The Rialto Report

On this episode of The Rialto Report, we listen to a rarely heard documentary made in 1988, called ‘Working for Mr. X’. The mid to late 1980s marked an inflection point for the adult film industry. Home video had firmly taken over from theatrically released movies, making the business more widespread than it had ever been before. Never in history had so many people consumed sexually explicit materials in their own homes. Deep Throat (1972) may have marked the point where anybody could go and see a pornographic film, but the invasion of home video signaled that everybody could watch one. So, what happens when your audience changes from the raincoat crowd to the suburban mom and pop – and their kids? But despite this mainstreaming of the sex industry, it still remained a contradiction. On the one hand it was extremely popular (we’re talking about an estimated 200 million video tapes rented yearly in 1987), yet at the same time, it was also condemned by American society through legislation, social stigma, and myths. The one thing everyone agreed on was that the industry itself fascinated people, and naturally this attracted the attention of the media, and this extended to the broader sex industry, and included phone sex, book stores, strip clubs, and sex toys. The documentary you are about to hear was recorded at the end of the period often referred to as the golden age of adult film – and features interviews with actors, lawyers and producers who worked in the world of California’s pornography industry such as Vanessa del Rio, Richard Pacheco, Ona Zee, Jeannie Pepper, Mike Horner, Shanna McCullough, Nina Hartley, and Susie Bright. It explores the phenomenon of video, and the effect it had on the sex film business, and also considers whether issues such as race, legal decisions, AIDS, and drugs were changing the industry. This podcast episode is 58 minutes long. The musical playlist for this episode can be found on Spotify. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Jeannie Pepper   Heather Hunter   Christy Canyon   The post Working for Mr. X: California 1988 – Podcast 83 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. There’s this powerful American politician who’s at the top of his game. Then you’ve got a notorious sex worker with a love of performing. They have a scandalous affair that rocks Washington. And a media storm sweeps the nation. It’s on the nightly news, and all over the newspapers. People just can’t get enough of it. That’s right – I’m talking about Wilbur Mills and Fanne Foxe. Who did you think I was talking about? He grew up in the U.S. House of Representatives and had stood for president – and was considered for a seat on the Supreme Court. She came from a small town in Argentina, and was already the mother of three by the time she started dancing on the burlesque circuit in America. They met in 1973, and even though he was married and almost thirty years older than her, they seemingly fell in love. Then on a fateful night in October 1974, they were involved in a strange incident and their secret relationship risked being exposed to the scandal-hungry public. Details slowly emerged and it soon became a sensation as the public started asking questions: Like how did a woman from a small town in south America become involved with one of the most powerful men in the U.S.? How could such an influential politician come to be exposed in such a public way? How did adult film actors, Harry Reems and Jamie Gillis, get involved in trying to persuade Fanne Foxe to make an adult film at the height of her fame? And what happened to Fanne, the Argentine Firecracker behind one of the most public political scandals of the 20th century? Isn’t it strange how in the world of politics, often everything that was old is somehow new again? This podcast episode is 55 minutes long. The musical playlist for this episode can be found on Spotify. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Fanne Foxe – A Chronological Media History August 1965: Early mention of Fanne Foxe in Baltimore   October 11, 1974: First mention of the Tidal Basin incident   October 11, 1974: First mention of the Tidal Basin incident   October 11, 1974: First mention of the Tidal Basin incident   October 11, 1974: The media investigate Fanne   October 12, 1974: The media investigate Fanne   November 8th 1974: A month after the Tidal Basin incident, Fanne appears on a chat show – with Richard Pryor   November 19 1974: In the wake of the Tidal Basin scandal, Fanne returns to the stage   December 2 1974: Much to everyone’s amazement, Wilbur appears on stage with Fanne   December 2 1974: Wilbur Mills announces his surprising plans for Fanne   December 2 1974: Wilbur Mills announces his surprising plans for Fanne   December 3 1974: Fanne stands by Wilbur but denies they are lovers   December 3 1974: The political fall-out following Wilbur’s on stage appearance with Fanne   December 4 1974: Political problems