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- Actress
- Director
- Producer
Juliet was born in Burbank, California on July 23, 1938. After teaching English as a second language for several years in Japan, Mexico, Greece and Finland, she moved to the United States wanting to radically change her life. She stumbled into the adult film industry at the age of 39. For the next couple years she went on to make several dozen movies including the renowned Aunt Peg series.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Candida Royalle was born on October 15, 1950 in New York City. Candida was raised by her father and stepmother after her biological mother abandoned her when she was only eighteen months old. Royalle trained in music, dance, and the arts in New York City: She not only studied dance and music at New York's High School of Art and Design, but also attended both the Parsons School of Design and the City University of New York. She was active in the women's movement of the late 1960's and early 1970's.
Royalle moved to San Francisco, California in 1970. She was a singer in clubs and theaters prior to becoming involved in the adult entertainment industry. Candida did her first explicit hardcore movie in California in the mid-1970's. After acting in a handful of X-rated features, Royalle returned to her native New York City in 1980 and subsequently founded the production company Femme Productions in 1984 with the specific intention of making erotica based on female desire as well as producing hardcore fare aimed at helping couples therapy. An early feminist pioneer in what later became known as the "couples" market, Candida's work was notable both for its admirable refusal to depict sex in a remotely degrading and/or misogynistic fashion and its equally laudable emphasis on showing sex in the broader context of women's social and emotional lives. Royalle signed the Post Porn Modernist Manifesto in 1989. In addition, Candida was not only a member of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, but also was a founding board member of the group Feminists for Free Expression. Royalle published the book "How To Tell a Naked Man What to Do" in 2004. She died at age 64 from ovarian cancer on September 7, 2015.- Actor
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
Born in New York City, Jamie Gillis trained as a legitimate actor. In the early 1970s he drifted into performing in pornographic films, and continued to work in that field through the late 1990s. Despite the occasional foray into "legitimate" film, such as a cameo in Nighthawks (1981), Gillis remained identified with the porn industry, and is regarded as one of its most prolific and potent actors. After a stint as one of the "Nasty Bros". in producer Ed Powers' series of amateur "Dirty Debutantes" series, Gillis began branching out to produce homemade porn videos of his own, some of them made in France (where he was able to show off his command of the French language). Never having made a secret of his bisexuality, Gillis made his first all-gay porn film in 1997, a sado-masochistic video in which he did not actually perform sex acts, but rather issued orders to the other members of the cast.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Buck Adams was born on 15 November 1955 in Chatsworth, California, USA. He was an actor and director. He was married to Aspen Brock and Janette Littledove. He died on 28 October 2008 in Northridge, California, USA.- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Italian adult-film star Moana Pozzi was born on April 27, 1961, in Genova, Italy. In 1981 she began her film career, appearing in small uncredited parts in films and on television. Five years later she appeared in the Federico Fellini film Ginger & Fred (1986). It was on the set of this film that she met Ilona Staller, known better by her porn name of "Cicciolina". It was soon afterwards that Pozzi began appearing in hardcore sex films, under her real name. It wasn't long before she became a national sensation in Italy, eventually exceeding even Cicciolina's popularity.
In her 1991 autobiography, "La Filosofia di Moana", she hints at affairs and sexual liaisons with a variety of prominent and important men in Italian society (including, rumor had it, former Prime Minister Bettino Craxi. That same year she and Staller started the Partito dellAmore (Party of Love), a short-lived political organization whose platform called for the legalization of brothels, improved sexual health and "love parks", but the party did poorly in the 1992 elections, and did no better in the next round of elections in 1993.
Unfortunately, she contracted liver cancer and died of the disease in Lyon, France, in 1994, at age 33. It wasn't long, though, before dark rumors began circulating about her death; one was that she actually died of AIDS instead of liver cancer, another being that she had faked her death because she wanted to leave both porn and politics, and yet another claiming that prominent members of the new government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had been among those who had had affairs with Pozzi, and in order to avoid embarrassment they had her quietly "silenced". The fact that no one except her family had actually seen her body added fuel to the rumors.
In 1999 the film Guardami (1999) was released, which was largely based on Pozzi's life. In September of 2005, Italian federal prosecutors announced that they would re-open the investigation of her death, due to the discovery of many errors and inconsistencies in the original official report. The next month a report on Italian television aired that gave the official register of deaths of the cemetery in Lyon where she was buried, revealing that she had indeed died of liver cancer and that her body had been cremated.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Gloria Leonard, the doyenne of the erotic film industry, was born Gail Sandra Leonardi on August 28, 1940 in The Bronx, New York. Blessed with a 40-33-37 figure and 5' 9", the brown-haired, brown-eyed porn star from porn's "Golden Age" (1972 until the advent of video tape) made movies under her own name as well as the alias(es) C. Gale Leonard and Gail (or Gayle) Leonard.
