Celebrating A Cult Movie Queen From The Golden Age Of Drive-Ins!
All year long, I will be focusing on great Actresses across all decades of cult cinema, swinging a spotlight on some of the great performances in “drive-in” and “grindhouse” theaters!
Tiffany Bolling had a great run of exploitation cinema gems – let’s take a look at her life and career!
She was born Tiffany Royce Kral in 1949 in Santa Monica, California.
Tiffany’s Melodic Start!
Bolling achieved a modest level of success in music before jumping into exploitation film.
According to the terrific IMDB.com bio:
Tiffany attended Webster elementary school in Malibu. She began singing in coffee houses at age 16 and recorded an album for Canyon Records, scoring a minor hit single with the Vietnam protest song “Thank God the War is Over”.
She got her start with an uncredited role in the 1967 Frank Sinatra film “Tony Rome” and was quoted in IMDB.com about her relationship with Frank Sinatra when she was just 18 years old:
“He’s a king. I mean I think he’s a great guy. I got involved with him, and ended up leaving the relationship. I fell in love with an out-of-work actor, so I left this possible potential huge career with this fabulous human being for this out-of-work actor. But you know, when you’re eighteen years old, you don’t know what’s going on. You just want to go for compulsivity, so to speak.”
Aside from her tryst with Sinatra, Tiffany first gained a bit of fame when she appeared in a 1972 Playboy pictorial,
She was featured along with several other early 70’s “sex kittens” in articles about up and coming cult Actresses.
This appears to be one such story about a number of Actresses at the time. According to IMDB.com, Claudia Jennings attended Bolling’s wedding, and that appears to be the actress in the lower left:
Jennings had a memorable film career at the same time as Bolling – but she also had a tragic end…here is her story:
As for Bolling, she then embarked on a series of great cult films like these:
Who Wants To See “The Centerfold Girls?”
The answer: We all do! They were the world’s most beautiful women, and everyone desired them – except for one man:
“He was their Judge…Jury…and EXECUTIONER!”
Gorgeous women being hunted down – until one fights back – and that was, of course, Tiffany!
With that, let’s take a look at the 1974 sexploitation thriller!
Check out the trailer:
Here’s the plot: enter the world of the “Centerfold.” Beautiful women like Tiffany who bare all for fame.
Bolling is one of the models who discovers that she has more than a “Secret” admirer – she has a murderous stalker!
Yes, there’s a killer on the loose, preying on these beautiful “Centerfold Girls” one at a time!
You see, a depraved religious fanatic sets out to punish all these “immoral” women – once they take it off he hunts them down!
All of the dead Models were centerfolds for a popular men’s magazine, and police realize they are being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty psychotic with a straight razor – played with a frenzied relish by Andrew Prine!
This was a thriller that actually had strong performances and an interesting plot – a well done slasher film that follows a traditional pattern at first:
There is plenty of nudity and violence in the film as the Psychopath hunts down his prey.
At one point however, the women fight back, led by Tiffany!
Bolling goes from sex kitten to empowered fighter – and it turns the film upside down at the end!
“The Centerfold Girls” is a gritty, sleazy 70’s thriller, and worth a watch!
Here’s another great effort from Tiffany:
This is actually a very well done movie about two sisters who have a plan to swindle their mobster Uncle!
Check out the trailer:
Robin Mattson played her sister in the film and does a great job – you can see more of her career here:
Back to Tiffany: she made a very provocative thriller around this time as well – and she says it’s the one film she regrets making, so let’s have a look!
“What Are They Doing To Candy?”
“The Candy Snatchers” is one of the grittiest 70’s exploitation movies ever! And one that lead Actress Tiffany Bolling, regretted making!
Here is the plot of “The Candy Snatchers”:
16-year old “Candy” Philips (Susan Sennet, wife of singer Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills and Nash) is brutally abducted and buried alive in the hills of Southern California by a trio of amateur criminals hoping for a hasty ransom exchange.
Here is the trailer:
“Take it easy, baby! You’re just bein’ kidnapped.”
Can’t argue with that!
Of course, nothing goes to plan, and the kidnappers have to plot more extreme ways to get their money…it’s a gritty grindhouse film that echoes the stark griminess of “The Last House On The Left.”
According to wikipedia, Bolling disowned the film:
“Actress Tiffany Bolling has stated that she later came to regret making the film and that she had only done it for a paycheck. She further commented that “I was doing cocaine…and I didn’t really know what I was doing, and I was very angry about the way that my career had gone in the industry…the opportunities that I had and had not been given…. The hardest thing for me, as I look back on it, was I had done a television series, The New People, and so I had a lot of young people who really respected me and… revered me as something of a hero, and then I came out with this stupid Candy Snatchers movie… It was a horrendous experience.”
That said, Tiffany did take part in a special edition release of the film, where she gave an interview to discuss the film and her part in it! Bravo to her!
Bolling was also in a movie that seems like a precursor to the new “Babylon” film!
“The Wild Party” was a gritty look at “Hollywood Babylon”, and the trailer feels very similar to the one for “Babylon.”
Take a look:
Along with Tiffany, the film starred Raquel Welch, the reigning “sex kitten” of that era:
What an Icon!
You can see some of her best films here:
As for Tiffany, she also starred in one of the great guilty pleasures of the 70’s, along with William Shatner!
Lots of film and TV work continued to Tiffany, including this erotic drama from the early 80’s:
“Loves Scenes” in 1984 also starred Britt Eklund, perhaps best known for this wild movie moment:
She performed a wild, nude dance in “The Wicker Man” – or did she?
Click here for the controversial story!
I mentioned that Bolling started as a singer and guess what?
Tiffany ended up releasing an album of music as well!
Bravo to Tiffany for a great career!
And speaking of music:
Actress / Model Jeane Manson ended up as a musical Artist as well!
See her story here:
I also shared the story of another popular young Actress of that era:
Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith appeared in a number of cult films like an X-rated version of “Cinderella” – sadly she had a tragic life…see my homage to her here:
And speaking of X-rated fairy tales, the 70’s had several, including this musical!
Kristine DeBell has gone on record with the only “naughty” things she did in the film, which was released in an X-rated, R-rated and a XXX-rated edition!
See the story here:
If you like these stories, and don’t want to miss any of my “2023 Sex Kitten Countdown”, then go to my website’s front page and sign on to follow me – there are NO ads at all, just lots of stories to come about the wild world of exploitation and cult films!
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Categories: 70's Films, Artsploitation, Books / Media, Classic Action Films, Cult Classics, Exploitation Films, Extreme Cinema, Grindhouse, JRsploitation, Nudity, sex kittens, Sexploitation Films, Talent / Celebrites
JR-Sploitation! 
I saw Tony Rome at the cinema, but had no idea he had a relationship with Tiffany.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, I just watched “Tony Rome” for the first time..I liked it, nothing special but fun to watch Frank trying a bit more than usual!
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I thought it was so-so, but back then I went to the cinema all the time, so didn’t mind.
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Hi… How about a story on cute 1979 Playmate Missy Cleveland? She was a probable murder victim in 2001 after being on drugs for years… Duane Quinn DQuinn888@Gmail.com
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Thanks for the suggestion!
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Candy Snatchers is great!
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