Monster - du oder ich? (1996).
In later years, he released two albums, Caught Up In The Moment and Live & Unplugged in Hollywood, 2002. He lived in Northern California, just outside of San Francisco, with his wife, with whom he had three children. He worked on several tracks for the horror film Cabin Fever (2003), directed by Eli Roth. His final appearance was on the television series Royal Pains in 2010.

Death

Hess died from a heart attack on October 8, 2011 in Tiburon, California. He was 75.^[3]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970	Cold Sweat	Michel Constantin	Voice; uncredited
1972	The Last House on the Left	Krug Stillo
1976	Potato Fritz	Sleeve
1976	The Swiss Conspiracy	Sando
1977	Yung chun ta hsiung		Voice
1977	Autostop rosso sangue	Adam Konitz
1979	Avalanche Express	Geiger
1980	The House on the Edge of the Park	Alex
1982	Swamp Thing	Ferret
1983	White Star	Frank
1986	Armed and Dangerous	Gunman #4
1986	Let's Get Harry	Mercenary
1987	Camping del Terrore	Robert Ritchie	also known as Body Count
1989	Sindrome veneziana
1991	Omicidio a luci blu	Sergeant Flanagan
1991	Buck ai confini del cielo	Dan
1995	Jonathan degli orsi	Maddock
2001	Nutcracker	John Gard/Clyde Fairfax
2004	Zombie Nation	Aaron Singer III
2005	Zodiac Killer	Mel Navokov
2006	The Absence of Light	Whiplash
2006	Fallen Angels	Kajal
2007	Go Together	Aldo Modisco
2007	Used	Aldo Modisco
2009	Smash Cut	Able Whitman
2011	The Beautiful Outsiders	Mancini	In-production
2012	The House That Wept Blood	Detective Marsh
2012	The House on the Edge of the Park Part II	Alex	Pre-production
2012	Manson Rising	Alvin Karpis	Pre-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	21 Hours in Munich	Berger	Television film
1977	Baretta	Bosco	Episode: "All That Shatters"
1981	Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls	Robaire	Television film
1983	Knight Rider	Donny	Episode: "Short Notice"
1983	Manimal	William	Episode: "Illusion"
1985	Sadat	Israeli Soldier	Television film
1985	The Fall Guy		Episode: "Reel Trouble"
1986	The A-Team		Episode: "Dishpan Man"
1989	Oceano	Kruger	Television mini-series
1991	Die Kaltenbach-Papiere		Television mini-series
1997	Noi siamo angeli	Manuel Delgado	Episodes: "Due facce da galera", "La fortuna piove dal cielo"
2010	Royal Pains	Bob Ambrose	Episode: "In Vino Veritas"

Crew

Year	Title	Notes
1980	To All a Good Night	Director
1996	Niki de Saint Phalle: Wer ist das Monster - du oder ich?	Producer; documentary
1999	The Green Monster	Producer; television documentary
2004	Zombie Nation	Production executive
2010	Steel Drums, No Guns	Director, producer; short documentary
2011	Sketchy House	Executive Producer

Soundtrack/Music

Year	Title	Notes
1964	The Ed Sullivan Show	Soundtrack writer: "Speedy Gonzalez"; episode: season 17, episode 21; uncredited
1966	Frankie and Johnny	Soundtrack writer: "Come Along"; uncredited
1966	Paradise, Hawaiian Style	Soundtrack writer: "Sand Castles"
1972	The Last House on the Left	Soundtrack writer, performer, lyrics, music composer
1989	Cold Justice	Composer
1989	Roger & Me	Composer
1993	Lo Kolel Sherut	Soundtrack writer; episode: season 3, episode 8
2002	Cabin Fever	Soundtrack writer, performer: various
2003	Celluloid Crime of the Century	video documentary short
2008	Manhunt	Soundtrack writer, performer
2009	Melancholie der Engel
2011	Sketchy House	Composer, performer

To see more of who died in 2011 click here