Take a look at the IMDb staff picks for the best movies and series coming in August.

Staff Picks: What to Watch in August

Check out our calendar of everything coming to streaming during the month of August.

August 2025 TV and Streaming Premiere Dates

Check out the latest posters and stills coming out of this year's San Diego Comic-Con!

SDCC 2025: The Latest (and Greatest) Posters & Stills

Check out the latest posters and stills coming out of this year&#39;s San Diego Comic-Con!

David Alexander Hess was born in New York City in 1936. He began his professional career as a songwriter for Shalimar Music, in 1957, under the pseudonym of David Hill. His first recording was a quick hit, which was later performed by and credited to Elvis Presley, "All Shook Up."

David went on to compose "Start Movin'" for Sal Mineo and "Rockin' Shoes" for the The Ames Brothers. He continued to write songs for Elvis throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including "I Got Stung," "Come Along" (from the film "Frankie And Johnny"), and "Sand Castles" (from the film "Paradise, Hawaiian Style"). He also wrote "Make Me Know You're Mine" (first performed by Conway Twitty, and "Blue Lagoon." "Your Hand, Your Heart, Your Love" became a 1960s hit when it was performed by Andy Williams. In 1963 David wrote and recorded "Speedy Gonzalez," which became a #1 single for Pat Boone, selling more than eight million copies worldwide. David then recorded two solo albums for Kapp Records, again topping the charts, this time with a Top Ten folk hit called "Two Brothers."

In 1969 he became head of A&R at Mercury Records in New York. There he linked up with Western classical composer John Corigliano, and together they wrote the Grammy award-winning rock opera "The Naked Carmen", which became a big hit of the Berlin Ballet Week in 1970. David's work with Mercury also included "And the Children Toll the Passing of the Day," a 1969 album he wrote for Irish actor Malachy McCourt.

In 1972 his career split off into several new directions with his starring role in the Wes Craven horror classic The Last House on the Left (1972), for which he also composed the soundtrack. He went on to score Buck ai confini del cielo (1991), a children's film based on a collection of Jack London stories. It won the top prize for film and direction at the Giffone Film Festival. A subsequent job offer from PolyGram Records' German affiliate gave David the opportunity to move to Munich, Germany, and a multilingual career in film dubbing from 1972 to 1976, which in turn led him to write the English-language shooting scripts for such German greats as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Reinhard Hauff and his present collaborator, Peter Schamoni.

His ability to switch seamlessly from in front of the camera to the production team earned him the opportunity to direct his first American feature film, To All a Goodnight (1980), for Media Home Entertainment in 1980. He also appeared in two low-budget horror films directed by Ruggero Deodato, House on the Edge of the Park (1980) and Body Count (1986).

In 1991 he played the part of the American in Peter Schamoni's Max Ernst: Mein Vagabundieren - Meine Unruhe (1991). From 1993 to 1995 he produced Niki de Saint Phalle (1996).

David's final musical accomplishments included the release of two albums, "Caught Up In The Moment" and "Live & Unplugged in Hollywood, 2002." He lived in Southern California, just outside of Los Angeles, with his wife, with whom he had three children.

David Hess died on 7 October, 2011.

(March 2005) Plays Sheriff Hughes, others in &quot;Dessa Rose&quot; musical by <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0014326/?ref_=nmwrk">Lynn Ahrens</a> and <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0280906/?ref_=nmwrk">Stephen Flaherty</a> (Lincoln Center Theater at the Mitzi E. Newhouse, New York City, New York).

Album: &quot;Caught Up in the Moment&quot;

Album: &quot;Live and Unplugged in Hollywood, 2002&quot;

Album: &quot;Last House on the Left&quot; (1999/Rock Bottom Rules)

Album: &quot;(Climbing Up The) Sunshine Path&quot; (2005/Diggler Records)

(2007) He acted in the musical, &quot;Shenandoah,&quot; at the Marriott Theatre in Chicago, Illinois with David H. Bell (director) and Doug Peck (musical director) in the crew.

(March 11 to April 6, 2008) He acted in the musical, &quot;Sweeney Todd,&quot; in a Taper Subscription Production at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California with Judy Kaye in the cast. Stephen Sondheim was composer and lyricist. Hugh Wheeler wrote the book. Christopher Bond was adapter. Sarah Travis was music director. John Doyle was director and designer.

Other works

David Hess

Contribute to this page

More from this person

More to explore

Recently viewed