Robert Kerman

pornographic acting career during what is considered to be the "golden age" period of the porn film industry during the mid-1970s to the early/mid-1980s. As R. Bolla (or Richard Bolla, a pun on slang terms for penis and testicles), he appeared in well over 100 pornographic films, most famously Debbie Does Dallas (1978).^[2] He was one of few adult performers to have an appreciable mainstream acting career, with a leading role as Professor Harold Monroe in the controversial horror film Cannibal Holocaust

New York City, New York,^[1] he grew up in a middle-class Italian neighborhood of Bensonhurst.^[2] Kerman graduated from Brooklyn College in 1970.^[3][4] While in college, he began his acting career and appeared in numerous Off-Broadway plays.^[3][4] Later he also studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.^[4]

Mangiati Vivi and Cannibal Ferox.^[4] Still, he remained active in pornography throughout the first half of the decade, with roles including Lawyer Quim in Liquid A$$ets (1982), and Fritz von Holenwohl in the Henri Pachard directed Public Affairs (1984). In 1985, attempting to work solely in mainstream productions, he obtained a Hollywood agent and went on to play supporting roles in television series such as Hill Street Blues and Simon & Simon. In 1987 he appeared in the film No Way Out. However, he also continued to appear in pornographic cinema and was dropped by his agent. Unable to find work and feeling betrayed, he slid into years of depression and substance abuse.^[2][5]

DVD commentary for Cannibal Holocaust (in interview with Sage Stallone and Bob Murawski), Kerman described film director Ruggero Deodato as "remorseless" and "uncaring". Incensed by the realization during filming that an animal's death was not being faked, Kerman physically tackled the director and stormed off the set. He was not present when other animals, including a coatimundi, were killed.^[6] Kerman was also a guest for the film's 35th-anniversary screening at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Yonkers, New York, on February 28, 2015.^[7]