Marilyn Joi

Sweet, sexy and shapely black actress Marilyn Joi greatly enlivened a bunch of enjoyably trashy 1970s drive-in exploitation pictures with her boundless vitality, bubbly, upbeat personality, stunningly gorgeous looks and considerable sex appeal. Joi began her performing career as a popular nightclub dancer, and in fact made her film debut as a nightclub dancer in the solid Fred Williamson blaxploitation vehicle Hammer (1972). She appeared in a handful of features for legendary schlock director Al Adamson: Mean Mother (1973), The Naughty Stewardesses (1973), Blazing Stewardesses (1975), Black Samurai (1976) and Nurse Sherri (1977). Joi's most memorable roles include one of obsessive doctor Richard Basehart's hapless victims in the creepy horror item Mansion of the Doomed (1976); Velvet, a vicious henchwoman of Dyanne Thorne in the splendidly sleazy Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976), Cleopatra Schwartz in the uproarious sketch comedy hoot The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), a high school cheerleader who gets abducted by brutish football players in The Great American Girl Robbery (1979) and a winged bat girl alien in the amusingly goofy sci-fi spoof Galaxina (1980). Moreover, Marilyn did guest spots on such TV series as Hill Street Blues (1981), Hunter (1984), Good Times (1974), Starsky and Hutch (1975) and Charlie's Angels (1976). She also acted under the pseudonyms Ineda King, T.A. King, Tracy Ann King, Tracy-Ann King and Tracy King. "Players" magazine cited Marilyn as "America's Favorite Black Poster Girl" in 1980 and deemed her one of "America's Ten Sexiest Black Women" two years later.