Nobody Gets to Be a Porn Star Forever

Los Angeles Times, April 14, 2009: "Marilyn Chambers, the legendary adult movie queen who was the wholesome model on Ivory Snow detergent boxes in the early 1970s when she made her adult movie debut in the X-rated classic ‘Behind the Green Door,’ has died. She was 56."

Two of the most difficult subjects to discuss in mixed company are porn and the Three Stooges. Such timeless mysteries that confound the coexistence of men and women are best left unsolved.

The term "pornography" (defined as the explicit depiction of a sexual matter with the sole purpose of arousing the beholder) is a combination of Greek words that translate roughly as a "written description or illustration of prostitutes." Depictions of people having sex are at least as old as civilization. We’re pretty sure that in the mists of prehistory, some inspired individuals created cave paintings of stone-age shenanigans. There exists, in fact, such expressions of Paleolithic passion as old as 32,000 years. Recently in Germany, archaeologists unveiled a 35,000-year-old carving of a busty woman described as "very sexually charged."

It’s a given that the earliest cultures venerated a connection between sex and the supernatural, representing erotic acts in their art and architecture.

We owe our contemporary concept of pornography to the Victorians of Great Britain. Archaeological excavations of Pompeii in the mid-19th century revealed several remnants of ancient Roman erotic art (above), throwing the stodgy Victorians into a tizzy, since they had long fancied themselves the intellectual heirs to the once great Roman Empire. Artifacts that could be moved were sequestered in the Secret Museum in Naples, Italy, accessible only to upper-class scholars. What couldn’t be relocated was covered and roped off to prevent corrupting the moral sensibilities of the working class, women and children.

In short order, England’s Parliament enacted the Obscene Publications Act in 1857, the world’s first law to criminalize pornography, making the sale of obscene material a statutory offense. Regardless of the suppression (or perhaps owing to it), pornography survived the Victorians, making the transition from a luxury diversion for the few to a casual commodity for all, ever changing with the endless march of technology.

Before the worldwide web made pornography extensively available to every adult with a computer, before DVD phased out VHS, even before VHS, inquisitive consumers had to find their adult entertainment in dusky theaters or off-the-beaten-path bookstores with covered windows that sold sealed magazines you were forbidden to peruse before purchasing, staffed by a surly clerk whom you hoped wasn’t a former classmate of yours who would tell your friends what you were buying.

This was the Golden Age of Porn. From the late 1960s to the early ‘80s, widespread access to birth control, blissful ignorance of sexually transmitted diseases, and the availability of abortion services liberated the view of sex for pleasure, a freedom that was mirrored in adult entertainment. X-rated motion pictures became more prevalent, drawing in audiences at mainstream theaters and encouraging serious discussions among viewers and critics alike.

1972’s "Deep Throat" remains the most successful adult film of all time. Other titles contributing to the phenomenon of the new "porn chic" were "The Devil in Miss Jones " and "Behind the Green Door." Linda Lovelace, the star of "Deep Throat," predicted that the porn industry would merge with the legitimate movie business.

It was into this Golden Age that Marilyn Chambers was ushered in as one of its premiere stars. The youngest of three children, she was born Marilyn Ann Briggs in 1952 in Providence, Rhode Island, and raised in middle-class surroundings in Westport, Connecticut. Her mother was a nurse, her father an advertising man who tried unsuccessfully to dissuade her from pursuing a modeling career.

She had a small role in the 1970 film, "The Owl and the Pussycat," starring Barbra Streisand and George Segal, credited as "Evelyn Long." After moving to Los Angeles, she did a nude scene in a low-budget 1971 flick called "Together," directed by Sean Cunningham, who would find greater fame as the director of the original "Friday the 13th." A move to San Francisco landed her employment as a topless model and exotic dancer.

Once upon a time in 1972, Marilyn spotted an ad announcing a casting call for what was described as a "major motion picture." Only after she filled out the application at the audition did she realize it was a hardcore adults-only movie. The producers, brothers Artie and Jim Mitchell, who noted her resemblance to Cybill Shepherd, promptly offered her the starring role in "Behind the Green Door."

"I thought I’d take a shot," she recalled in a 1977 interview in the Los Angeles Times. "I was intrigued by the story. I really liked the fantasy involved. And I figured it might be my last chance at something really big." She also figured the role was worth a $25,000 paycheck plus a percentage of the gross. She also insisted that her costars underwent tests for sexually transmitted diseases.

