PROFILES

Feb 3, 2012–Zalman King, best known for erotic films including co-writing and producing “9 1/2 Weeks,” has died at 69 in Los Angeles of cancer.

King started as an actor in the 1960s and 1970s, but then made a name for himself by writing, producing and helming sexy fare including “Wild Orchid” (1990) and “Red Shoe Diaries” (1992), which later became a series on Showtime. More recently, he partnered again with the pay cable service for another series, “Body Language.”

But it was “91/2 Weeks,” which he co-wrote and produced, that may have been his most famous work. Directed by Adrian Lyne (“Fatal Attraction”), the 1986 movie starred Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke as lovers having an S&M affair. While not a blockbuster during its theatrical release, the film’s notoriety grew internationally and on its home-video incarnations. It spawned two sequels that went direct to video.

King was born as Zalman Lefkowitz in Trenton, N.J. He leaves behind a wife, Patricia Louisiana Knop, with whom he frequently collaborated on his films, and two daughters, Chloe King and Gillian Lefkowitz.