Doris Wishman

Doris Wishman—man, what a character. Born smack in the middle of New York City back in 1912, she grew up surrounded by all that chaos and excitement, and honestly, you can kind of see that wild energy in her films. She wasn’t just some run-of-the-mill director, either; Doris had this knack for pushing the envelope, making movies that left people scratching their heads or blushing—or both. Movies like “Satan Was a Lady” (that title alone, right?), “Nude on the Moon,” and “Keyholes Are for Peeping” totally sum up her style: cheeky, bold, and a little bit out there. She had this way of taking taboo stuff and just running with it—like, who else would make a movie about nudists on the moon in 1961? That takes guts and a pretty wild imagination. Doris didn’t just sit behind the camera, either. She produced her own stuff, hustling to get her quirky ideas onto the screen, no matter what anyone thought. Folks in the industry didn’t always get her, but honestly, she didn’t care. She did her own thing, and there’s something kinda legendary about that. Outside of the movie biz, her personal life was a bit of a rollercoaster, too. She had two husbands—Louis Silverman and Jack Abrahms—and bounced around from New York to Miami, where she eventually passed away in 2002. Still, her films are out there, just waiting for someone to stumble onto them and get swept up in that offbeat, slightly rebellious vibe she brought to everything she touched. Doris Wishman: definitely not your typical filmmaker, and the world’s more interesting for it.