Xenon & Zed: An Interview With Comedian, Actor, and Voice Actor, David Traylor

Like so many who have worked in the genres of SciFi, Fantasy, or Horror in some capacity, David Traylor grew up a Monster Kid watching classic monster movies and reading Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine. A fan of all things Science Fiction (and especially Ray Harryhausen), David incorporated his love for Fantasy into his comedy act that, virtually by accident, eventually led to global success as the robotic comic, Zed. The multi-talented Traylor has also been a voice actor for cartoons, video games, and a dubber in Italian movies. For cult film fans, he is fondly remembered as Xenon, the catch-phrase spouting alien being in Avi Nesher's version of SHE (1983); a nearly indescribable SciFi-Fantasy adaptation of H. Rider Haggard's famous novel. In this interview (a companion piece to our recent review of SHE that also contains an interview with Gregory Snegoff linked at bottom) David discusses his fascinating career that includes how he ended up creating a character that made him famous around the world; his experience working on an 80s cult film; and other places his talents have taken him.

Venoms5: What started your interest in wanting to be a comedian?

David Traylor: I had an idea at an early age how I wanted my life to go. I went to university for radio, television and film. There's an old proverb 'when men make plans God laughs'; so I thought I needed to know how to act, sing and dance to some degree; and mime too, but that was me being rebellious at that time because all they taught you as far as theatrical stuff was that you need to project and you need to be flexible, graceful... that sort of thing. Zed, who is an android, does the exact opposite; so what entertained me personally was going the other way from everybody else. I've done a lot of television, but not as much in America. I did a program for NBC last summer in prime time. I was surprised how few people seemed to be watching, quite frankly. Back in my day there were only the three networks and if your prime time program was horrible people still watched it because there wasn't much to choose from. When I was a kid I loved it; when I was a college student I studied it; but I knew already showbiz was where I wanted to be. Now I've done nine TV series in three languages on four continents. We did 360 programs, and live; not like Saturday Night Live with a nine second delay. It's different when there's no going back (laughs). Watch what you say and if something goes wrong don't repeat it (laughs).

I did a week on a kids program called ROMPER ROOM. It was done locally. I was born in Indianapolis; this was a locally produced kids show and every week they'd change out the kids. Your mom could write in for you and get you on the show. We used to have the Three Stooges there like that; but that doesn't exist in American TV anymore, I don't think.

V5: Who were your comedy influences?

DT: Well, there was Jerry Lewis... then in my adolescence it was the Marx Brothers, who I still love to this day. In my teen years George Carlin was big, Robert Kline... then there's the Firesign Theater. They were like the American Monty Python; but they were more controversial and more surrealistic. In America, TV would not have them, but records would. They sold a lot of pop songs and did movies, just brilliant stuff, and brilliant use of audio alone. And that fascinated me. At that time there was no such thing as video that everyone has access to now. Radio was far more common than it is today. I started out in radio in Philadelphia years later, inspired in part by The Firesign Theater. Now, one of the four guys from the group (see insert) is a personal friend of mine, which to me is like, WOW, you know? I wish I could have made friends with Groucho Marx as well; but unfortunately, I was a little out of sync in my timing there. He was gone before I got out to LA; one of the greatest comedians that ever lived.

V5: How did you end up in Italy?

DT: I got a scholarship from Temple University to go abroad for a semester. I thought it was going to be a little vacation from show business. I was doing a little radio program and some live gigs as a stand-up in Philadelphia and around the area, wherever I could find a place to play. I was just over 19 so I was playing in places I wasn't old enough to be in. It was an entirely different world then.

V5: How did you get the role of Xenon on SHE (1983)?

DT: I auditioned for it. I was already here; and prior to that film I did a TV show called TILT! (1979) which had been a major hit for the Italians and it represented them at TV festivals around the world. I think it won some awards although they didn't share it with me. It was my first break and gave me a big break in show business here right away. I came here with two hundred dollars in travelers checks and that was it. For a semester that's not much. At first I played the streets as a mime doing robotics and whatnot to make money. At night I did a radio program called Radio Daily American, which was the English language newspaper here in Rome and they had their own radio station. It didn't pay much but it paid enough to get me to stay an extra couple of weeks after the semester was over. 

I got discovered busking and was invited to perform at a discotheque. The discotheque hired me immediately and sent me out to do a tour promoting disco records. This was in 1979. Disco was still a big deal here. The whole reason for coming to Italy was I figured I wouldn't get the chance to come to Europe again later in life. I did the show, I was an MC and people really loved what I did so the record company signed me up for a record deal. They also wanted me on TV. I thought it would be something to add to my resume. So they put me on TV and the program became a major hit in Italy. I had a top 40 hit and enough gigs to last me another two years. I had one more record to do and the record company eventually lost faith in me so I did a TV show, a live program where I improvised, and got a job doing comedy and it became a mega-hit with 20 million viewers a day. There's 60 million viewers in Italy at this time. This was when TV was just regular networks and prime time. There wasn't a lot of channels. So I was back on the train again. This ran from '83 to '85. I got a gig writing for an Italian puppet political satire TV show. I also did theatrical work and eventually it got to the point where I'd gotten as far as they were gonna let me so I returned to the United States and Los Angeles. 