continue for Wilbur   December 4 1974: Wilbur’s political power is weakened by the scandal   December 4 1974: The effect of the scandal takes it toll on Wilbur   December 5 1974: The media focus their attention on Fanne   December 5 1974: The media reports a backlash against Fanne   December 5 1974: In the midst of media uproar, Fanne cancels a show   December 7 1974: The fascination with Fanne Foxe grows   December 7 1974: Fanne reveals her affair with Wilbur   December 7 1974: Fanne becomes ubiquitous in the newspapers   December 7 1974: Fanne’s notoriety results in higher appearance fees (Hello, Stormy Daniels…)   December 7 1974: Fanne’s notoriety results in higher appearance fees   December 10 1974: Wilbur loses the chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee   December 10 1974: Wlibur continues to lose support   December 11 1974: Fanne’s press coverage is mixed   December 12 1974: When Fanne resumes her stripping, she is arrested for indecent exposure   December 12 1974: The reason for the arrest is an alleged ‘bottomless’ dance   December 13 1974: Coverage of Fanne’s arrest re-ignites the scandal   December 14 1974: Fanne announces that she will no longer dance nude   December 14 1974: Wilbur considers his political options while hospitalized   December 16 1974: Everyone has an opinion on Fanne Foxe   August 15 1975: Nine months after the scandal broke, Fanne reveals her affair with Wilbur   August 15 1975: Fanne says her marriage broke down because of her affair with Wilbur   August 15 1975: Fanne’s revelations mean the scandal remains center stage   September 3 1975: A few weeks later, in her tell-all autobiography, Fanne claims she had become pregnant with Wilbur’s child   September 3 1975: Her autobiography recounts how Fanne aborted Wilbur’s child   September 24 1975: The revelation

It’s with great sadness that The Rialto Report marks the passing of Jennifer Welles. She passed away last Tuesday at the age of 81. Jennifer Welles was one of the last truly old school performers. In the 1950s she was a song and dance lounge club performer, in the 1960s she was a burlesque dancer and then soft core film actress, and in the 1970s when she was 40 she became one of the superstars of hard core films in New York. Jennifer Welles was one of the first interviews that we published on The Rialto Report, and it is by far one of the most downloaded. But rather than just re-issue the podcast, we wanted to also look back at a mystery that lay at the heart of her life for a long time. We’ve recorded a new introduction to our podcast interview with her. This podcast episode is 57 minutes long. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Ashley West writes: When I started The Rialto Report as a way of helping preserve people’s memories from the early adult film industry, I really wanted to speak with people who’d been out of the public eye for many years. And there was no one who’d been out of the public eye more than Jennifer Welles. Jennifer in her burlesque days, as ‘Lisa Duran’ Every day at The Rialto Report, we get people enquiring about one star or another. The emails often say that the star in question has completely disappeared. The truth is that 99% haven’t disappeared. They’ve just stopped being part of the adult industry, they’ve gone back to working in more conventional jobs, and gradually they’ve lost contact with their old world. They don’t disappear. They just do something different. But for 40 years Jennifer Welles really did disappear. And it was completely deliberate too. I remember interviewing director Ron Sullivan who’d been a huge fan and close friend of Jennifer’s. He told me that in 1977, she’d gone to see him. And the purpose of her visit was to tell him that she was retiring from the adult film business. Not only that but that she was leaving New York, and cutting off all ties with everyone she knew there. In fact, she told him, she would never see him again and he should not try and contact her. Several other of her friends told me the same story. Obviously this news was a shock to people. Everyone was sad and concerned to see her go, but she appeared determined. And true to her word, Jennifer Welles did leave New York and she never contacted anyone from the adult film world again. So what happened? I found that 15 years before she left New York, she’d got married. It was the early 1960s – and she got hitched to a trumpet player called Manny Duran. I figured that if could find him, maybe he’d know something about why she disappeared so suddenly. I looked him up and found that he was still performing. In fact he was at BB King’s in New York every Tuesday. I called him up, and he invited me to a show to celebrate his 80th birthday. This was back in 2006. Manny told me that he grew up in San Antonio, Texas and first began playing the trumpet in local mariachi bands. When he was in his teens, he heard Louis Armstrong on the radio for the first time, and it changed his