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Amos Poe, a foundational member of New York's underground filmmaking world, died Thursday at 76.
His wife, Claudia Summers,announced the newson her late husband's Instagram, writing that he "took his last breath today at 3:33 pm, surrounded by loved ones" on Christmas Day. Poe had been battling cancer.
Notables like directorsJim JarmuschandJoe Berlinger, musicians Fab Five Freddy andKim Gordon, and writer Lucy Sante were among those who paid their respects in the comments.
Poe was born in Tel Aviv, and emerged in the late 1970s as a figure in the burgeoning No Wave art scene in New York City. His 1976 documentaryThe Blank Generation, shot with Ivan Král, captured footage of music acts likethe Patti Smith Group,Blondie,the Ramones,Talking Heads, and others at fabled downtown clubs like Max's Kansas City, CBGB, and the Bottom Line (none of which exist anymore).
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The same year, Poe releasedUnmade Beds, a no-budget project inspired by French New Wave films and Andy Warhol's Factory films. The shaggy-dog story about a New York photographer and Francophile interacting with "street people" boasted an appearance by Blondie's soon-to-be-a-superstar lead singer,Debbie Harry.
During this period Poe was also the director ofTV Party, a legendary public-access show in New York created by performer, writer, and Warhol associate Glenn O'Brien and Blondie's Chris Stein. Guests included celebrated musicians, artists, and various downtown freaks.
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While mainstream success never seemed to be a major goal for Poe, he work with some bigger (by his standards) budgets, as with the 1985 crime dramaAlphabet City, starring Vincent Spano andJami Gertz, with music byNile Rogers. He followed that up in 1988 by writing the script to an uncharacteristic family drama,Rocket Gibralter, which starredBurt Lancasterand a pre-Home AloneMacaulay Culkin, in addition to Bill Pullman, Patricia Clarkson, andKevin Spacey. Poelater saidthat he believed the film would make him a Hollywood player, but as withAlphabet City, it was a bit of a financial dud.
His 1991 independently produced crime dramaTriple Bogey on a Five Par Holefeatured the first film appearance byPhilip Seymour Hoffman. In 1998, after the post-Tarantino boom of American indie cinema, he releasedFrogs For Snakes, starringBarbara Hershey,Debi Mazar,John Leguizamo, and Robbie Coltrane.
In the 1980s, Poe directed music videos for artists as diverse as hip hop group Run-D.M.C., thrashers Anthrax, and Southern rockers Van Zant. In 2003 he releasedJust An American Boy, a documentary about musicianSteve Earle.
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In a 1991 interview withBombmagazine, Poe expressed continued enthusiasm for independent productions. "For every movie I've made, fromUnmade Beds, the first, some part of my fantasy was that I was making a Hollywood movie," he said. "But the kind of filmmaking I'm attracted to comes out of pure invention. You're right there inventing it as you go, getting a real kick out of it."
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