"Back then in my naive brain," she reflected in 2000, "I was thinking that something like 'Behind the Green Door' had never been done before, and the way our sexual revolution was travelling, I really thought it was going to be a stepping stone which would further my acting career."

After the production was wrapped, Chambers casually informed the Mitchell brothers that one of her earlier modeling gigs was as the young mother snuggling a laughing baby on the Ivory Snow soap box, advertised as "99 & 44/100% Pure" (above). The Mitchells immediately billed her in ads for "Behind the Green Door" as the "99 & 44/100% Pure" girl, while Ivory Soap manufacturer Procter & Gamble pulled their product off store shelves and subsequently instituted the "Marilyn Chambers Clause" in future contracts, insisting that models confirm they had never appeared naked in photo sessions or been involved in adult entertainment. For her part, Marilyn made sure that her adult films included a subtle product placement of the famous Ivory Snow box.

In a 2007 interview in Rhode Island’s Providence Journal, Chambers said, "Timing is essential for someone’s career. That’s what did it for me. The controversy of both those things happening at the same time." She told the Philadelphia Daily News, "The media attention of the whole controversy was insane. This was the first time attention was being paid to erotic films." She followed up her successful debut with "Resurrection of Eve" and "Inside Marilyn Chambers," two more X-rated hits produced by the Mitchell brothers.

Marilyn’s parents, not surprisingly, didn’t speak with her for years after the release of "Behind the Green Door" but eventually reached a reconciliation. Yearning for an acting career in mainstream cinema, she starred in the 1977 horror film "Rabid," directed by David Cronenberg ("A History of Vioence," "Eastern Promises"). Her popularity in adult films, however, made mainstream Hollywood studios nervous. "I thought there would be a chance to cross over," she told an interviewer. "Boy, was I wrong." She appeared in a number of independent movies, including "Bikini Bistro," "Party Incorporated" and "Angel of H.E.A.T.," costarring cult favorite Mary Woronov ("Eating Raoul").

After recording a mildly successful disco single in 1976 and performing in a song-and-dance cabaret act, Chambers returned again to adult movies in 1980. She stopped making X-rated films by the mid-1980s, appearing in softcore late-night cable broadcasts before returning again to hardcore in the late 1990s. Her last screen role was a police officer contending with teen thieves in the PG-rated "Solitaire."

Married and divorced three times, Marilyn Chambers died of a cerebral hemorrhage and aneurysm related to heart disease ten days before her 57th birthday. Reflecting on her career, she once admitted, "I would have loved to move on. I’ve been stigmatized, and it’s something that’s very difficult to get out of."

There’s a memorable line in the 1970 western "Monte Walsh" that goes, "Nobody gets to be a cowboy forever." Nobody gets to be a porn star forever. And that ushers in our glimpse into the fates of other stars from the Golden Age of adult entertainment.

Linda Lovelace was born Linda Boreman in 1949 and raised a Catholic school girl. In her early 20s she became involved with a bullying thug named Chuck Traynor (below), who became her manager and abusive husband, forcing her at gunpoint, according to her later accounts (which also included accusations of forced prostitution), into pornography, including the starring role in "Deep Throat." (Traynor later married and guided the career of Marilyn Chambers, whom he would urge to do radio interviews in the nude.)

Years later, ads for "Deep Throat" proclaimed it was filmed in six days on a budget of $25,000: "Banned in 23 states, it has grossed over $600 million. It is the most profitable film in motion picture history." Lovelace maintained that her husband withheld her paycheck from her.

Lovelace appeared in only two more films, the R-rated "Deep Throat II" (1974) and "Linda Lovelace for President" (1975), a lightweight comedy which featured a supporting cast of The Monkees’ Mickey Dolenz, veteran character actor Scatman Crothers ("The Shining") and comedian Art Metrano. She also posed in photo spreads for Playboy and Esquire.

In 1974, she was arrested for possession of cocaine and amphetamines. By 1980, with the publication of her autobiography, Ordeal, Linda Boreman joined the ranks of the feminist anti-pornography movement. Supported by the likes of Gloria Steinem, she vented at colleges and government hearings, while the sincerity of her allegations was questioned by others, including one writer who coined the term "Linda Syndrome" to describe women who abandon pornography only to repudiate their past by placing all blame on the industry.

It was only a matter of time before Boreman claimed she was exploited by the anti-porn movement. "They made a few bucks off me," she said, "just like everybody else."

