Elster, Arlene.

Arlene Elster owned and operated the Sutter Cinema in San Francisco between 1970 and 1975. She was the first, and possibly only, woman to operate an adult theater. Elster was trained as a medical technologist and holds a degree in Biological Science from the University of Texas. She grew up in Port Arthur, Tex., eventually making her way to San Francisco where she worked in the research department of the Irwin Memorial Blood Bank. She met Lowell Pickett while doing volunteer lab work at the Haight Ashbury Clinic where Pickett was an administrator. During this time she began exploring creative endeavors, including photography, and eventually partnered with Pickett in the adult film business.