Pat Rocco
Biography
Pat Rocco was born Pasquale Vincent Serrapica in 1934 to an Italian-American family in Brooklyn, New York. Moved to California at 11, and "came out" at 13. Had his own radio show, in which he featured as a singer, at 16, and recorded an album at 19. As a charismatic, openly gay youth, Rocco pursued a career in entertainment in Southern California, singing and appearing on televised talent shows. Appeared in some early TV shows in the late 40s and early 50s, and created the part of Mack the Knife in the West Coast premiere of "The Threepenny Opera". A job as a photographer of male nude studies turned into a successful mail-order business of his own 8mm and 16mm films. Shown publicly for the first time in 1968 in L.A.âs Park Theatre, Roccoâs films were widely embraced by the gay community and favorably reviewed by mainstream press. The films were ecstatic affirmations of gay love and identity, groundbreaking at a time when homosexual activity remained illegal. âThey were the first really overt gay films with nudity in a public theater [âŚ] they had something to say that was positive,â said Rocco in a 1983 interview. The significance of the films was deeply felt: âIâve had a number of people tell me that âI came out because of your films.â I canât tell you, the letters, the phone calls, the things like that. âThey made me feel like I was not alone.â âThey gave me a real positive feeling about myself because I could relate to the people on the screen.ââ What was once a clandestine, black-market activity became a celebratory event.
Known For & Full Filmography6 Titles
Movie - 1970, 2h 15m ⢠Main Cast Role
Mondo Rocco is a collection of short films weaved together as it was seen in the Park Theater in Los Angeles in 1969/1970. Charming in their innocence, Rocco's films captured important moments in gay history and are an invaluable resource.
Movie - 1973, 2h 15m ⢠as Himself
ONE Adventure was filmed in 1972, only three years after the Stonewall riots. The trip was organized by One, Inc., whose members wanted a record of the trip to show audiences at home. The film chronicles a trip across Europe with Pat Rocco, Rev. Troy Perry, and six others.
Movie - 1976, 2h 15m ⢠as Narrator
A look at the Gay Pride Celebrations in San Francisco and L.A. in the US bicentennial year of 1976.
Movie - 2021, 2h 15m ⢠as Self (archive footage)
This entertaining and enlightening documentary sheds a light on a pioneering moment in film history and the gay rights movement, as it revisits the break-through 1960s gay films of Pat Rocco. Rocco was responsible for the very first gay films that were shown openly to the paying public in the late 1960s. Situated before hardcore porn became the norm, and in marked contrast to the somewhat darker gay porn that was coming out of New York at the time. Pat Roccoâs film were more sun-dappled, featuring tanned and happy-looking naked men on sail boats and on beaches, celebrating their identities and the beauty of the male body. The filmmakers got to talk to the generous, rather humble and open-minded Rocco just before his death. It took a team of dedicated Canadian filmmakers to capture a fairly obscure moment of indie film history that deserves to be remembered.
Movie - 1969, 2h 15m ⢠Main Cast Role
Compilation of loops produced by C.R. Productions, a company created by Chuck Robinson, a protĂŠgĂŠ of Pat Roccoâs who starred in several of his loops as Brian Reynolds. Compilation of loops.
Movie - 1970, 2h 15m ⢠Main Cast Role
In January 1970, filmmaker and activist Pat Rocco went to a gay nightclub on W. El Segundo Blvd. in the Gardena neighborhood of Los Angeles called Meat Market. They were advertising a nude dancing performance, which had become the focus of some controversy and led to arrests of the dancers and the manager. In the short documentary, Rocco arrives just as one of the arrests is taking place, capturing footage of the police leading the dancers, Michael Craig and Bob Philpot, out of the nightclub. His intention was to film the dance as evidence for a court case involving the dancer Bob Philpotâregarded as the first male nude go-go dancerâwho had been previously arrested on obscenity charges. Rocco speaks with Walter Culpepper, a Los Angeles lawyer who represents the dancers charged and explains the nature of the charges. Patrons of Meat Market are interviewed and describe the dance performance as more artistic than sexual in nature.