Herschell Gordon Lewis

Herschell Gordon Lewis is an American filmmaker, best known for creating the splatter subgenre of horror films. He is often called the Godfather of Gore, though his film career has included works in a range of exploitation film genres including juvenile delinquent films, nudiecuties, two childrens films and at least one rural comedy. On Lewis career, Allmovie wrote, With his betterknown gore films, Herschell Gordon Lewis was a pioneer, going farther than anyone else dared, probing the depths of disgust and discomfort onscreen with more bad taste and imagination than anyone of his era.

Herschell Gordon Lewis was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1929. His father died when he was six years old. His mother never remarried and his family then moved to Chicago, Illinois where Lewis spent the majority of his adolescence. After graduating from high school, Lewis received a masters degree in Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. A few years later, he became a professor of English literature at Mississippi State University. He was lured from his teaching career to become the manager of WRAC Radio in Racine, Wisconsin, and later to become a studio director at WKYTV studio in Oklahoma City.

Source: Wikipedia