She appeared in approximately 70 adult films before taking over "High Society" magazine in 1979. In her 14 years as publisher of "High Society", she created the genre of "Celebrity Skin". The magazine also was a pioneer in the phone sex industry.
Miss Leonard served as the administrative director of the Adult Film Association from 1989 to 1992, until the AFA merged with the Free Speech Coalition. Gloria returned to the porn industry in 1997 and was elected president of the Free Speech Coalition in 1998.
She was married to the fabled porn producer Bobby Hollander. They divorced in 1990.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Jon Dough was born on 12 November 1962 in Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and director. He was married to Deidre Holland and Monique DeMoan. He died on 27 August 2006 in Chatsworth, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Production Manager
Harry Reems was born on 27 August 1947 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and director. He was married to Jeanne Sterret. He died on 19 March 2013 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.- Cathy Stewart was born on 2 April 1956 in Royan, France. She was an actress, known for The Night of the Hunted (1980). She died on 9 August 1994 in Breuillet, Charente-Maritime, France.
- Shauna Grant was born on 30 May 1963 in Farmington, Michigan, USA. She was an actress. She died on 21 March 1984 in Palm Springs, California, USA.
- In much the same mold as Honey Wilder, though not as popular, Cyndee represented a mature womanly element to the X-rated film genre of the 1980s. Blessed with a great natural body, this raven-haired beauty brought sultry sex appeal to her roles. Some of her more memorable parts were in "Divorce Court II", Older Women with Young Boys (1985), Erotic Zone (1985) and Stiff Competition (1984).
- Danielle was born Tracy Danielle Martin on April 3, 1962 in Sacramento, California. Martin lost her virginity at age fifteen and first became involved in the adult entertainment industry at age nineteen after answering an ad in The Los Angeles Times for a nude modeling job. Three months after said nude modeling job Danielle began performing in loops before making her hardcore movie debut in Nightdreams (1981). Danielle took a brief hiatus from porn for a year and worked as a waitress before resuming her adult cinema career. She retired from the adult film industry in the early 1990's. Danielle died at the age of 49 on November 3, 2011.
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
A veteran of over three decades in the X-film business, John Leslie has acted in, directed and produced hundreds of films. He has long been considered to be one of the finest "actors" in the business, in addition to one of its most reliable "performers". He has worked with many, if not most, of the legends of the adult-film industry--Seka, Juliet Anderson (aka "Aunt Peg"), Veronica Hart, Traci Lords, Kay Parker, Christy Canyon, to name a few. In Traci's Fantasies (1986), Parker interviews Lords and they both agree that they love working with him because of how special he makes them feel in intimate scenes.
John Leslie died of a cerebral hemorrhage on Dec. 5, 2010, in Mill Valley, California.- Director
- Producer
- Cinematographer
Paul Vatelli was born on 1 January 1953 in Connecticut, USA. He was a director and producer. He died on 9 August 1986 in Canoga Park, California, USA.- Actress
- Writer
A very popular performer in 1980s porn, Trinity Loren was an instantly recognizable figure with her large natural breasts at a time when silicone implants were beginning to dominate the adult film industry. More voluptuous than your average porn princess, Trinity's ample figure and relaxed presence made her a sought-after performer, and she graced over 180 productions. Unfortunately, like too many others in the business who get mixed up in the fast lane of Hollywood (whether in porn or "legit" films), Trinity suffered from overwhelming depression, and died due to an accidental drug overdose in 1998.