life. He resolved to learn how to play like that, and so in 1956 he hitchhiked to New York to pursue a career in jazz. He had a tough start. On his first day, his trumpet and clothes were stolen, and he lived out of a car for the first year, working as a waiter at a jazz club. But he was talented, and his dynamic trumpet playing soon set New York’s Latin jazz scene ablaze. He recorded with greats like Dizzy Gillespie, and he was in demand all over the country. Back in the day he had crazy black hair and a Frank Zappa beard, but by the time I met him, he was bald as a pool ball. Manny was generous with his time, and he loved to talk about jazz. He also loved to about Jennifer Welles. In fact his tone changed when he spoke about her. He became misty-eyed and talked in a soft whisper. He referred to her as Lisa which had been her given name. Yes, they had been married, very happily, for many years. They were young and in love, and times were good. But they also loved their art, in her case it was acting and dancing, in his case it was jazz, and this created two problems. First they found it difficult to spend time together. Both of them toured, their work was irregular, and Manny said that often they were like ships passing in the night. They tried working together, hiring themselves out to filmmakers as a team; she would star, he would compose and perform the soundtrack music. But it was difficult. The second problem was money. Or rather the lack of it. This affected Jennifer more than it concerned Manny. He was used to living cheaply and was willing to make sacrifices, but she wanted a better life. She didn’t like not knowing if they’d be able to pay next month’s rent. She was tiring of the struggle. In the mid-1970s, their financial worries eased a li

Johnnie Keyes passed away this week from complications following a recent stroke in Seattle, Washington. He was 78. He was best known for his role opposite Marilyn Chambers in the 1972 Mitchell Brothers’ film Behind the Green Door. When you start a podcast series like The Rialto Report, focused on people who were active 30 or 40 years ago, you have to expect that sooner or later they will pass away. It’s always sad, but it happens, and it’s part of the reason we want to help preserve people’s memories and achievements before they leave the stage permanently. But the passing of Johnnie Keyes feels somehow more significant. The golden age of adult film arguably started with two movies, Deep Throat and Behind The Green Door. And the stars and directors of both these films, Linda Lovelace, Marilyn Chambers, Harry Reems, Gerry Damiano and the Mitchell Brothers have all passed on. Johnnie was the last man standing. His landmark interracial scene with Marilyn in Behind The Green Door was legendary. Johnnie claimed that it resulted in death threats that affected him personally for the rest of his life. It may’ve taken place almost 50 years ago, but take a listen to how he was still being remembered in a recent episode of Saturday Night Live on the occasion of Black History Month. I first met Johnnie several years ago at the annual AVN ceremony where he was getting a lifetime achievement award. He was in hilarious form, posing for pictures with people, and breaking into song at every opportunity. He called me ‘Dog’ when he addressed me. As an impossibly white man, that made me feel great. Several years later, after I started the Rialto Report, I called him up and said I’d like to interview him. I told him his story was an important one, and that it was critical that it was told in his own words. He shouldn’t rely on others to tell his story for him. He agreed, and told me that he’d be happy to share his story – but that he had a price. “I won’t accept less than $2,000,” he said. I told him that was disappointing because we just couldn’t pay for the interviews we do. However I said that I’d consider an honorarium to compensate him for his time. “How much were you thinking, dog?” he said. I told him $100. “You got a deal,” he replied, laughing his head off. The interview that you’re about to hear was the result, and what was so gratifying was that his life was so much more than just the adult films he’d made. He’s been a boxer, fought in Vietnam, starred in the musical Hair, and much more. As he said in the interview, “Guys would jump over the Niagara Falls to live my life.” I kept in touch with him over the phone after that, and he was always sweet, good-natured, and polite. One of the last phone messages he left me was at Christmas. As usual his gentle and kind personality shone through. You’ll be missed Johnnie Keyes. This podcast is 78 minutes long. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Johnnie Keyes                     Johnnie Keyes, with C.J. Laing   Johnnie Keyes, with The Rialto Report’s April Hall   The post Johnnie Keyes (1940 – 2018): His Life In His Own Words – Podcast 59 (reprise with a new introduction) appeared first on The Rialto Report.