In the early 1990s I ended up working with Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and others at The Comedy Store doing my Zed routine. I even opened for Richard Pryor. Dick Clark Productions wanted to pick up my Zed program. Then the earthquake hits in 1994, and NBC decided against using my show. The excuse I got was the executive didn't like fantastic characters, thought it was old hat akin to MORK AND MINDY. I had gigs set up in Vegas, things eventually dried up, and my wife was pregnant with my daughter. Then I got an offer in Italy to do a program there. So I got my own weekly kids show. I was also writing for adults on these programs; gags that would appeal to children but also were broad enough that adults could appreciate it too. It was put on late night and it was a big hit in 35 countries. I did shows as Zed in Japan like ZAKUBARAN! (1994) and Great Britain. My career was going very well; so what was the point in moving back to LA?

V5: Gregory Snegoff said you ad-libbed your Xenon character. What was the character like before you refined it?

DT: It was a dry script. The character that splits like that was from an old religious text; a Gilgamesh; long before Christianity and the Hebrews. He gets chopped and regenerates. The Gilgamesh is just a monster. I improvised for Avi and he liked what I did. He asked me to come back and perform the character again the next day and I got the gig.

V5: Did the picture influence your career in any way?

DT: Not really. We got paid and it went away like most 'B' movies did at that time. It was a fun experience and that was it. At times, interacting with the crew was funnier than what went on in front of the camera. I couldn't see well while wearing that eye patch so I was bumping into things a lot. I didn't see it again till years later. I enjoyed it to be that free working with a film director so I am grateful to Avi for the opportunity. I wish it had led to bigger things. It's not like anything out there then or now. Hollywood today is an idea-free zone. In business I'm still well known; my name is still there at The Comedy Store (see insert) and I still get called back to do a show.

V5: Where did you shoot your portion of the movie?

DT: We shot on an Italian military base on the outskirts of Rome called the Cecchignola.

V5: What can you tell about your experiences with the other cast members? Sandahl Bergman, David Goss, Harrison Muller, and Gordon Mitchell?

DT: Sandahl as you know had done ALL THAT JAZZ (1979) and had just come off CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982). She was very professional and had a good sense of humor. She was very down to Earth and easy to work with. One time, though, I'm ad-libbing things and Sandahl looked at me like I'd said something really vulgar and I felt like I may have stepped over the line. Then I realized she's just playing her part as this serious warrior Queen--as serious as you could be in this movie. There was also something that kind of freaked me out during the bridge sequence. I'd calmed down and was returning to normal person mode and I look over and see Sandahl and Harrison tossing me over the side to the ground where the landmines are. The Xenon dummies have my face on them and it hits me that I've just been blown up (laughs).

Gordon Mitchell was huge here in Italy. I used to eat at this little diner type restaurant and he was the biggest celebrity that had eaten there. He'd given a dedication to the place. He was so well loved here.

I didn't get to know David Goss too well; although we had a long conversation in the car ride to the set. He had done club gigs as a singer with his wife. They'd play these small clubs out in the boonies in these places where the market wasn't taken over by the big names, and he and his wife made a pretty good living at it. I told him good for you, man; you're creating something new and doing your own thing. That's all I really remember about him. A really nice guy who had ambitions.

I remember Quin Kessler off-camera pretending to be like Marilyn Monroe, acting like a sexy type character. I remember commenting to someone that she was going somewhere. The way she was acting towards people around her with a fake, sexy identity it seemed like it could play very well somewhere else. Then that 'Jane' movie she was to star in never materialized. You just never know, especially with 'B' movies. I've done a few 'B' movies, but none as memorable as SHE (1983) was. I never saw these people again. You just wish them well and hope they make it.

I ran into Harrison Muller (see insert with Quin Kessler) several other times in movies and maybe even a dubbing session. His sister was big here as a sex symbol. His career took off and he did a bunch of these movies because of SHE (1983). I remember he'd done a 'B' movie with Richard Roundtree (MIAMI COPS [1989] directed by Alfonso Brescia) and there was a stunt where they're either thrown from, or they jump off, a speed boat. On a lot of these things you do the stunt yourself. Well, the crew all went after Roundtree first and Muller afterward. He's out there in the ocean and almost drowned. I remember some of the crew were very concerned about that scene. There were no safety precautions on these movies.

