I was aware of Nashville's First Family of film, the Ormonds (Ron, his wife June, and their son Tim) from early childhood, many years before I would see any of their movies. The Ormonds had produced, directed, and starred in The Exotic Ones, sort of a southern-fried variation on the King Kong story, in which rockabilly legend Sleepy LaBeef plays a wild swamp monster who is captured and brought into a New Orleans nightclub to drum up business. The club's owner, Nemo (played by Ron Ormond) and manager, Bunny (played by June Ormond) allow the monster's only friend, a boy named Tim (Tim Ormond) to care for the caged savage. Meanwhile, Nemo is being investigated by a detective, Hattaway, and another detective whom Hattaway calls "Tom Terrific".

It's here that the Ormond family history and my own intersect. For "Tom Terrific" was played by my mother's eldest brother, Ronnie Drake. My Uncle Ronnie had been hired by Ron Ormond to give his son Tim vocal lessons, and Tim would reciprocate by coaching my uncle on the role he had been offered in The Exotic Ones. Tim said to me recently, "We soon discovered that I couldn't sing, and your uncle couldn't act!" Nevertheless, as I was growing up as an avid monster movie buff, I was amazed when my family would give their accounts of seeing this homegrown film, normally followed by good-natured ribbing of Uncle Ronnie for his lack of thespian skills. My father would talk about going down to the set (in the film, a burlesque club; in real life, a building owned by the United Methodist Church!) and watching the filming, my mom's younger siblings would remember how they snuck in to see the film at a drive-in. Always, Uncle Ronnie would fondly describe Ron and June Ormond, their larger-than-life personalities and how obviously dedicated they were to seeing the project through to its completion.

In the grand video boom of the 80's, magazines like Psychotronic Film and Film Threat sprang up to shine a spotlight on the world of exploitation films, the drive-in circuits and grindhouses and people who gave their all to get films made despite lack of major Hollywood funding. It was in a small ad in Psychotronic that I would see a listing for The Exotic Ones offered by a bootleg VHS dealer. I really refused to believe it was real until I had ordered it and it was literally playing in my VCR. But there it was, and I presented it as a Christmas gift to my Uncle Ronnie. I also showed the film to my friend Jack Hunter Daves, Jr. Jack and I had been talking about forming a rock 'n roll band in the style of The Cramps and Screaming Lord Sutch, and when we saw The Exotic Ones, we knew we'd found the perfect name for our project. Honestly, it took us nearly twenty years to actually make that band a reality...but in all that time we never considered calling it anything else, because The Exotic Ones was the filmic equivalent of what we wanted our band to be: pure and simply, great fun.

For awhile, my only impressions of June Ormond were from her entertaining, charming turn as Bunny in The Exotic Ones. As the cult of Cult Movies grew ever larger, though, articles on The Ormonds appeared in Filmfax (two parts, no less!) and by Jim Ridley in the Nashville Scene, covering June and Ron's long and storied careers in vaudeville, in producing westerns, and their success as maverick makers of films such as Forty-Acre Feud, Mesa of Lost Women, and White Lightning Road. Long before country music artists had TNN or video to reach an audience beyond the normal outlets, Ron and June were casting the likes of Tex Ritter and George Jones as both actors and performers in their films. Just a few years ago, The Exotic Ones (under its alternate title The Monster and the Stripper) was given a screening at the highbrow and prestigious Nashville Independent Film Festival. It's my hope that the Ormond Family's films will someday see legitimate release on DVD.

The Ormonds' story is one of a great adventure shared by three mutually supportive, creative, and devoted individuals. I'm sorry I never had the pleasure of meeting June Ormond. Actress Linda Wylie introduced Jack and I to her good friend Tim Ormond at a party several years ago. Needless to say, we regaled him with our love of The Exotic Ones, and I'm proud to say that Tim has taken in a couple of our namesake band's performances. But always, he was conscious of never being away too long from June, as she spent her last years in poor health, and passed away on July 14, 2006.

June Ormond was a great beauty and consummate entertainer, a loving wife and mother.
To Nashville's First Lady of film, The Exotic Ones salute you with respect and admiration.
Troy Guinn
a.k.a. Mr. Ghoul
7/17/06