During the Golden Era of Sexploitation, filmmakers were too giddy with the freedom of exposure to think about diversity. They filled their screens with naked, nubile women, usually of the white and blonde variety. Fortunately, Susie Elene entered the scene, a pioneer in the erotica genre with an Asian-American heritage, jet-black hair, and a matching bush—both of which she revealed as Tishi in Revenge of the Cheerleaders(1976). Shot at Venice High School in Venice, California, it was also known as H.O.T.S. III and Caught with their Pants Down in the UK—which should tell you something about the movie. (P.S. It also had an appearance by David Hasselhoff, playing a dude named Boner as his first feature-film credit.) While certainly one of her most memorable moments in front of the cameras, her stint as a cheerleader was not her first. That honor went to her role as Marion in the classic ‘70s staple, Love, American Style, followed by gigs on Ironside, Police Woman, and Khan! The starlet lit up the little screen in TV movies, too, as Miss Ting in Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders (1974), and Suzy Kurosawa in Cage Without a Key (1975) with Susan Dey (Lori Partridge). After her nakedness in Revenge, she went on to pop-ups in Hawaii Five-O (the original), S.W.A.T., M*A*S*H, and Magnum P.I. with Tom Selleck. Her big-screen credits were rounded out with the part of Put in Damien’s Island (1976), and her final acting gig, as Mistress in the “Whodunit” segment of Flicks (1983). Mr. Skin would like to thank Susie for her contribution to the furtherment of film.
