Maria Rohm
Nude

Maria Rohm, born Helga Grohmann in Vienna, Austria, was as daring as she was gorgeous—especially considering she was committing some groundbreaking nudity in feature films for over a decade, from 1965-1976. The 5’6” actress, a nubile and beautiful woman, auditioned for the legendary Harry Alan Towers when she was just 18. The British radio and film writer and producer was immediately intrigued with Maria and cast her in one of her first films, an uncredited role in Mozambique (1964). Towers eventually married the ingenue, and, with the exception of two, he was involved with every one of the 27 titles on Maria’s acting resume, as either a writer, producer, or both. And there were some doozies on that CV. Towers focused a lot on low-budget, and low-low-low budget films, so a bit of nakedness wasn’t out of the question. As Helga Martin in The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1967), she was mostly disrobed, but the only private thing revealed was the top of her behind. That changed with Venus In Furs (1969), when her character Wanda Reed shared her breasts, a nice little handful with puffy points. Later that year, the seductive siren took it even further as Juliette in Marquis de Sade: Justine (1969), showing off all sides of her naked figure while bathing in a lake (and trying to drown someone, but that’s neither here nor there). Maria kept up the bare bonanza in The Girl from Rio(1969), 99 Women (1969), and Eugenie… the Story of Her Journey Into Perversion (1970). Despite the less-than-stellar production values of the films, it didn’t stop big-name actors from appearing alongside Maria, and her list of co-stars included the likes of Tony Randall, Orson Wells, Frankie Avalon, Charlton Heston, Vincent Price, and multiple films with Christopher Lee, perhaps best known for his roles in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. When the starlet decided she was done with acting, she joined her husband in producing, and the two became a power couple in the independent features arena. Maria passed away in June 2018 at the age of 72.