A car rollover on April 3, 2002, resulted in internal injuries and massive trauma. Nineteen days later, Linda Boreman was taken off life support, and she died at the age of 53.

Chuck Traynor (above), incidentally, died of a heart attack exactly three months after Boreman passed away. Linda’s sister commented that she was disappointed he died before she could kill him.

Herbert Streicher, born to a Jewish family in the Bronx in 1947, served in the Marines and sought an acting career in Off-Broadway theater before he started appearing in several short stag films in the early ‘70s. Hired to work on the lighting crew for "Deep Throat," he was asked to fill an uncast role. For his one-day performance, which launched him to adult-film stardom, he was paid $250 and found out only later that the director had dubbed him Harry Reems (above) in the credits.

Reems was subsequently arrested by the FBI and indicted on federal charges of conspiring to distribute obscenity across state lines. His conviction was overturned, and he was granted a new trial. The defense (his successful appeal was handled by future O.J. Simpson "dream team" attorney Alan Dershowitz) stated he was the first American actor to be prosecuted by the federal government for appearing in a film. He received surprising support from several Hollywood and New York celebrities, including Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty, who volunteered to testify on his behalf, as well as Gregory Peck and Richard Dreyfuss.

Between 1971 and 1989, Reems starred in 140 feature-length sexploitation films. After years of alcohol and drug abuse, he began his recovery in 1989. He married and converted to Christianity. "Being the low-bottom drunk that I was, I started going around to churches," he said. "I called myself a church gypsy."

Still identifying himself as Harry Reems (above), he continues to meditate and pray, expressing his gratitude to God, stating, "If I didn’t put God in my life, I’d be dead now. I am not religious. I am spiritual, 100 percent."

Carol Connors (above), who had a memorable part as "The Nurse" in "Deep Throat," was featured in several adult movies between 1971 and 1981, including starring roles in "The Erotic Adventures of Candy" and "Candy Goes to Hollywood." She had earlier appeared in a few mainstream films, among them director Howard Hawks’ 1965 car racing drama "Red Line 7000," starring James Caan, as well as frequent stints as the spokesmodel who introduced host Chuck Barris at the start of TV’s "The Gong Show."

Connors married Jack Birch, a frequent costar in her films (including "Deep Throat"), and after their retirement from adult cinema, they became business managers for the career of their daughter, acclaimed actress Thora Birch ("American Beauty," "Ghost World") (above).

Georgina Spelvin stands out as the elder stateswoman of adult movies. Born Michelle Graham in 1936, she embarked on a professional career as a chorus girl and dancer in Broadway productions of "Guys and Dolls," "Sweet Charity" and "The Pajama Game" (below).

In 1973, in her late 30s, she found herself the unlikely star of the X-rated "The Devil in Miss Jones" (which costarred Harry Reems), billed as Georgina Spelvin.

The names George Spelvin, Georgette Spelvin and Georgina Spelvin had traditionally been used by performers on the American stage who didn’t want to be acknowledged. After "The Devil in Miss Jones," "Georgina Spelvin" fell into disuse.

As for the pseudonymous Georgina Spelvin, she appeared in 70 adult films, along with cameo roles as a hooker in the "Police Academy" comedies (above), before retiring in 1982. She became a computer graphics designer and retired in 2001 at the age of 65. As of 2008, she was reportedly residing in Los Angeles with her husband and had published her autobiography , The Devil Made Me Do It.

The International Movie Data Base describes Desiree Cousteau as a southern belle who was "one of the most fondly remembered of the 1970s-‘80s porn stars, and not only because of her gorgeous face and spectacular (and completely natural) body. She brought a dizzy, goofy and endearing charm to all of her roles." Often cast in parts that could be dismissed as naïve bimbos, she exhibited a disarming comedic flair, which sadly seemed wasted in X-rated movies.

After her abrupt disappearance from adult films, rumors teemed about her whereabouts. Some said she started a family as a blissfully obscure housewife. Another account insisted she had been institutionalized following a nervous breakdown. The most viable report has her completing a college degree in psychology and practicing in her native Georgia.

Annette Haven, a former nurse’s aide and exotic dancer, stood out among X-rated superstars of the ‘70s and ‘80s as a selective class act who refused to perform scenes that depicted bondage or other violence. She had a mainstream part in director Blake Edwards’ 1979 romantic comedy "10," starring Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews and Bo Derek. She reportedly turned down a role in the 1981 horror film "The Howling" because of its excessive bloodshed.

