Dyanne Thorne obit

Dyanne Thorne, 83, Star of Scandalous ‘Ilsa’ Films, Is Dead

She was a sadistic Nazi doctor in “Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS,” a 1975 sexploitation movie that has achieved cult status, then returned in several sequels. 

She was not on the list.

Dyanne Thorne, who starred as a wicked soldier of fortune in the Naziploitation film Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS and a pair of sequels, has died. She was 83.

Thorne died Jan. 28 of pancreatic cancer while in hospice care in Las Vegas, Howard Maurer, her husband of 44 years and frequent co-star, told The Hollywood Reporter.

After a turn as the Fairy Godmother in the X-rated Pinocchio (1971), Thorne portrayed a warden in a Nazi concentration camp in the waning days of World War II in the lurid She Wolf of the SS (1975), directed by Don Edmonds.

Ilsa subjects her female prisoners to torturous medical experiments to prove they can withstand pain as well as men and thus be able to serve in combat. She also has lots of sex with her male prisoners, and those who don’t satisfy her are castrated.

According to the 2008 book The Porning of America, the movie was made on the Culver City set of the CBS series Hogan’s Heroes, which had recently been canceled.

“The initial torture scene was not in the original script. Not until we showed up on set that day. So I didn’t know they were going to do that scene and [I thought the] little bit that was in the opening of the scene would not be so graphic,” Thorne recalled in a 2011 interview.

“When I did it, they poured the red into the water for the blood and they had me walk around. This was the sweetest actor in the world that they castrated. I must tell you that was probably the most shocking scene in my entire life. And from there it just got one shocking torture right after the other.”

In his review, Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune called Ilsa “the most degenerate picture I have seen to play downtown” and “80 minutes of sado-masochism … [it] plays like a textbook for rapists and mutilation freaks.” He also noted that the movie “is doing terrific business.”

Thorne then starred in the Middle East-set Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976), also directed by Edmonds; Ilsa the Tigress of Siberia (1977), helmed by Jean LaFleur; and Wanda, the Wicked Warden (1977), an unofficial sequel of sorts from Jess Franco.

A native of Greenwich, Connecticut, Thorne sang and appeared on the stage; the theater was her first love, her husband said.

She had walk-ons in the studio films Who Was That Lady? (1960), Love With the Proper Stranger (1963) and The President’s Analyst (1967) and appeared with Robert De Niro in the 1965 short film Encounter and on the second-season Star Trek episode “A Piece of the Action.”

The 1970s also saw Thorne play a wealthy villainess in Point of Terror (1971), star with Anthony Geary in Blood Sabbath (1972) and show up in The Swinging Barmaids (1975), Wam Bam Thank You Spaceman (1975) and Chesty Anderson U.S. Navy (1976).

More recently, she was in the 2013 films House of Forbidden Secrets and House of the Witchdoctor — her husband was in those, too — and Exploitation (2018).

Thorne and Maurer for years ran a business in Las Vegas in which they served as non-denominational reverends to officiate weddings. She wrote scripts and he sang and played keyboards for the ceremonies.

Some clients would ask for an “Ilsa Wedding” — “Ilsa is an icon all over the world,” Maurer pointed out — and she would preside dressed in a military-style costume, with the swastika replaced by an American flag. Occasionally, Thorne and Maurer were flown out of state and even out of the country to perform the marriages, he said.

Actress

Exploitation (2018)

Exploitation

4.0

Dyanne Thorne

2018

 

House of the Witchdoctor (2013)

House of the Witchdoctor

4.2

Rose

2013

 

House of Forbidden Secrets (2013)

House of Forbidden Secrets

4.6

Greta Gristina

2013

 

John Ritter and Jim Belushi in Real Men (1987)

Real Men

6.0

Dad Pirandello

1987

 

Bridget Fonda, John Hurt, Theresa Russell, and James Mathers in Aria (1987)

Aria

5.7

Bride (segment "Liebestod") (as Diane Thorne)

1987

 

La nieve del sur

Madre

1985

 

Space (1985)

Space

7.3

TV Mini Series

Entertainer

1985

1 episode

 

Hellhole (1985)

Hellhole

5.0

Crysta

1985

 

Pleasure Palace (1980)

Pleasure Palace

5.7

TV Movie

1980

 

Cindy Morgan in Up Yours (1979)

Up Yours

4.8

Manicurist (as Penny Walters)

1979

 

Claude Akins, Brian Kerwin, and Mills Watson in The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo (1979)

The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo

6.5

TV Series

Hooker (as Dyanne Thorme)

1979

1 episode

 

Ilsa the Tigress of Siberia (1977)

Ilsa the Tigress of Siberia

4.8

Ilsa

1977

 

Ilsa, the Wicked Warden (1977)

Ilsa, the Wicked Warden

4.5

Greta

1977

 

The Gulag Massacre

Short

Businesswoman

1976

 

Lollipop Palace

5.0

Frenchie (as Frenchie Dior)

1976

 

Chesty Anderson U.S. Navy (1976)

Chesty Anderson U.S. Navy

4.1

Nurse

1976

 

Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976)

Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks

5.0

Ilsa

1976

 

Alias Big Cherry (1975)

Alias Big Cherry

5.4

Callgirl (uncredited)

1975

 

Wam Bam Thank You Spaceman

3.3

Hooker (as Rosalee Stein)

1975

 

Beyond Fulfillment

4.8

Hostess (as Penni Walters)

1975

 

The Swinging Barmaids (1975)

The Swinging Barmaids

5.3

Boo-Boo

1975

 

Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975)

Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS

5.1

Ilsa

1975

 

Blood Sabbath (1972)

Blood Sabbath

4.1

Alotta, Queen of Witches

1972

 

Snatched Women

5.0

Kidnap Victim in Black Wig (uncredited)

1971

 

Point of Terror (1971)

Point of Terror

3.8

Andrea Hilliard

1971

 

Alex Roman in Pinocchio (1971)

Pinocchio

3.7

Fairy Godmother

1971

 

Love Me Like I Do (1970)

Love Me Like I Do

5.2

The Wife

1970

 

Walter Koenig, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, George Takei, and Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek (1966)

Star Trek

8.4

TV Series

First Girl

1968

1 episode

 

James Coburn in The President's Analyst (1967)

The President's Analyst

6.8

Cocktail Waitress (uncredited)

1967

 

The Felony Squad (1966)

The Felony Squad

7.5

TV Series

Miss Lucas

Diana Porter

1966

2 episodes

 

Robert Loggia in T.H.E. Cat (1966)

T.H.E. Cat

8.2

TV Series

Bit Part (uncredited)

1966–1967

 

Encounter

6.3

Short

Wicked Lady

1965

 

The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1965)

The Wackiest Ship in the Army

7.4

TV Series

Bit Part (uncredited)

1965–1966

 

Sin in the Suburbs (1964)

Sin in the Suburbs

6.1

Yvette Talman (as Lahna Monroe)

1964

 

Love with the Proper Stranger (1963)

Love with the Proper Stranger

7.2

Musician (uncredited)

1963

 

Lash of Lust

8.6

Claudia

1962

 

Car 54, Where Are You? (1961)

Car 54, Where Are You?

7.7

TV Series

Extra (uncredited)

1961–1963

 

Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, and Dean Martin in Who Was That Lady? (1960)

Who Was That Lady?

6.6

Bit Role (uncredited)

1960

 

Naked City (1958)

Naked City

8.2

TV Series

Extra (uncredited)

1958–1963