OCALA, Fla.— Ed Seeman, who worked as an adult filmmaker during the Golden Age of porn in the ‘70s, has passed away. He was 93.
Born in New York City in 1931, Seeman attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn before landing a job as an animator at Paramount Pictures, where he worked on classic TV shows such as "Popeye the Sailorman" and "Casper, the Friendly Ghost."
Seeman then put his skills as a cartoonist to work for the military, producing re-enlistment ads for the U.S. Army after serving from 1952 to 1954 during the Korean War.
After the war, Seeman returned to New York and produced animated commercials for Flintstones Vitamins and cereal brands such as Trix and Cocoa Puffs. He even won a Clio Award for his commercial for Luden’s cough drops after enlisting Frank Zappa to do the music for $2,000. That spot sparked a long creative relationship between the two artists.
In addition to being a successful ad man, Seeman was an accomplished artist whose oil paintings were exhibited at MoMA in New York. He also won an Emmy for his animation work in the children’s TV show "The Great Space Coaster," and five of his experimental films (which he made under the pseudonym Eduardo Cemano) are in the U.S. Library of Congress.
In the ‘70s, Seeman became a well-known glamour photographer whose work appeared in classic men’s magazines such as Cheri, Genesis, Oui, Penthouse, and Puritan, the latter of which stood out in the minds of Seeman’s many fans.
“I remember his awesome photo spreads in Puritan Magazine. They were epic,” Golden Age adult film star Annie Sprinkle wrote on Facebook. “He made art til the end.”
Veronica Vera, who worked as an adult star in the ‘80s, also paid tribute to Seeman on Facebook.
“He was a giant of modern erotica who believed in showing us the emotions inherent in orgasm,” wrote Vera.
Seeman has previously been quoted as saying he desired to “become the H.G. Wells of eroticism,” explaining that he was into “the metaphysics of sex.”
“Porn for me was like shooting the other side of the moon. I wanted to show people something they had never seen before,” he said.
In 1989, Seeman moved from New York to South Florida, where he started an animation company that enlisted clients such as the Florida Lottery and the Florida Oceanographic Society.
More recently, Seeman sold t-shirts with his wife, Amy, via their company Mana-T's, and through his thriving Fractal Legends venture.
Seeman’s daughter, Wendy Schecter, wrote on Facebook that her father's mobility issues made it difficult for him to create art, and as a result, he lost the will to live.
He passed away at his home on Feb. 4 with Amy at his side. In addition to his wife and daughter, Seeman is survived by his grandson, Doug Yoel.