Haven was considered for the lead in director Brian De Palma’s "Body Double" (1984), a role that ultimately went to Melanie Griffith. Haven stayed on the film to work as a consultant. After retiring from adult movies in the late ‘80s, she settled into a life of wedded domesticity in Marin County, California.

John Holmes (above) was unequivocally one of the most prolific male stars of adult cinema, appearing in 2500 stag movies and feature films. He was famous for the prodigious length of his manhood and later became infamous for his substance abuse and involvement with the drug-dealing Wonderland Gang in Los Angeles’ Laurel Canyon that resulted in murder charges when four gang members were found dead in their rowhouse hideout. Holmes (below) was acquitted, but his stardom waned as his drug use continued and as the adult industry moved from film to videotape.

Diagnosed as HIV positive in 1986, Holmes told the press his increasingly gaunt appearance was due to colon cancer. He spent the last four months of life either bed-ridden or drifting from one hospital to another until he finally refused treatment in the hope of dying quickly. He passed away, at the age of 43, in 1988.

Among the many outrageous myths about Holmes was that as a teenager he played Eddie Haskell on "Leave It to Beaver," based on a passing resemblance to actor Ken Oamond. In a documentary, Holmes was described as "to the adult film industry what Elvis was to rock ‘n’ roll. He simply was the King." He was the inspiration for two mainstream Hollywood features, "Boogie Nights," starring Mark Wahlberg, and "Wonderland," starring Val Kilmer (below).

One of Holmes’ biggest rivals in adult films, at least when it came to the most manhood, was Ron Jeremy, nicknamed "The Hedgehog." Born to an upper-class Jewish family in Queens, he had an uncle who was an alleged gangster with ties to Bugsy Siegel. Jeremy taught special education classes and worked as a substitute teacher before appearing in pornographic films beginning in 1979 at the age of 26.

It is Ron Jeremy, not Holmes, who earned the entry "Most Appearances in Adult Films" in the Guinness Book of World Records. He was employed as a consultant for the films "9 ½ Weeks," starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger, and "Boogie Nights" and has popped up in at least 15 music videos (another record for a porn star), appearing with Kid Rock, Guns N’ Roses, Sam Kinison, Everclear, Moby and Sublime. Jeremy also posed, barely, in an ad for PETA that proclaimed, "Too much sex can be a bad thing. Spay or neuter your cats and dogs."

The ubiquitous Jeremy has been a frequent guest on such TV programs as "The Surreal Life," "The Surreal Life Fame Game," "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List," "Family Guy" and "Chappelle’s Show."

Sharon Mitchell was an Off-Broadway actress who also toured with the Martha Graham Dance Company before embarking on a two-decade career as an adult actress. During her work in adult entertainment, she became addicted to heroin, which she successfully overcame, although she did contract hepatitis. She later recalled her 16-year addiction as her "blackout year."

On March 30, 1996, she was attacked and sexually assaulted by a stalker who nearly killed her. She left adult films and pursued a Ph. D. from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. She is currently the Director of the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation, which she set up in 1998. With an annual budget of $1.4 million, the foundation provides testing for STDs, as well as drug and psychological counseling for adult film performers.

"Nobody knows me as the ex-porn star," she noted. "I’m a doctor. I wear a doctor’s coat. I run a clinic. I’m very well-respected."

Postscript:

A little-known fact about Marilyn Chambers is that in the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, she ran for vice president as Charles Jay’s running mate on the libertarian Personal Choice Party ticket. Four years later, she was again Jay’s running mate, as an alternative write-in candidate. In an April 2009 talk with Newsweek’s Jesse Ellison, Charles Jay recalled her as a "pioneer of free speech." He said, "As far as anyone will report, she was the girl on the Ivory Soap box who ended up in the porn film. But there was a lot more to her than that. What people don’t know is that she was very, very goodhearted…She wanted to raise her daughter (McKenna Taylor) normally…She couldn’t change who she had been, and she wasn’t ashamed of it, but I think she wanted her daughter to be her own person. I think she strived for normalcy, and she got it. She was normal to me."

At an outdoor memorial for Marilyn Chambers on Zuma Beach in Malibu, 17-year-old McKenna Taylor (above) commented with a laugh about how her mother loved animals so much that their dog rode in the front seat of the car while McKenna sat in back. McKenna recalled that her mother was always surprising people with the unexpected wholeness of her nature. She said, "My mom was beautiful. Inside and out."