American Hot Wax
Encyclopedia
American Hot Wax is a 1978 biopic film directed by Floyd Mutrux
Floyd Mutrux
Floyd Mutrux is an American stage and film director, writer, producer, and screenwriter.- Career :He began his work in Hollywood as an uncredited writer for Two-Lane Blacktop...

 and written by John Kaye
John Kaye (screenwriter)
John Kaye is an American screenwriter, novelist and playwright. His feature credits as a screenwriter include American Hot Wax, Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins and Where the Buffalo Roam. He also directed the feature film Forever Lulu, starring Melanie Griffith and Patrick Swayze. A graduate of U.C...

 telling the story of Cleveland disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...

 Alan Freed
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...

, who was instrumental in introducing and popularizing rock 'n' roll in the 1950s. Freed is often credited with coining the term "Rock 'n' Roll." The film starred Tim McIntire
Tim McIntire
Tim McIntire was an American character actor, probably most famous for his portrayal of disc jockey Alan Freed in the film American Hot Wax...

 as Freed, as well as Fran Drescher
Fran Drescher
Francine Joy "Fran" Drescher is an American film and television actress, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer, author, singer, talk show host, political lobbyist and health activist...

, Laraine Newman
Laraine Newman
Laraine Newman is an American comedienne, actress, and writer, and was part of the original Saturday Night Live cast.-Personal life:...

, Melanie Chartoff
Melanie Chartoff
Melanie Chartoff is an American actress. Among her most prominent roles are her voice role in Rugrats, her comedic work on the ABC series Fridays from 1980–1982, and on the early 1990s Fox sitcom Parker Lewis Can't Lose....

, and Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...

 in supporting roles, Moosie Drier
Moosie Drier
Moosie Drier is an American television and film actor known for his voice that sounded like someone with a head cold. His career began as a child actor...

 in a warmly reviewed performance as the head of a Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...

 fan club, and a walk-on part by a teen-aged Cameron Crowe
Cameron Crowe
Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American screenwriter and film director. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes....

. It also featured performances by Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...

, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...

, Frankie Ford
Frankie Ford
Frankie Ford is an American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer.He is the adopted son of Vincent and Anna Guzzo, who named him Francis Guzzo. He was born in Gretna, Louisiana, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans, where he still lives...

, Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Jalacy Hawkins , best known as Screamin' Jay Hawkins was an American musician, singer, and actor...

 and the Brooklyn Dreams
Brooklyn Dreams (group)
The Brooklyn Dreams was a successful singing group of the late 1970s and early 1980s mixing R&B harmonies with contemporary dance/disco music and best-known for a number of collaborations with singer Donna Summer. The band consisted of Joe "Bean" Esposito, Eddie Hokenson and Bruce Sudano...

 performed as "Professor La Plano and The Planotones". The film was never officially released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

 or DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

, but the full film is currently viewable on Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

.

A&M Records released a 2-record soundtrack featuring the Brooklyn Paramount performances from the movie on Record 1 (in stereo) and original recordings used throughout the film on Record 2 (all in mono). The soundtrack reached #31 on the Billboard charts.

Producer Art Linson
Art Linson
Art Linson is an American film producer, director and screenwriter.He was born in Chicago, Illinois. His directorial debut was the 1980 comedy, Where the Buffalo Roam, which was loosely based on stories by Hunter S. Thompson and starred Bill Murray as the writer...

 discusses the movie's production and its failure at the box office in his book What Just Happened? Bitter Hollywood Tales from the Front Line.

Cast

  • Tim McIntire
    Tim McIntire
    Tim McIntire was an American character actor, probably most famous for his portrayal of disc jockey Alan Freed in the film American Hot Wax...

     -- Alan Freed
    Alan Freed
    Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...

  • Fran Drescher
    Fran Drescher
    Francine Joy "Fran" Drescher is an American film and television actress, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer, author, singer, talk show host, political lobbyist and health activist...

     -- Sheryl
  • Jay Leno
    Jay Leno
    James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...