V5: Like Gregory Snegoff you dubbed these films as well.

DT: I did the dubbing on many of these Italian 'B' movies, usually as the bad guy. There were some BILLY JACK type rip-offs I dubbed, and some adventure stuff. I dubbed minor characters on Luigi Cozzi's HERCULES (1983). He was filming that while I was filming SHE (1983). We were at the studio in Rome and I stopped by to see if he could use me in the film and we didn't hit it off at first but became very good friends later. It was one of those occasions where an actor comes in with the wrong vibe and we just didn't get on at all. But now, when I'm in the neighborhood I stop by Profondo Rosso and we talk about movies we both have a big passion for. He also likes horror and I don't. I see enough horror in the newspapers; I want a sense of wonder. Films like THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951) and the Ray Harryhausen movies are examples. 

 
I did a movie for Luigi where I played George Melies
(see above and insert) called BLOOD ON MELIES MOON (2016). George Melies was really the founder of SciFi movies, during the Silent Era. This guy was crazy and he was working in special effects and he had a great sense of humor; and that's the way I played him. Luigi loved it. I don't know if it ever came out in English, but it played the festivals. Filming it was a bit weird as I delivered my lines in Italian but with a French accent. Making the movie was a lot of fun and Luigi is a very fun guy to work with. I love that kind of cinema, 50s SciFi, that sort of thing. He and I both shared a love for 50s and 60s SciFi. The 'B' movies I dubbed didn't always play in Italy, so I never saw them. In '89 or '90 I was working on this kids cartoon called DYNAMO DUCK. One time after work we went to this video store and I was shocked--there was a whole wall with movies I had dubbed; the MAD MAX clones and other things.

V5: What would be a highlight of your career and why?

DT: Appearing on THE TONIGHT SHOW was one, certainly. Once when Jay Leno was on in 1992 and again last year. Another would be this program I did in 1992 as my Zed character at the Ford Theater where Lincoln was shot with a bunch of big names called the ALL STAR FIESTA AT FORD'S. Rita Moreno, David Copperfield, Barry Manilow and others were there. It was a ton of fun. It was really amazing to be a part of that. The president was in attendance. We had a cocktail party before the show and we met Colin Powell and his wife. I couldn't believe it. I'd only known him from the newspapers. We were guests at the White House, as well. By the time I'd finished I had the audience in stitches so it seemed it all went very well. Ricardo Montalban introduced Zed on that show. I was blown away. I was like, WOW, I'm being recognized, I'm really up there.

An enormous thanks to David Traylor for taking the time to answer questions about his career. We wish him continued success in all his future endeavors.

If you'd like to learn more about David Traylor you will find even more information about his career, his famous Zed character, videos of his act, and if you'd like to book him for a show HERE.

You can view David's YouTube channel with his Mr. Zed videos HERE.

To read our extensive review of SHE (1983), that also includes an interview with Gregory Snegoff (Godan in the film), click HERE. 

*Images 6,7,8,15,16 and two images in main photo courtesy of David Traylor*

She (1983) review; & A Conversation with Godan: Gregory Snegoff on Filming She and His Career In Dubbing

SHE 1983

Sandahl Bergman (She), David Goss (Tom), Quin Kessler (Shanda), Harrison Muller (Dick), Elena Wiedermann (Hari), Gordon Mitchell (Hector), Laurie Sherman (Taphir), Andrew McLeay (Tark), Cyrus Elias (Kram), David Brandon (Pretty Boy), Susan Adler (Pretty Girl), Gregory Snegoff (Godan), Mary D'Antin (Eva), Mario Pedone (Rudolph), Donald Hodson (Rabel), Maria Quasimodo (Moona), David Traylor (Xenon)

Directed by Avi Nesher

"I didn't write [SHE] the way you do normal, conventional, well-organized cinema. I didn't even think it would happen. It was so far from the original novel, and it was so far from the way these movies are normally shot... I thought the producer would look at it and say 'that's bullshit' and it would never happen... and they greenlit the movie, much to my astonishment."--Director Avi Nesher, SHE blu-ray interview

The Short Version: Award-winning Israeli filmmaker Avi Nesher is responsible for what is ostensibly the nuttiest, most incomprehensible of both the sword and sorcery and post-apocalyptic actioners in the wake of THE ROAD WARRIOR (1981) and CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982); the clones of which laid waste to video store shelves everywhere in the 1980s. Beyond the brainless onslaught of chainsaw-wielding mutants, toga-wearing lycanthropes, telekinetic communists, and wisecracking aliens that can regenerate severed limbs are plentiful sight gags and a smart sense of humor. The plot is about as rich as the junk-man art decor; but fun is truly had in what amounts to a 100+ minute rock and metal music video. SHE is unpredictable and has numerous mood swings, but SHE certainly knows how to show you a good time.

