Actor, Songwriter. Born in New York City, he began his career as a musician-songwriter for Shalimar Music in 1957. That same year he released his first recording, "All Shook Up", which later became a major hit for Elvis Presley. He continued to write songs throughout the 1960s, including "Start Movin" for Sal Mineo, "Rockin' Shoes" for the Ames Brothers, "I Got Stung", which was later covered by The Beatles, "Frankie and Johnny", "Come Along", "Make Me Know You're Mine", recorded by Elvis, and "Your Hand, Your Heart, Your Love", a hit for Andy Williams in 1963. In 1969 Hess became head manager of Artist and Repertoire (A&R) at Mercury Records in New York and teamed up with classical composer John Corigliano. Together they wrote "The Naked Carmen" (1970) and won the Best Rock Opera Grammy Award. He also recorded the solo albums "Live & Unplugged in Hollywood, 2002" (2002) and "Caught Up In The Moment" (2002), which had the Top 10 folk hit single "Two Brothers". Turning to feature films, he debuted in the starring role as Krug Stilo in the classic slasher "Last House on the Left" (1972). He went on to play a horror villain in nearly 40 movies, such as "The Naked Prey" (1977), "Swamp Thing" (1982), "Let's Get Harry" (1986), "Fallen Angels" (2006) and "Smash Cut" (2009). For television, he appeared on "The Fall Guy", "Beretta", "Knight Rider", "The A-Team" and "Armed and Dangerous". He died of a heart attack at age 69.
Actor, Songwriter. Born in New York City, he began his career as a musician-songwriter for Shalimar Music in 1957. That same year he released his first recording, "All Shook Up", which later became a major hit for Elvis Presley. He continued to write songs throughout the 1960s, including "Start Movin" for Sal Mineo, "Rockin' Shoes" for the Ames Brothers, "I Got Stung", which was later covered by The Beatles, "Frankie and Johnny", "Come Along", "Make Me Know You're Mine", recorded by Elvis, and "Your Hand, Your Heart, Your Love", a hit for Andy Williams in 1963. In 1969 Hess became head manager of Artist and Repertoire (A&R) at Mercury Records in New York and teamed up with classical composer John Corigliano. Together they wrote "The Naked Carmen" (1970) and won the Best Rock Opera Grammy Award. He also recorded the solo albums "Live & Unplugged in Hollywood, 2002" (2002) and "Caught Up In The Moment" (2002), which had the Top 10 folk hit single "Two Brothers". Turning to feature films, he debuted in the starring role as Krug Stilo in the classic slasher "Last House on the Left" (1972). He went on to play a horror villain in nearly 40 movies, such as "The Naked Prey" (1977), "Swamp Thing" (1982), "Let's Get Harry" (1986), "Fallen Angels" (2006) and "Smash Cut" (2009). For television, he appeared on "The Fall Guy", "Beretta", "Knight Rider", "The A-Team" and "Armed and Dangerous". He died of a heart attack at age 69.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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