Joseph W. Sarno

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Joseph W. Sarno (15 March 1921) is an American film director and screenwriter. One of the most prolific and distinctive auteurs to emerge from the 1960s "Adults Only" film market, Sarno has written and directed roughly 75 feature films in the sexploitation and soft-core subgenres. Sarno's work is unique in offering unusual characters, taboo-probing situations and relationships, and psychologically compelling stories, as well as opportunities for his actors to contribute genuine performances. His scripts frequently revolve around the introduction of an outsider figure who becomes a sexual catalyst for a small town community, with particular interest paid to the liberation of repressed female characters through sexual experimentation and fulfillment; they also sometimes incorporate elements of magic realism. Among his most best-known and important films within the sexploitation genre are Sin in the Suburbs (1964), Moonlighting Wives (1966), Inga (1968), "Vibrations" (1968), "Daddy Darling" (1970), Young Playthings (1972), Deep Throat, Part 2 (1974), Confessions of a Young American Housewife (1974) and Misty (1975).

Sarno adopted various pseudonyms when working in the hardcore industry in the 1970s, reserving his own name for non-explicit titles. He acknowledges that he was the uncredited director of such hardcore classics as Inside Jennifer Welles, (1977), All About Gloria Leonard (1978), and Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle (1981). His first known hardcore feature was Sleepy Head (1973) featuring Georgina Spelvin and Tina Russell. He directed a non-explicit sequel to Deep Throat starring Linda Lovelace.

Sarno returned to writing and directing after a 20-year hiatus with the direct-to-video soft-core feature Suburban Secrets (2004). He lives in New York City with his wife and production partner, actress Peggy Steffans, and spends his summers in Stockholm, Sweden. Singled out for appreciation by critics such as Andrew Sarris, his work has been acknowledged by tributes at the New York Underground Film Festival, the Torino Film Festival in Turin, Italy, and at the Cinémathèque Française in Paris, France.