 
After a nuclear holocaust, a new society arises ruled by an array of gangs modeled on historical figures; some of which are led by beings with supernatural powers and some of whom call themselves gods. Among these is She, an immortal goddess of the Eurich and ruler of a society of women that dominates and enslaves men. When a man's sister is abducted by the Norks, She reluctantly sides with the men to find the sister. They embark on a bizarre journey that leads them to the Nork stronghold inside a crumbling city destroyed by the bomb.

Fresh off her success in the big budget CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982) opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sandahl Bergman takes center stage in the smaller scaled, futuristic barbarian flick, SHE. A bone-headed reworking of H. Rider Haggard's popular novel, 'She: A History of Adventure', Nesher's wildly out of control interpretation has as much familiarity to its source material as it does adherence to narrative cohesiveness.

Unfolding like any of your finer 80s rock/heavy metal videos, SHE makes about as much sense as one, too. Opening with an animated sequence of global Armageddon replete with burning bodies and the Grim Reaper (see below), the picture segues into live-action with a title card stating it's "Year 23 after the Cancellation". From there it's a typical "pillage the village" sequence that introduces the villains a la CONAN THE BARBARIAN; but instead of Wagnerian accompaniment, it's metal music as Hector (played by Euro-cult mainstay, Gordon Mitchell) and his colorfully costumed Nork soldiers ransack Heaven's Gate; a tiny community big on product placement and named after a bomb of another kind from 1980.

The plot is virtually non-existent and episodic in nature. It's a 'capture and rescue' tale to find a kidnapped sister who has no lines, being held by a lead villain whom we never learn anything about. We discover as much about the protagonists as well. Even the title warrior woman has very little revealed about her.

Nesher's script is pure anarchy on paper. According to an interview on the blu-ray, he intentionally wrote the picture this way, with the sole purpose of getting as far away from a linear narrative as you could get. Another example of how in on the joke Nesher was, his main characters are all named Tom, Dick and Hari. If you go into the movie expecting clarity, SHE will frustrate the hell out of you (you can read our 2009 review HERE). Just the same, Nesher's deliberately fragmented flick presents some fascinating themes and ideas--creating a post-holocaust society that has started over and every historical dictator, time period, and bizarre fashion sense has mutated into a single era. 

Sandahl Bergman was the 'It Girl' in the action genre in those days; her role in CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982) made her popular with teenage boys at the time and it wasn't unusual to see pin-ups and posters of her on some kids bedroom wall. Both she and Schwarzenegger trained with noted Japanese martial artist Kiyoshi Yamazaki for their parts. With her skills as a dancer, she was a natural for this type of action--without the need of a double, and she looks fantastic in the fight scenes. Bergman genuinely comes off better than anyone else while leaping and dodging and clashing blades with the stuntmen. It's her film, but the non-stop craziness of the "anything goes" script undermines her character at times.

After passing through a gauntlet of swordsmen dressed like knights and a robot Frankenstein's Monster, She heals herself in a magical bath, giving an opportunity for Bergman to show off her breasts and regenerate her life anew. This is one of the fleeting connections to Haggard's novel. It teases another with a prophecy that the love of a man will one day destroy her; but this is abandoned during the finale so that She will retain her youthful vibrance for another cycle, waiting decades for the planned sequel that never materialized.

From there the lunacy intensifies as the man-hating She and her second-in-command, Shanda, eventually team-up with Tom and Dick. Our quartet of heroes commence on a bizarre quest that takes them to a factory inhabited by loose-limbed, cloth-wrapped mutants brandishing chainsaws; then on to a hedonistic hamlet of toga-wearing werewolves who listen to vinyl records during the day, and dine on any passersby during the night; next is the villa occupied by a super-powered, telekinetic communist named Godan (played by Gregory Snegoff); when our heroes escape from there, they find themselves once again captured by a mad scientist and his silent, Bud Spencer-like bodyguard wearing a ballerina outfit living inside an expansive oxygen tent filled with various fauna and animals. 

They then run afoul of Xenon, the film's most memorable personality; guarding the bridge leading into the Norks domain. A matte painting depicts the Norkian stronghold inside an irradiated, destroyed city; but several wide shots clearly reveal farmland and a dirt road beyond the big wall (see pic above). As much intentional goofiness as SHE revels in, it's flubs like this that only make this low budget delicacy all the more delicious.

American David Traylor was a popular comedian in Italy at the time (and still working today) so his participation in SHE gave the film some marquee value in those markets. His skills as a mime were suited to the role of the wacky Xenon, a strange, alien being with both a vast knowledge of American pop culture references and one-liners, but also an ability to regenerate into a clone of himself whenever a limb is cut off. Out of all the onscreen insanity, Xenon's shtick is the film's most unforgettable and hilarious sequence. 

