Paul Bartel Appreciation Thread

With the DEATH RACE remake just around the corner, I thought this would be appropriate.

From Wikipedia:

"Bartel was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jesse and William Bartel, who was an advertising executive.[1] Bartel was openly gay and this influenced his career choices as he found himself more accepted and afforded more opportunities within the independent film industry than he would have in Hollywood.[2]

Bartel also appeared as an actor in several films. Some of his other well known cameos were in the 1975 cult film Death Race 2000, which he also directed, and the 1979 cult classic Rock 'n' Roll High School alongside Eating Raoul co-star Mary Woronov. Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov appeared together in approximately 17 different film roles, including Joe Dante's Hollywood Boulevard (1976), and Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989), another kinky cult comedy directed by Paul Bartel. In the 1986 horror flick Chopping Mall, Bartel and Woronov's characters are named Paul and Mary Bland, the same names as their characters in Eating Raoul.

Bartel made an appearance in Tim Burton's short film Frankenweenie as Victor's science teacher. Bartel directed ten movies, mostly low-budget comedies that he was hired to direct after the success of Eating Raoul. He sometimes contributed to the writing of these movies as well. A typical Bartel film of this period stars one or more "B-list" celebrities, includes modest sexual content (often presented ironically), a song and dance routine, and a cameo by Bartel himself.

He also made many guest appearances on TV shows. Bartel died May 13, 2000 of a heart attack, following liver cancer surgery two weeks prior. He was 61.

The Belgian horror movie Calvaire paid a tribute to the actor and director: the mad innkeeper is called Paul Bartel."

His films as a director include DEATH RACE 2000, CANNONBALL, EATING RAOUL, and PRIVATE PARTS (my favorite of his films).

His acting credits include GRAND THEFT AUTO, PIRANHA, FRANKENWEENIE, ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL, CHOPPING MALL, AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, CADDYSHACK 2 and his own EATING RAOUL.

I have been a fan of his for years and hopefully the remake of DEATH RACE will inspire a few people to check out his films. Hopefully.

I dig Bartel.

Love DEATH RACE 2000 & his CANNONBALL (which seems to be on cable just about every day) is pretty fun too.

Been wanting to see PRIVATE PARTS for a long time.
They had a pretty cool retro of it in Fango a couple of years ago.

Absolutely love him as an actor too!

He always cracks me up.

He and Mary Woronov made a great team.

He expired before churning out some more quality films. Nevertheless, he will remain one of the best. Eating Raoul is a title I hold in high regard. DR2K is a given.