Trinity first gained notice from her spreads in men's magazines and further solidified her reputation on the strip-club circuit, flaunting her striking figure and frizzy amber hair. She graduated to hardcore features in 1985. On screen she was a natural, appearing fresh yet relaxed with her co-stars, who often became friends off set. Performance-wise she was just as adept, showing the kind of control and energy that women half her size would have envied. Halfway through her career she married porn star Barry Wood (aka Barry Woods), but the marriage ended in divorce after the birth of their daughter, Tess, near the end of the decade. Soon afterwards Trinity left porn, moved to Texas and tried to make a new life for her and her daughter, but an ongoing legal dispute with Hunter over custody of the child soon put a damper on her plans for a quiet life. Lengthy (and expensive) court proceedings followed, with the unfortunate result that Trinity lost custody of her daughter. After the proceedings, she moved to California to be able to be near her child. The combination of her marital problems, legal troubles and her ongoing clinical depression resulted in her developing an addiction to both prescription and non-prescription drugs. Her fight against the addiction ended on October 24, 1998, when she died as a result of an accidental overdose. She was 34. Ironically, before her death Trinity had been working, as part of her recovery therapy, on her autobiography. She is buried at the Chatsworth Oakwood Memorial Cemetery in Chatsworth, California, under her real name, Roxanne McPherson.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Henri Pachard was born on 4 June 1939 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. He was a director and actor. He was married to Deloras Sullivan, Joan and Debra Holden. He died on 27 September 2008 in California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jody,a baby boomer and the daughter and granddaughter of prominent attorneys, was born on November 20th, in Kansas City, Missouri. She was a scholarship winner to her high school, St. Teresa's Academy, where she maintained an A average for 4 years. She graduated from the University of Missouri (KC) with a degree in Theater and Speech. Jody acted in legitimate theater, before getting into films in 1974, upon graduating from college. She has been married twice, first time after her freshman year in college. The marriage ended 6 and a half years later. She remarried in about the mid 80s.
During her years in acting, she also performed an adult, sexy stand up comedy act to sellout audiences wherever she performed her unique act.
Her first adult move was a Gerard Damiano film, Portrait, in which she starred, and was especially written for her by Damiano.
Jody also has been a contributing editor for several magazines, as writing has always been one of her great loves. She played an intricate part in the rise of Cheri magazine in the late 70s.
Jody has been written about, or been interviewed, by hundreds of publications throughout the world. She has also had photo layouts in several magazines.
She was inducted into the Legends of Erotica Hall of Fame in January, 2006, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Jody also wrote a feature story pertaining to the awards and the Adult Entertainment Expo for the July 2006 issue of Hustler magazine.
For about the last 10 years, she has been a public school teacher in California. She also had her first book, My Private Calls, published about a year ago, sharing some of her experiences during her 12 years doing fantasy phone calls. It also includes some of her personal experiences from the Golden Age of Erotica era.
Currently, she is writing both her memoirs and a novel. She has said that her memoirs will contain some real shockers.- Bobby Astyr, the "Clown Prince of Porn," was one of the pioneering generation of actors who made a name for themselves in blue movies in the 1970s, thriving in an industry where - aside from the legendary John Holmes - women were the star attractions. Like many of the first generation of adult entertainment stars, Astyr was Jewish (it was said of that first cohort that the female stars almost entirely had been born & baptized Roman Catholics and that the male stars - aside from the obviously gentile Holmes - were primarily Jewish, and that this had something to do with the repression of the Catholic Church and the lack of same in Conservative and Reform Judaism). Bobby himself believed that his religion made him more of a "mensch," someone who tried to help his fellow performers, many of whom were troubled or addicted to drugs.
While never a male porn star of the magnitude of Jamie Gillis or John Leslie, let alone the fabled King himself, John Holmes, Bobby Astyr appeared in well over 140 known blue movies, and perhaps was in scores more of loops that are now lost. Bobby won his sobriquet "The Cown Prince" by his uninhibited on-screen antics; he was't afraid to look foolish to get a laugh. His most remembered performance likely remains that of the non-plussed maitre d' in the 1977 classic "Barbara Broadcast" who, in case of any breakage caused by waitresses or restaurant patrons, penalized the perpetrator by "taking it out in trade." The following year, he met and fell in love with adult film actress Samantha Fox; they continued in a long-term relationship, sharing side-by-side apartments, for almost 24 years, until Astyr died of lung cancer in 2002. - Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
Kevin James was born on 17 November 1954 in Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor. He died on 24 January 1990 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Lovely and slender brunette stunner Erica Boyer was born Amanda Margaret Gantt on December 22, 1956 in Andalusia, Alabama. Her father Joseph Breckenridge Gantt was a former attorney for the state of Alabama. Erica was raised in a strict household and was raped in her early teens by a boy she trusted. Boyer moved to San Francisco, California in the late 1970's and began her career in the adult entertainment industry dancing and doing live sex shows at the O'Farrell Theater. Erica caught the attention of Marilyn Chambers, who encouraged Erica to make her hardcore movie debut in Beyond De Sade (1979). Boyer's adult film career subsequently took off after this; she did well over one hundred and fifty movies over the course of two decades. Erica specialized in lesbian scenes and received a XRCO Award for Lascivious Lesbian Scene at the first annual XRCO Awards show in 1985.