Gordon Mitchell (see insert) started out playing good guys but his granite-faced visage had other ideas, making him a big star essaying countless villains of one sort or other. He headlined or guest-starred in dozens of muscleman movies, Italian westerns, horror, action, etc. He's one of the most familiar faces in all of international cinema. In SHE, you think he's the lead antagonist, but he's not. He looks menacing in a few scenes but does even less than Boba Fett in the STAR WARS movies. The real main villain is the Nork God Erraton (see above), who speaks through a voice box and wears what looks like a diving suit covered in glitter and sits on a throne made of two monster truck tires. 

David Brandon, an Irish actor of stage and screen (David Cain Haughton), is another familiar face; and a welcome personality to bolster the film's appeal with the Euro-cult fans. He had the lead in Joe D'Amato's absurdly trashy CALIGULA: THE UNTOLD STORY (1982); the main villain with the Fu Manchu mustache in D'Amato's unintentionally hilarious ATOR sequel, THE BLADE MASTER (1984); and one of his best roles in Michele Soavi's superb Italo-slasher STAGE FRIGHT (1987). In SHE, Brandon plays Pretty Boy, the leader of a strange commune of hedonists partially built on the Roman Empire. During the day, they're all about a good time; but at night, the groups lupine nature comes out. Brandon's in his element and, despite his brief time onscreen, is the best actor of the many featured.

Other than an international selection of actors, virtually none of the main cast on the SHE roster went on to lengthy careers in the industry. David Goss had leading man looks but did very little afterward. The gorgeous Quin Kessler was announced as the lead in Cannon's lady Tarzan flick JANE in 1983 but it was never made. She did a few TV show appearances and movies like the quirky comedy WISHMAN in 1992 before quitting the industry. Harrison Muller, as the annoying but aptly named Dick, co-starred in a handful of 80s barbarian and post-nuke movies before calling it quits by 1989.

Bergman headlined another Trans World production in 1987 titled PROGRAMMED TO KILL (aka THE RETALIATOR), a film that was essentially remade as the nearly identical EVE OF DESTRUCTION in 1991. After FATAL ATTRACTION (1986) and BASIC INSTINCT (1992) were huge hits, the market for erotic thrillers exploded and Sandahl found herself cast in a slew of them and a number of television appearances.

Co-financed through Continental Motion Pictures and Trans World Entertainment for the brother and sister team, Eduard and Helen Sarlui, Trans World was something of a competitor for the Cannon Group during an approximate ten year period between 1983-1993. Founded by Sarlui and Moshe Diamant, Trans World managed to steal Sho Kosugi away from Cannon for PRAY FOR DEATH (1985) and RAGE OF HONOR (1987); while also producing a video series titled Ninja Theater with Kosugi acting as host to a healthy line of Chinese Kung Fu movies. 

 
In 1988, Trans World execs Moshe Diamant and Eduard Sarlui failed to bring Marlon Brando's 'Jericho' to the big screen in a $65 million co-production with Brando associate Elliott Kastner before they were swallowed up with other small label production companies in the Giancarlo Parretti scandal of the late 80s-early 90s. Diamant eventually began a working relationship with Jean Claude Van Damme, producing several movies with him. Diamant remains a big Hollywood producer today.

In those days, both Continental and Trans World produced and distributed a handful of Drive-in style pictures that got frequent airplay on television and, whether through them or another company, theatrical and video distribution with titles like WARRIOR OF THE LOST WORLD (1983), CREATURE (1985), and ALIEN PREDATORS (1986); SHE (1983) being among them.

As stated above, SHE is comparable to a heavy metal video. This is highlighted by an eclectic soundtrack of international rock and metal artists; some of whom were well known. The soundtrack is very good and it's surprising an album was never produced. Motorhead contributed musical cues; Rick Wakeman of Yes wrote 'Rescue Me', sang by Scottish singer Maggie Bell; The Boppers, a Swedish rock band, furnished the Doo Wop styled 'Why?'; director Avi Nesher wrote two metal numbers titled 'Scream In the Night' and 'War', both of which were performed by a band called Bastard; Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues wrote and performed a ballad, the melancholic and catchy 'Eternal Woman'. In a film as confounding and out of control as SHE is, the soundtrack certainly fits with its array of musical styles; and a score that's typically, and suitably 80s.

A CONVERSATION WITH GODAN: GREGORY SNEGOFF ON FILMING SHE AND HIS CAREER IN DUBBING

As an added attraction, we've included an interview with Gregory Snegoff, Godan himself; where he talks not only about working on the film, but his career on the whole. Snegoff comes from a family of Hollywood performers. His brother Tom, for example, is a prolific stuntman who has amassed over 440 credits just in stunts alone. Gregory has acted in front of the camera, but found his calling behind it, working predominantly in the dubbing studio. If you're a fan of Italian exploitation movies and Japanese anime, you've heard his voice many times. Enjoy the interview.

