She made a handful of appearances in adult films (the first as an underage performer) before becoming a nurse back in Florida. Jeff was recently interviewed by the Rialto Report here.Ĭynthia Jean Jackson (aka Jean Jennings) was a teenage runaway from Fort Lauderdale who was recommended to New York filmmakers Fred Lincoln and Jason Russell by photographer Leonard Campagno (aka Len Camp) in the mid 1970s. He appeared in off-Broadway plays, commercials (with Sylvester Stallone.), short films (with Glenn Close.), and made appearances in television shows such as Charlie’s Angels and Fantasy Island. Jeff Eagle (aka Jeffrey Hurst) is from Brooklyn, and actively pursued a mainstream acting career throughout the 1970s and 80s – whilst having a more successful alter ego in the adult film world. By day he was a senior court reporter working for the city.ĭave is the subject of an upcoming feature on the Rialto Report. Georgina was recently interviewed by the Rialto Report here.ĭavid Rubenstein (aka Dave Ruby) is a native New Yorker who started making porn films in 1976, after he met people from the adult film industry who were active on the swingers scene. In the early 1970s, she applied for jobs on the production side of adult films, which culminated in her starring role in ‘ The Devil in Miss Jones‘ (1973). After a job in the Broadway musical ‘Pajama Game’, first in the chorus, then as the understudy to Shirley MacLaine, she worked regularly in theater. Shelley Graham (aka Georgina Spelvin) was born in Houston, Texas, and came to New York as principal dancer at the Latin Quarter supper club in Times Square. His interview with The Rialto Report can be found here. Responding to an ad for nude models in the Village Voice in 1971, he started appearing in loops which led to roles in the first feature films of the nascent adult film industry. After graduating from Columbia University, he drove a cab in New York City at night to enable him to audition for acting jobs during the day. Jamey Gurman (aka Jamie Gillis) had aspirations to be a mime artist and lived in Europe for a number of years in the 1960s in pursuit of this dream. He met his future partner, actress Samantha Fox, on he set of one of her first films ‘ Double Your Pleasure’ (1978). His gift for comedy and his unusual looks earned him the nick-name ‘The Clown Prince of Porn’. Robert Charles (aka Bobby Astyr) was a jazz musician who started appearing in adult films in the mid-1970s. Rob was recently interviewed by the Rialto Report here. He began performing in silent, black-and-white sex loops, working with Tina Russell and Linda Lovelace. After graduating he acted extensively in summer stock plays and in touring theater productions across the country. Rob Everett (aka ‘ Eric Edwards’) came to New York in the 1960s after receiving a scholarship to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Linda died in 1981 of complications from alcoholism. During this time, Jason took many pictures of her for agencies in an attempt to launch a modeling career. She went on to become the first recognizable adult film star in New York. After attending NYU, she first appeared in an 8mm loop shot by Sam Menning in order to raise money for a friend who’d been arrested for importing pot. Linda Mintzer (aka Tina Russell) moved to New York with her photographer husband, Jason, from Williamsport, PA. Here are a selection of head shots from early adult film stars, taken for casting agents – for film, theater, and modeling work. These X-rated films helped prolong my existence as a struggling actor, and therefore increased the chances that I’d eventually get a big break”. The logic was simple, as Harry Reems told us in an interview in 2009: “In the beginning, I could get $150 for a few hours in a sex film – compared to next to nothing for appearing for weeks in an off-off-Broadway play. Many of them featured actors who had mainstream aspirations, and they were appearing in off-Broadway plays and auditioning for so-called ‘legit’ roles at the same time as they were becoming porn film stars. The early New York adult film industry was known for films that aspired to be ‘real’ movies.
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