William A. Grefé was born on the 17th of May, 1930, in Miami, Florida.
He is an American filmmaker, best known for his low-budget ‘Grindhouse’ horror films.
Prior to his career as a director and writer, William initially wanted to become an actor, having won the Florida State Dramatic Contest and performed at the Woodstock Maverick Playhouse, where he starred alongside Lee Marvin. The start of the Korean War dissuaded him to continue chasing an acting career and he joined the U.S. Navy. After completing his service, he enrolled with the Miami Fire Department and when he wasn’t on call, he used his spare time to write scripts. His first break in the industry came when his screenplay “The Checkered Flag” (1963) was purchased for the big screen. During pre-production, Grefé was ultimately drafted in to direct the picture, after the first choice director collapsed on the first day of filming. The film was a financial success and this led to another racing story with “Racing Fever” (1964), which was based on the real life hydroplane racer Ezio Selva, who died during a race at Miami Beach in 1957, while William was watching from the shore.
By 1966, Grefé had written and directed a series of successful low-budget horror films including “Sting of Death” and “Death Curse of Tartu”, with both films being shown as double features in drive-in theatres. This was followed by “The Devil’s Sisters” (1966), “The Wild Rebels” (1967), “The Hooked Generation” (1968) and “The Psychedelic Priest” (1969). During the 1970’s, his career evolved significantly with the production of “Stanley” (1970), which incidentally grossed only $6,000 less than “The Godfather” on the opening weekend in Los Angeles. At the time, William was also the president of the Ivan Tors Studio in Florida, which was the one of the biggest studios on the East Coast.
In 1972, William was involved with Roger Moore’s first outing as James Bond in “Live & Let Die”. Working with noted underwater cinematographer Jordan Klein Sr. and 007 adventure veteran John ‘Big John’ McLaughlin, Grefé was tasked with directing the underwater shark scenes that are shown in the film’s climax. A few years later, by a stroke of luck, he was walking through Miami airport with producer Socrates Ballis when they saw William Shatner. The pair boldly approached Shatner and pitched their upcoming production “Impulse” and the star duly accepted the role, starring as the lead character, a serial killer named Matt Stone. Several years later Grefé wrote, produced and directed “Mako: The Jaws of Death” (1976), starring Richard Jaeckel, Jennifer Bishop and Buffy Dee.
His final feature-length direction was the action-crime-horror “Whiskey Mountain” in 1977, after which he was hired by the world renowned rum maker ‘Bacardi’, to produce their promotional films. This included “Bacardi: The Mixed One” (1978), which shows William Shatner and Marcy Lafferty taking a break from filming on location in Puerto Rico as they are taken on a tour of the Bacardi rum distillery. William ended up making 25 short films for the company.
As a producer, William produced several of his own films such as “Racing Fever” (1964), “The Naked Zoo” (1970) and “Stanley” (1974). Later in his career he also produced “Cease Fire” in 1985 and “Masterblaster” (1987).
Now retired, he still enjoys sharing his experience and knowledge to the new generation of filmmakers.
Prior to the production of "Live & Let Die", William Grefé met Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman at the Cannes Film Festival and it was there that he was asked to directed the planned underwater shark scenes for the film.
Having worked for Ivan Tors for several years, Grefé was experienced with filming wild animals. He was therefore tasked with directing the underwater shark scenes, which were filmed just off the coast of Florida around the islands of Bimini, in The Bahamas.
William also assisted the sequence involving Ross Kananga (as James Bond) at the crocodile farm in Jamaica.
The photograph displayed below was signed by William Grefé for the collection of Steve Oxenrider in August of 2005.
Signed memorabilia by William are reasonably scarce, particularly on James Bond material.
He is however, a good signer for fans and always enjoys talking about his extensive career.
A deleted sequence for "Live & Let Die" involved James Bond using his shark gun to kill a shark while on the boat with Quarrel Jr. and Rosie.
"Live & Let Die" is not the only association which William Grefé has with the world of James Bond. In 1974, while in Tampa, Florida, William approached Harold 'Oddjob' Sakata who was wrestling at a local event. The "Goldfinger" villain was ultimately cast as Karate Pete in "Impulse", and then again in "Mako: The Jaws of Death" (1976) as a character also named Pete.
Quentin Tarantino is a great admirer of William's work.
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