VENOMS5: Tell me a bit about yourself and how you got involved in the film industry.

GREGORY SNEGOFF: I'm a 3rd generation actor. I've always been in the film industry. When I was 23 I moved to Rome. I ended up staying and continued working as an actor. I discovered I had a knack for dubbing which didn't really exist in America at the time. We're talking late 70s-early 80s. Rome was the dubbing center of the world. Not just for Italy but for films all over the world. So there was quite a lot of work. I did work on thousands of radio commercials and acted and directed commercials and in mid-1984, I was shooting a six hour mini-series called CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. It was the first of a bunch of mini-series about Columbus. I came back to the states in 1985 and started a dubbing business in LA and worked in dubbing animation. In 1991 I went back and forth and in 1992, I moved back to Rome and stayed.

V5: Was it more difficult being an onscreen actor versus being a dubber?

GS: Some actors are better at dubbing than others. Some may not be able to see sync. In film and TV when an actor has to loop his own lines, some actors are terrible at it, nevermind dubbing other people. They don't have a musical ear. It's like dealing with rhythm. Dancers do it quite well. If you're a good actor and you know how to dub you'll be good at it. It takes a certain ability to put emotion into your dialog when you're standing in your jeans and T-shirt and you don't see the script ahead of time. It's broken up into loops, requiring some serious memorization skills. In America now we cut the loops down really short. When I first came back in 1984 I hit up some of the dubbing studios. I had learned from the Italians don't cut up the loops like that, because you'd memorize a page at the time. Here, it was annoying so I'd do a page at a time and ended up making a name for myself. We've gotten a bit lazy now for chopping up the loops so small. The ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement) systems are much more accurate today, though. The perks for dubbing versus acting in front of a camera is not sitting in a chair for hours in makeup and you don't have to dress up for the part. A lot of people think being famous is great but it ain't necessarily so. You think about Stallone and Willis on the street and being approached a lot; but when you're a voice actor nobody bothers you so long as you keep your mouth shut (laugh).

V5: How did your role in SHE come about?

GS: Italy was never terribly big on auditions. It's still rare for them to do auditions. If they like your face, you get the job. In this case, I may have read for Avi, I can't recall. Godan became the big baddie in the film. I still may have a Godan poster from the movie, too; the ones you see plastered everywhere. I had one in my apartment and when people would come over it would scare the shit out of them (laughs).

V5: What did you think of the film at the time?

GS: Avi was good to work with, but I didn't think much of it, actually. It wasn't a terrific film then or now. It was Sandahl's movie and she'd just come off a successful Broadway show and then she did CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982).

V5: What was your experience working with her?

GS: A very nice lady and a good sport. Very pleasant to work with. A low budget isn't terribly easy to work in. The script wasn't great and she made the best of things. David Traylor had it the easiest with all the silly lines.

V5: He's the funniest part of the movie.

GS: He and I arrived in Rome at the same time. We both went on English language radio and did separate shows and he became insanely famous over there. Unfortunately, he made a poor career choice. He wanted to be a standup comic so he quit his show and wanted to come back to America to be a comedian. He went to LA and got as far as doing an act on the Tonight Show. David's an extremely talented man, but his comedy is limited in the sense that if you're an American who speaks both languages then you'll love it. He tried to do stuff here and I had gone back to Rome and was working on a new satellite network called Orbit for the Arab countries. On one of their channels I was the voice of the network there called The Fun Channel, which was for kids. I told them you have to see this guy he'd be the perfect mascot so he became huge on that network for a while. As for SHE, Traylor ad-libbed his role. He made up most of that. Ask him to do any voice or character and he's astounding. That wasn't Nesher's doing, that was all David. He's a compendium of television trivia and he'll throw it at you 24 hours a day if you let him.

V5: How many days did you work on the picture and do you have any stories about David Goss or Quin Kessler? They did little else after this movie.

GS: A week or two, maybe? It wasn't a particularly difficult role, it was all shot in Rome in an abandoned villa. I remember Goss and Kessler, sitting in the dressing room with them. With Quin, I recall her being really concerned that her top would drop off and her breasts would fall out. She was constantly adjusting her top. That's why she was hired for the movie, actually. As for David, he would talk for hours about what he was going to do. He'd gone to acting school and would tell me how he was going to do this and do that in front of the camera, and this is my subtext, and so on. We'd go to filming the scene and I kept waiting for all that stuff to come out of David and it never did. He didn't seem nervous, he was very serious--and ended up with just two expressions like what Leone said about Eastwood's expressiveness--one with the cigar and one without.

V5: Gordon Mitchell?

