The Goal Of This Blog


THE GOAL OF THIS BLOG

The internet provides mankind with an abundance of information. Though the quality and accuracy may leave much to be desired, when used properly you may end up with pretty interesting stuff.
So my hopes weren't very high when searching for any information regarding actress Ulrike Butz, in my humble opinion the undisputed queen of German sexploitation. Yet, even with such low expectations, what I did find was utterly disappointing: an almost blank profile on IMDb (save a filmography) and a couple of small pictures from the films she starred in. That's it. No date or place of birth, no biographical information of any kind, no interviews, no candid pictures, no film reviews elaborating on her career or personal life.
I extended my search and was able to buy some more films, movie memorabilia and more interestingly, a few magazines that included unique pictures and interviews. Although I wouldn't exactly describe nudie- and tabloid magazines as trustworthy sources.

So this is my last resort. This blog is purely intended as a communication platform that will hopefully lead to more information.
Should you, dear reader, be in possession of any bit of information regarding Ulrike, I would greatly appreciate you sharing it with me, and with that the whole world, so I can ultimately change this blog's title to something along the lines of "The Ultimate And Only Source On The Net For All Things Ulrike". Together, maybe we can fill a huge overlooked hole in the world wide web.
To increase the chance at any kind of success with this obvious long shot, I will post whatever I already DO know, along with pictures and anything else that may trigger someone else's memory or interest.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

The Story

Ulrike Butz saw the light of day in 1954, was raised in Miesbach, Bayern (Bavaria), and lived the greater part of her life in München (Munich).
Before she turned 18, she worked as an assistant in a drugstore.  She soon got fed up and left home, traveling through Southern Europe.  Though even her own parents didn't know her whereabouts, eventually her father - an actor himself - allegedly forgave her for running away and becoming an actress in nudie pics.

Ulrike and her dog






















She remembered her first time in front of a camera being an awkward experience, nervously keeping her clothes on until the very end of the shoot.
The director of her second feature saw more potential in Ulrike, and for an extra 80 Marks ($54) she was willing to do almost anything that was desired of her.
Around 1973 she received a total of 500 Marks ($340) a day for displaying her gorgeous naked curves before a lens, which she herself had no problems with.  Her boyfriend at the time accompanied her to the sets to make sure everything was legit and she wasn't being taken advantage of.  He also thought of her job as a profession like any other.

Behind the scenes of "Liebe In 3 Dimensionen" (1973)


























However, there was also a negative side to her success.
Like any other ambitious thespian, she took her work serious and dreamed of performing on stage and taking acting lessons, but was hampered by her reputation.  Her friends even nicknamed her "Porno Wally".
Far worse, via the industry circle she frequented, Ulrike got in touch with drugs.  At first she casually smoked marijuana and hashish, as everybody did at the time, but at the tender age of 19 she was introduced to parties thrown by high-profile businessmen where a lot more was going on.
Although she had promised herself never to get hooked or shoot needles up her arm, things took a turn for the worse.

Playboy shoot, February 1974


















In 1974 The Rolling Stones were booked to play a gig in München.
Few rock stars went on stage clean and sober back then, and the authorities mostly turned a blind eye toward the goings on, so the Stones lived up to their reputation and threw a party in their Hilton suite before the show.  Along with a couple of friends, Ulrike was invited as well.  For many underage girls (groupies), this was the way they first encountered drugs, but Ulrike was over 18, certainly not naive and only recreationally smoked pot.  Still, she couldn't have prepared for what she was about to experience there.
Cocaine was being handed out like pretzels and everybody was either snorting or blowing.  Keith Richards then presented a couple of white pills he had concealed in a hair dryer, which he described as pure heroin.  With these he made his own cocktail called a speedball (a mixture of coke and heroin, the same deadly brew that prematurely killed John Belushi, River Phoenix and Chris Farley).  The guitarist injected the stuff into his left arm and passed the remainder around for the rest of the room to consume.
Maybe due to a combination of peer pressure, idolization and curiousness Ulrike partook and got so strung-out, she later exclaimed having no idea how she got home that night, disoriented and overwhelmed by anxiety attacks that made her believe she was about to die.

Bad-ass Ulrike


























Soon - now seriously addicted to cocaine and heroin - the 20.000 Marks ($13.600) a month she was earning didn't suffice to provide for her nasty habit.  Unsurprisingly, she began stealing from friends and eventually selling her body on the streets for cash or blow.  This went on for nearly six years, explaining the large void in her filmography, from 1974 to 1981.

