Gene Simmons Birthdate: August 25, 1949 Birth Place: Israel Marital Status: Single Chaim Witz, named after his father, was born in Haifa, Israel, August 25th, 1949. Nine years later, he and his mother made the trek to America, leaving his father behind. In New York, Chaim changed his name to Gene Klein and quickly learned to speak English by reading comic books and watching horror movies. At an early age, he was publishing his own fan magazines dedicated to his favorite movies and comics. This obsession made him think twice about becoming a Rabbi as he had once considered. Soon, though, he would heed a different call altogether. Gene had trouble impressing the girls in his school, but after seeing hundreds of screaming girls cheering for The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, he knew what it was that he wanted to do with his life. With a new obsession, and a sure-fire way to impress girls, Gene began playing music in local bands. Missing Links, Rising Sun, Bull Frog Bheer, Long Island Sounds, Coffee (in honor of Cream), and others went by with little success, but his next project, Wicked Lester, teamed him up with fellow songwriter Stanley Eisen. Gene and the starry-eyed Stanley soon grew tired of Wicked Lester`s lack of style and direction. The two took a chance, turned down a recording contract, left Wicked Lester behind and holed up in a run-down loft, not knowing that they were re-writing the history of Rock and Roll. by: Tony Armstrong Temple of the Elder was created with 100% real HTML using NOTEPAD.exe and is © William Thompson 2000. This is an unofficial fan site. It is not sponsored, licensed, or approved by KISS Catalog, Ltd. KISS is a registered trademark of KISS Catalog, Ltd. © 2000 KISS Catalog, Ltd. All rights reserved. No infringements intended. This page best viewed with a web browser using a resoulution of 800x600x16 bit color. There is nothing for sale here!