Joseph P. Mawra

Known for: Directing

Joseph W. Mawra grew up in Queens , NY. From 1956-59 he attended Hofstra University, where he took courses in such subjects as English and creative writing. He got his start in show business as a freelance joke writer for talk show host Jack Paar. Mawra went on to edit advertising spots and trailers for motion pictures. He eventually wound up working for Stan Borden, who owned the production / distribution outfit American Film Distributing Corp. (AFDC). Over a two-year period Mawra made the four entries in the "Olga" series starring Audrey Campbell as sadistic crime ring boss Olga for Borden and producer George Weiss: Olga's House of Shame (1964), White Slaves of Chinatown (1964), Olga's Girls (1964) and Mme. Olga's Massage Parlor (1965). Shot in black and white on an average of four to five days on extremely modest budgets, these gritty exploitation features have gone on to amass a substantial cult following. Besides directing these movies, Mawra also edited them and worked on the trailers. In the wake of making the Olga pictures and weathering a storm of controversy in an obscenity court case against Olga's House of Shame", Mawra moved with his family to Long Island and directed several more films, including All Men Are Apes! (1965), Murder in Mississippi (1965), Mondo oscenità (1966) and Fireball Jungle (1968). After serving as an executive producer on Rain for a Dusty Summer (1971), Mawra continued to work in the motion picture industry editing, producing and writing the copy for trailers as well as a young children's TV program to teach kids how to tell stories through writing.