Boyer took a hiatus from the adult film industry in 1994, but made a regrettably brief comeback in the late 1990's prior to retiring from the adult film industry on a permanent basis and settling down in Panama City Beach, Florida. In the wake of her retirement Erica started her own massage therapy business as well as did volunteer work as both a clown and face painter. She was inducted into both the AVN and XRCO Hall of Fame. Moreover, Boyer was married twice and was the mother of a son, Davis. Erica's life came to a tragic abrupt end when she was struck and killed by an off-duty Florida Highway Patrol Officer driving a 2001 four-door Hyundai on December 31, 2009 in Panama City Beach, Florida; she was only 53 years old.- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
Alain Payet was born on 17 January 1947 in Paris, France. He was a director and assistant director. He died on 13 December 2007 in Paris, France.- Director
- Producer
- Actor
Harry S. Morgan was born on 29 August 1945 in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was a director and producer. He died on 30 April 2011 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- Born Karen Bach outside of Lyons, France, Karen Lancaume came from a wealthy family. The bi-racial beauty (French father, Moroccan mother) married at 17 while she was attending college. Even though her husband was a disc jockey and she worked weekends at a nightclub to make ends meet, the couple was soon awash in debt. They saw an opportunity to make a good amount of money quickly by performing in porn films, and in 1996 they both entered the industry. Unfortunately, the marriage didn't last past their first film together, and while her ex-husband left the porn industry, she stayed in it. She soon divided her time between making porn films in Europe and the US. She appeared in a documentary about porn performers called Exhibition 99 (1998). It was while making this film that she began to have second thoughts about her chosen career, and after appearing in the controversial mainstream film Baise-moi (2000)--in which she performed hardcore sex scenes--she began to ease out of the industry, finally quitting altogether in 2002.
Karen Lancaume died in Paris, France, on January 28, 2005. She committed suicide by taking an overdose of prescription drugs in her boyfriend's apartment. - Director
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Joe D'Amato was born Aristide Massaccesi on December 15, 1936, in Rome, Italy. At age 14 he began working for his father, a chief electrician and later the founder of the company A.C.M. By going to school in the daytime, Massaccesi worked afternoons part-time as a stagehand and stage cameraman around various film sets. After attending grade school, from 1953-57, Massaccesi worked for his father. Mole Richardson, another motion picture company, was looking for someone to work as an assistant cameraman and Massaccesi jumped at the opportunity. Starting in 1969 he worked as director of photography as well as assistant director for a number of films until 1974. His first directing work was in 1972's low-budget Stay Away from Trinity... When He Comes to Eldorado (1972), co-directed by Diego Spataro, under the pseudonym Dick Spitfire, but it was a commercial failure. Later that same year Massaccesi directed a western (under the name of Oskar Faradine). He then used his assistant's name, Romano Gastaldi, for his next film, Fra' Tazio da Velletri (1973), as well as a few others.
Massaccesi was reluctant to use his real name early in his directing career, since he was still known mainly as a director of photography and didn't want his directing jobs to jeopardize his cinematography career. He used his real name for screenplay and cinematography roles, but worked under many aliases (such as Michael Wotruba) to disguise the authorship of some films in order not to mix up the different genres of comedy, western, drama, thrillers and others. He used so many phony names that he may well have more pseudonyms credited to him than any other director in the world.
Massaccesi entered the horror genre with Death Smiles on a Murderer (1973) under his real name, which inspired him to make other gothic horror films. Under a new pseudonym, Joe D'Amato, he directed soft-core, erotic films starring Laura Gemser, such as Emanuelle and Francoise (1975), Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977), Emanuelle in America (1977), Erotic Nights of the Living Dead (1980) and others. He also directed such action films as Tough to Kill (1979).
Massaccesi, now referring to himself as Joe D'Amato, entered the "gore" genere films with Beyond the Darkness (1979), which remains his most successful horror film, shot in four weeks on a low budget entirely at a villa near Bressanone and which had an excellent music soundtrack by the rock group Goblin. His next horror film, but less successful than the previous one, was The Grim Reaper (1980), directed as "Peter Newton". The film starred Tisa Farrow, sister of Mia Farrow and the star of Zombie (1979), another gore genre flick.
During the 1980s and 1990s D'Amato directed over 100 hardcore porn sex films for the Italian video market, although under his many pseudonyms he continued to direct and produce other films. One of them was StageFright (1987) directed by Michele Soavi on which, under his real name, Massaccesi served as producer. He then directed two "Ator the Invincible" films. He directed the violent, hardcore Caligula: The Untold Story (1982), using the name "David Hills", a commercial exploitation (some might say "rip-off") of the successful film by Tinto Brass.
D'Amato's other films during the 1980s were Paradiso Blu (1980) and violent adventure films such as Deep Blood (1989), which were filmed in Florida, and Ghosthouse (1988). Some of D'Amato's greatest successes abroad were L'alcova (1985) and Pomeriggio caldo (1989), as well as the horror-thriller Hitcher in the Dark (1989) (aka "Hitcher in the Dark").