GS: I didn't see him much on the picture, but Gordon Mitchell was a character and had an interesting face. Rome is a small town and the acting community is even smaller. Gordon was well liked so in Italy, if the word got around you're easy to work with, not fussy about money, you'd do an extra day, then they'd throw you in a film and he did a lot of them over there.

V5: Did you ever meet Roger Browne (you can read our interview with Roger HERE)? He was president of ELDA (English Language Dubbers Association) from 1966 to 1975.

GS: I did, although I didn't know Roger well. When I arrived in January of 1979, the Italian film industry was bottoming out of a ten year slide after producing over 500 films a year. Hollywood wasn't doing that. I might be stretching it, but most of their output was of a pornographic nature. It's a pity because they're very talented technicians over there and that industry disappeared.

V5: You did an episode of CHEERS in 1985.

GS: That was the first thing I did when I returned to the US. I come back and they cast me as an Italian bellboy (laughs).

V5: You dubbed Miles O'Keeffe in two of his ATOR movies, correct?

GS: (laughs) Yeah, that's me on those. For some odd reason during my career I have re-voiced or imitated the voice of pretty much all the muscle guys. We're talking about Miles, Reb Brown, Stallone, Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Schwarzenegger, and others. I could imitate all their voices and the producers would oftentimes call me for that reason; particularly with Schwarzenegger because of his heavy accent. Producers would call and tell me he had all these coaches on set and they'd be concerned about his acting. So they'd call me in to help with the lines. And the producer would say, "but for God's sake don't tell anybody!" (laughs); but I re-voiced about a third of his lines on some of his films; this being after CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982). For Stallone I did the grunts and groans during the fights. These guys would sometimes be so busy they couldn't come in and do the looping so they'd call me in to do it. I often dubbed Franco Nero, too. He speaks perfect English, but he has an accent. He knew I was dubbing him and he didn't mind it. I saw him recently in Italy at an event where we both won an award. Other actors think they should dub themselves and they shouldn't (laughs). During the big boom of Italian cinema, nobody dubbed their own voice. Even Marcello Mastroianni was dubbed and he had a beautiful voice. It wasn't till later that you'd hear the actor's real voice.

V5: Do you know Michael Forrest? He was a voiceover artist as well; famously as being Maurizio Merli's English dubber.

GS: Michael is wonderful. A funny story about him: he's the dead guy in the bed in Madonna's BODY OF EVIDENCE (1993). That's Michael Forrest. He made a crack to me once that he'd made love to Madonna the night before. He's made a great living going back and forth between Italy and America and selling his autographs. He did it for years.

V5: When you dub these movies do you ever have any input or problems from the filmmakers?

GS: No, not really. Dubbing pornos was the worst, though. We'd dub the entire film minus the sex portions. When I'd be asked to adapt these things they wouldn't even have a guide track. Some of them would take place in different time periods. I'd desperately try to make them more interesting by playing around with the dialog and they'd come back and tell me, "you can't do that" (laughs).

V5: When did you transition from Italian movies to Japanese anime?

GS: That was when I came back to the US and went to NY to visit friends and I walked around some sound studios and I asked about dubbing and got word about studios in LA. So I went to LA to Intersound and that's where I got onto ROBOTECH (1985). It is still on the air and Sony is about to do a live-action feature of the property. I wrote, directed and supervised ROBOTECH and most of those people are still working and that's been since 1985 when we started that. We're into our third generation of fans. Every once in a while I'm in a store and I put down my email which is Khyron13 and sometimes a 35 year old man will snap up all wide-eyed and ask about it and get really excited. We did CAPTAIN HARLOCK and other oddball feature films. I did a lot of films for Carl Macek of Streamline Pictures. I'm not tooting my own horn, but the reason you have the anime phenomenon today is because of us. Japanese producers tried to give it away back then but nobody wanted it. Carl knew the potential was there and he said, "Look, give me this film, that film, give it to me free, I will pay for the dubbing and distribution, and if it makes any money we'll split it 50/50". And because of the success of things like ROBOTECH, we did CRYING FREEMAN, FIST OF THE NORTH STAR, WICKED CITY, and many others. Everything that said written and directed by Carl it was actually me. Carl did not write till much later. Also, the Japanese will insist we dub their films literally. We'd argue back and forth that you can't say this in English; one example being this title from 2019 called SCIENCE FELL IN LOVE, SO I TRIED TO PROVE IT. They want us to keep all the Japanese stuff in even if you don't understand it. The distributors have bowed down to the hardcore fans who sent us hate mail after taking issue with us for changing things to suit the market. If you give me a film to write and direct I want do it my way because we care about the product. I do a quality of dubbing that nobody else does. I charge double the money. My productions cost twice as much as everybody elses because I spend twice as much time in the studio because ours looks like it's originally made in English. A lot of people think it's an American production.

