Pam Grier might reign as the Queen of 70's blaxploitation films, but Carol Speed is surely one of the genre's most beloved crowned Princesses. Brainy, beautiful, and ballsy, Speed graced ten feature films between 1971 and 1979, including the cardinal pimp movie of pimp movies The Mack, the unforgettable Black Sansom, and Jack Hill's notorious The Big Bird Cage. She played a mild-mannered wife possessed by a maniacal African sex demon in William Girdler's Abby; Carol's first and last leading role.

Also starring William Marshall, Terry Carter, Austin Stoker, and Juanita Moore, Abby took box offices by storm in 1974. It ranked among that year's highest-grossing black cast films and it remains one of the most successful blaxploitation entries of the decade. AIP withdrew the lucrative low-budget feature from theaters when Warner Brothers charged that Abby borrowed too heavily from The Exorcist. Contrary to popular belief, Warner Brothers lost their lawsuit against AIP and Girdler in 1978. Yet strangely, Abby has never enjoyed a video release or an official revival like other blaxploitation offerings.

The winds of cultural change blew away what remained of the blaxploitation phenomenon by the late 1970's, snuffing out the careers of the genre's royal family in the process. William Marshall retained his crown, albeit on television as Pee Wee Herman's King of Cartoons. Pam Grier wouldn't rise to the throne again until Quentin Tarantino deemed her Queen of All Women in 1997's Jackie Brown.

Carol Speed, on the other hand, ruled her own kingdom far away from the razzle-dazzle of LA. Her debut book titled Inside Black Hollywood is regarded as one of the most personal -- and controversial -- accounts of the 70's black film scene ever published. Her thriving career as a writer recently spurred a television documentary based on the life of Margaret Mitchell (which she co-produced). In addition to her biographical works, Carol penned a period novel titled Soapsuds To Champagne, which will see publication in the near future.