His long film career came to an abrupt end when, in January 1999, he suffered an unexpected and fatal heart attack at his home in Rome. He was 62. Joe D'Amato had made his mark on Italian cinema as a talented director, scriptwriter, producer and cinematographer with scores of films and more than a dozen aliases to his credit.- Director
- Editor
- Actor
Fred J. Lincoln was born Frederick Joseph Piantadosi in January 1936. He grew up in the Hell's Kitchen slum neighborhood of New York City. He is widely credited with helping to start the hardcore porn scene in his native New York in the early 1970s, His career spanned four decades in the adult entertainment business. He was usually listed as Fred J. Lincoln or F.J. Lincoln in his adult-film credits.
His career in adult films and video was prolific; his IMDb filmography credits him as director of 310 films, producer of 42, and actor in 64 (most of them non-sex roles). His credits in mainstream cinema are limited, although he did play the role of Weasel Podowski in Wes Craven's classic horror film The Last House on the Left (1972) and worked as a stunt man. In 1984 he won the Critics' Adult Film Award as Best Director for his film Go for It (1983). Lincoln was a member of the AVN Hall of Fame and was the owner of the famous New York City sex club Plato's Retreat during the 1970s and early 1980s. He was married twice, to porn actress/director Patti Rhodes-Lincoln and porn actress Tiffany Clark. He had two children, a daughter named Angelica and independent filmmaker, Charles D. Lincoln. At one point he lived in Ventura, California, in an apartment adjacent to porn actress Erica Boyer.
Fred J. Lincoln died on January 17, 2013, at age 76 from complications of emphysema and heart disease, just days before his 77th birthday.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Michel Ricaud was born on 25 November 1944 in Paris, France. He was a director and writer. He died on 28 June 1993 in Seychelles.- Actress
- Director
Alex Jordan was born on 20 September 1963 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. She was an actress and director. She was married to Justin Case and James Usher. She died on 2 July 1995 in Marina del Rey, California, USA.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Riccardo Schicchi was born on 12 March 1953 in Augusta, Sicily, Italy. He was a director and writer. He was married to Eva Henger. He died on 9 December 2012 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Jerry Butler was born on 13 May 1959 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor. He was married to Lisa Loring. He died on 27 January 2018 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA.- Cara Lott grew up in a middle-class Catholic family in Huntington Beach, California. Cara's career in the adult entertainment industry began at age eighteen after she asked a friend to snap a Polaroid photo of her wearing lingerie atop the family piano. Lott sent said photo to Hustler magazine and within several months went on to be the centerfold and cover girl for the December, 1981 issue. Cara subsequently signed up with the top talent and nude modeling agency World Modeling Agency in Sherman Oaks, California and posed for photo shoots for such men's magazines as Club, Cheri, Velvet, Genesis, and High Society. Lott soon thereafter began performing in explicit hardcore movies and, in the wake of establishing herself in the adult industry, took to the road as a feature dancer at gentlemen's clubs in America, Canada, and Japan. In 1991 Cara took a hiatus from porn so she could return to college and acquire a degree in Health Sciences. Cara then returned to performing in hardcore movies in 1997. Following another hiatus, Lott made a second comeback in January, 2005 as both an over forty model in men's magazines and a MILF/cougar performer in X-rated fare. Cara was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2006. Her hobbies included fishing, surfing, camping, hiking, skiing, scuba diving, kayaking, and open-water swimming. Lott died at age 56 after a long battle with a debilitating illness on March 19, 2018.
- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Viper was one of porn's most notorious stars but now is out of the business. Born near the super secret atomic bomb center in Tennessee, she moved to New Hampshire in the 1960's and took up ballet. She danced in the New Hampshire Ballet Co. from 1968-76 and appeared in regional theater until age 18. She then moved to New York City to train at the American Ballet Theater, her childhood dream. Not satisfied with her roles, Viper left New York in 1978, joined the Marines and six years later married, had a baby and was mustered out for undisclosed reasons. After divorce and giving her baby up for adoption she began her adult career in strip clubs and later porn films for Bill Majors, William Margold and Jim South. Her first job in porn was for a magazine doing a layout but she grew more daring and uninhibited as time went on. She dropped out of sight in 1991.
She died on December 24, 2010, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, of lung cancer.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ranked #19 in AVN's Top 50 Porn Stars of All Time. Raised in Texas and throughout Southern California. Was porn star Jeanna Fine's girlfriend. She is one of the most notorious, controversial porn stars of all time.