     -- Mookie
  • Laraine Newman
    Laraine Newman
    Laraine Newman is an American comedienne, actress, and writer, and was part of the original Saturday Night Live cast.-Personal life:...

     -- Teenage Louise
  • Moosie Drier
    Moosie Drier
    Moosie Drier is an American television and film actor known for his voice that sounded like someone with a head cold. His career began as a child actor...

     -- Artie Moress
  • Jeff Altman
    Jeff Altman
    Jeff Altman is an American stand-up comedian who has appeared as a guest on Late Show with David Letterman 40 times, most recently on October 7, 2011. He has also had numerous acting roles in movies and television such as Dr...

     -- Lennie Richfield
  • John Lehne -- D.A. Coleman
  • Richard Perry
    Richard Perry
    Richard Perry is an American music producer. Perry began as a performer in his adolescence, but shifted gears after graduating college and rose through the late 1960s and early 1970s to become a highly successful and popular record producer with over a dozen gold records to his credit by 1982...

     -- Record producer


Performers
  • Chuck Berry
    Chuck Berry
    Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...

     -- Himself
  • Jerry Lee Lewis
    Jerry Lee Lewis
    Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...

     -- Himself
  • Screamin' Jay Hawkins
    Screamin' Jay Hawkins
    Jalacy Hawkins , best known as Screamin' Jay Hawkins was an American musician, singer, and actor...

     -- Himself
  • Frankie Ford
    Frankie Ford
    Frankie Ford is an American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer.He is the adopted son of Vincent and Anna Guzzo, who named him Francis Guzzo. He was born in Gretna, Louisiana, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans, where he still lives...

     -- Himself
  • Charles Greene
    Charles Greene
    Charles Edward Greene is a former American athlete, winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics....

     -- Chuck Otis


The Chesterfields
  • Carl Earl Weaver
  • Al Chalk
    Al Chalk
    Al Chalk is an African American voice actor. He has voiced thousands of movie trailers, TV promos, commercials, and other audio presentations. He has also appeared on-camera in Hollywood films and television programs....

  • Sam Harkness
  • Arnold McCuller
    Arnold McCuller
    Arnold McCuller is an American vocalist, record producer, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. While establishing his own career as a singer, and working as a very busy session musician, McCuller has become best known for his work as a back-up singer for famous artists with long careers, including...



The Delights
  • Stephanie Spruill
  • Joyce King
    Joyce King
    Joyce A. King was an Australian sprinter. She was born in Sydney.In 1948, she won the Australian national championships over 100 yards and 220 yards....

  • Yolanda Howard
  • Brenda Russell
    Brenda Russell
    Brenda Russell is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboardist. Known for her eclectic musical style, her recordings have encompassed several different genres, including pop, soul, dance, jazz and adult contemporary...



Timmy & The Tulips
  • Charles Irwin
    Charles Irwin
    Charles Irwin VC was born in Manorhamilton, County Leitrim and was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:Irwin was approximately 33 years old, and a...

     -- Timmy
  • Jeanne Sheffield
  • Jo Ann Harris
    Jo Ann Harris
    Jo Ann Harris is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles, she is known for her role in the film The Beguiled as the sultry 17-year-old Carol who seduces Clint Eastwood's character. Harris had a small singing role in Newsies as "Patrick's mother", the woman searching for her son in the first part...



The Planotones
  • Kenny Vance
    Kenny Vance
    Kenny Vance is an American singer and music producer who was an original member of Jay and the Americans....

     -- Professor La Plano
  • Joe Esposito
    Joe Esposito
    Joe Esposito or Joseph Esposito may refer to:*Joe Esposito , Italian-American organized crime figure known as "Diamond Joe"; Sicilian Mafia member active in Prohibition-era Chicago; associate of Al Capone; Republican elected leader of 19th Ward; assassinated*Joe Esposito , American rock concert...

  • Bruce Sudano
    Bruce Sudano
    Bruce Charles Sudano is a singer/songwriter/producer best known for his collaboration with and marriage to singer Donna Summer, and the group he co-founded, Brooklyn Dreams....

  • Ed Hokenson
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