We dubbed movies from all over the world including Hong Kong and the Philippines. We did the dub for CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN TIGER (2000). They made a bad decision in wanting Chinese accents but the sync is there and it looks like it was shot in English. SO CLOSE (2002) is another. Dubbing Asian movies in the past, they did not give a rats ass. They would pick whoever they could find off the street, from a bar, or wherever, and put them in front of a microphone. I did an animated Korean series THE LEGEND OF BLUE (2002), which was a 26 episode series and we did the first 13 episodes. For the rest, it sounded like they had guys from a bar and that's what it was. We also did the dubbing for THE WORLD OF YOR (YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE [1983]). I dubbed Reb Brown, a California surfer who got into acting. It was shot in English. That scene where he and his woman are coming out of a desert heading towards the ocean, and for some reason Yor knows the sea water is poisonous. She doesn't. She's running towards the water and he yells out, "Don't go in the water it'll make you dead!" We tried for an hour to come up with any phrase to replace that line and couldn't do it.

V5: What's the most memorable thing you've done and a project you wish you'd never participated in?

GS: Actually there's a TV series I dubbed I'm proud of called SQAUDRA ANTIMAFIA (2009-2016). It's a good copy of an American cop show. I put it on Free TV dubbed and we did a very good job. Nobody has a clue that show was dubbed. When the studio brought it to the lab to make the master copy they were waiting for it and the engineer running the machine said there was something wrong, that in some places it looks like a frame was out of sync. He had no idea it was an Italian production dubbed into English.

Something I wish I hadn't done... I'd say any of the Italian exploitation things were pretty bad. If you can at least finish the film it can generally make its money back. There was an Italian producer who made the worst, most ghastly exploitation films who went out of business. That's how bad those were. He produced lots of things shot in the South American jungle; didn't want to pay the crew nor the cast and some would walk off the set. Some of these guys would have an allergy towards payment. I did a bunch of films for another guy, and after the third job I'd say, "I'd like to get paid now". And he'd start shaking like he had no intentions on paying us. Another producer was paying people to steal copies of films. He'd pay for the dub and distribute the film, but they were films he did not have the rights to. When we found that out we dropped everything and fled. This guy is still in the film industry in a different capacity, still working, and never went to jail.

A huge thanks to Mr. Snegoff for giving his time for this interview. We wish him continued success in all his future endeavors.

SHE (1983) is one of the most bewildering, rule-breaking motion pictures; that description possibly being key to its growing cult status. It's even more odd in that director and writer Avi Nesher is one of Israel's most famous filmmakers. His work has been the subject of retrospectives and festivals in recent years. In one example, some of his acclaimed and award-winning films (like 1979s THE TROUPE; 1984s RAGE & GLORY) shared the screen with the likes of the oddball SHE at a festival at the Olamot Center in Indiana University. A selection of his serious, dramatic works rubbing elbows with a raucous, rebelliously nonsensical movie is as jarring as anything in the film itself.

 

Nesher's unbridled approach was possibly the reason the film never found a distributor for a US theatrical release. However, it was released to theaters around the world in European territories and the Middle East (where Nesher's name was listed as the pseudonymous Anthony Johnson). According to film historian Chris Poggiali, the picture was never submitted for an MPAA rating. Completed in 1983, SHE went straight to video in America, released on the Lightning Video label in 1985. 

The first time I saw SHE (1983) was around 1985 or 1986. It was on this channel out of Greensboro, NC. WGGT-TV48 was a monster kid's dream network. Monster and fantasy and kung fu movies were on any day during the week, and particularly on the weekends. This Saturday program called Billy Bob's Action Theater hosted by Billy Bob (basically a local version of Ernest P. Worrell) aired the three aforementioned genres, and night SHE was the evening's entertainment. I was ten or eleven and found it to be one of the strangest movies I'd ever seen. Several years later I'd purchase a used VHS of the Lightning Video release; then came the Italian Storm DVD; and now, finally, the belated blu-ray release in the United States where the film will hopefully garner a new, wider audience.

SHE is one of those movies you'll either enjoy the hell out of it, or find it among the most ludicrous cinematic experiences you've ever had. SHE is episodic, lacking traditional narrative technique, has a rockin' soundtrack, packed with sight gags and graffiti littering near every frame, and wears its bad movie badge with pride--daring the audience to like it. Whether you find it one of the worst movies ever made or one of the greatest unsung cult items seldom seen, SHE (1983) is certainly worth getting to know better.

***ADDENDUM: A few weeks ago, David Traylor (Xenon in the movie) got in touch with me and did an interview where he discussed his career including working on SHE. You can read that interview HERE.***

This review is representative of the Kino Lorber blu-ray. Specs and extras: 1080p 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen; interview with director Avi Nesher; theatrical trailer; running time: 01:44:53