After she was released from prison a second time in 1980, Ulrike decided to get sober, leave her past behind and turn her life around.
A couple of years later her lips unsealed as she candidly discussed her life in public, warning innocent youths about noble gents luring them to cocaine parties under false pretences in order to have their way with them.  Since her revelations about abuse and an excess of illegal narcotics also involved lawyers, local council members and other high-profile citizens, her confessions apparently left West-Germany in an uproar.

Ulrike in 1982, a fresh start (?)


























In 1981 or 1982 she married a film director and had his child.  It is said she was again offered a great number of roles, yet is seems she only featured as an extra in two films before completely vanishing from the industry, and with that, the globe.

Ulrike claimed she never saw herself as a victim of her surroundings.


NOTE:
After translating, cross-checking and puzzling together every bit of information I had in my possession, I still tried to choose my words carefully, as some details contained in those articles and interviews were clearly incorrect.  So I can't be sure that everything I did use in my summary are actual facts.

SOURCES:
Nue Revue Nr.6, February 1973
Playboy (Germany) Nr.2, February 1974
Ritz Nr.17, May 1982
Ritz Nr.18, May 1982
Ritz Nr.19, May 1982

The Quotes

Here are the only quotes praising Ulrike's acting abilities (and other assets) I was able to find online.  Clearly I'm not alone in noticing this ravishing beauty's many talents.
"It was the voluptuous Butz (no pun intended) that really caught my fancy, however. Pretty much a nonentity for the first hour of the film, once her character is possessed by the Baroness she suddenly morphs into an arrestingly seductive vampire, virtually throbbing with feral carnality. ("Her! I want her!") I'm partial to brunettes anyway (Edwige Fenech and Caroline Munro — yowza!), and Ulrike's got the killer combo of a schoolgirl face and a sex kitten body... Needless to say I was quite smitten with this fetching young fraulein. I'm motivated to see more of her films, no matter how bad they might be."
Brian Lindsey, Eccentric Cinema   source
"ulrike butz war die talentreichste schauspielerin der 70er jahre leider war sie nur in erotikfilmen zu sehen diese haben durch sie aber eine relativ hohe qualität erreicht sie ist mindestens auf dem gleich hohen niveu anzusetzen wie eine ingrid steeger,auch wenn ihre brüste vieleicht eine nummer kleiner ware"
cinemaexpert no1, New Video Forum   source   translate
"Lots of nudity in the movie but Ulrike Butz is the one who gave me a stiffy. What a body! Her exposure isn't the longest but she's the best. Too bad her career was cut short by an overdose."
filmo70, Celebrity Nudity Database   source
"Ulrike is maybe the peachiest of all 70s German softcore starlets, a dollfaced fraulein-next-door brunette with legs up to her ears and a ravishing body. She's easily 20# heavier than any current-day actress of her size and it looks terrific on her: respectable tits, big round ass, curves in places Kate Moss doesn't have places -- just a total babe."
12-string, Celebrity Nudity Database   source

Hold on there... an overdose?  Really?
At one time she was indeed a drug addict, but she seemed to have kicked the habit in the early '80s.  Then again, she wouldn't be the first junkie to relapse after a time of sobriety.
Her addiction could however explain the void in her filmography from 1974 to 1981, only to return as an extra in two flicks directed by Franz Marischka, who had worked with her in the early '70s.  Was it a favor to Marischka, or was it perhaps the other way around?  Why didn't she land any bigger roles during her come-back?

In any case, here's what's probably Ulrike's last image captured on celluloid:

Die Unglaublichen Abenteuer Des Guru Jakob (1983)

Friday, January 14, 2011

The Looks

What better way to start off than with some pictures - maybe someone may remember or recognize a face, a movie title or get intrigued and stimulated to find out more.
If you prefer moving images be sure to check out the showreel I put together.

Not a fan of censorship, I feel I should warn the easily offended folks out there, as some pics contain glorious nudity.

Frühreifen-Report (1973)
Hausfrauen-Report 4 (1973)

Mädchen, Die Nach München
Kommen (1972)
Schulmädchen Report
4. Teil (1972)

Schulmädchen Report
6. Teil (1973)
Was Schulmädchen
Verschweigen (1973)

Sex-Träume Report (1973)
Lass Jucken, Kumpel 3 (1974)

Der Fluch Der Schwarzen Schwestern a.k.a. Vampire Ecstasy (1973)




Was Schulmädchen Verschweigen (1973)


Liebesgrüsse Aus Der Lederhose 2: Zwei Kumpel Auf Der Alm (1974)