El Hedi ben Salem Nude

Robert DeNiro and Johnny Depp became famous for their cinematic collaborations with Martin Scorsese and Tim Burton, respectively. Across the pond, the same can be said of Oliver Reed and Ken Russell. That goes double for Moroccan hottie El Hedi ben Salem and German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The big difference is Salem and Fassbinder weren’t just professional partners. After bumping into one another at a gay bathhouse in Paris, the two teamed up off-screen as well as on-screen for The Merchant of Four Seasons (1971), The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), Jail Bait (1973), and Fox and His Friends (1975). Salem also appeared in Ulli Lommel’s crime flick The Tenderness of Wolves produced by Fassbinder in 1973. The year marked two miniseries (Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day and World on a Wire) for the Salem/Fassbinder team. If that’s not impressive enough, Rainer directed El Hedi in the TV movie Martha (1974). Their skinematiic union reached its peak with Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974). Not only does the award-winning drama include views of Salem’s skivvies, it showcases the stud’s naked T&A, plus his PB&J — pubes, balls and Johnson! Yes, the manly Moroccan is rockin’ a semi-erect rod! Unfortunately, Salem’s life off camera played like a film noir. Feeling volatile and being drunk, El Hedi stabbed three people in Berlin. Salem then fled to France where he was jailed and hung by his own hands before Fassbinder dedicated his final film, Querelle (1982), to him. Fade to black.