The Rialto Report tried to interview Lynn LeMay. Believe us, we really tried. You see, for ages we’d wanted to talk to her about her memories of her adult film career. She’d started making films in New York in the 1980s, where she worked with many of the golden age greats like Jerry Butler, Joe Sarno, and Jamie Gillis. Then she moved to California, where she appeared in movies by people like Henri Pachard and Paul Thomas, that featured stars like Porsche Lynn, Ron Jeremy, and Billy Dee. She was also a big name on the featured dancer circuit where she toured the U.S. and Europe. In fact she only retired from the business a few years ago. So we set some time up, and we tried to interview Lynn. The thing is that Lynn LeMay is a force of nature, and when she gets going the only smart thing to do is to get out of the way. She has a story and an opinion on everything, and it’s all entertaining and revealing. So we decided to let the tape roll and sit back and listen. Lynn LeMay is her own woman. This is her story, in her own words. You can find Lynn LeMay at her website and on Twitter. This podcast is 75 minutes long. The musical playlist for this episode can be found on Spotify. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Lynn LeMay                                 * The post Lynn LeMay: Her Own Woman, Her Own Story – Podcast 81 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

To celebrate her 64th birthday, we re-visit our 2013 interview with Seka – the last star of the golden age of adult film and the first star of the video era. Tales of John Holmes, John Leslie, Dracula Sucks, Swedish Erotica, drugs, boyfriends, Morton Downey Jr, Alan Thicke, Sam Kinison, comebacks, retirement, and her new book Inside Seka – all on this episode of The Rialto Report. This episode running time is 71 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Dottie was a Virginia hillbilly. She was a tomboy who had little time for dressing up or playing with other girls.Seka is the elegant and sophisticated Platinum Princess, arguably the last icon of the golden era of adult film, as well as the first icon of porn’s video era. For a time her distinctive look dominated the industry as she appeared in feature films, Swedish Erotica loops and on the stripping circuit. How Dottie became Seka is the subject of her newly published autobiography, named after her most famous film, Inside Seka.She was one of the rare figures who transcended the X-rated business. In the 1980s, Playboy called her “a bona-fide video phenomenon—just like Boy George and stereo television.” She appeared on talk shows and in mainstream magazines, she directed and produced her own film, and spoke in front of Meese Commission. Here was a strong, independent woman who showed that women could be sex symbols in front of the camera, as well as having significant control over the end product. Long after she retired she was still running her fan club, making lucrative personal appearances, and being recognized on the streets of her adopted home town of Chicago, where she’d become a local celebrity.On this episode of The Rialto Report, Seka talks frankly and openly about her life, the films, the money, the boyfriends, the drugs, the celebrities, the sex. You can buy copies of her book here. Seka pictures:   The post Seka: The Platinum Princess speaks – Podcast 23 reprise appeared first on The Rialto Report.

We’d wanted to interview Leslie Winston for several years, and judging by the number of requests we’ve received at The Rialto Report, many of you have been curious to hear from her too. And why not: Leslie started out in the early 1980s as a popular pin-up model, appearing in scores of magazines across the country. She was on the cover of many of them, often with different names. She was Lisa, Lynn, Wendy, Molly, and many others – too numerous to mention. On the face of it she was a young, happy, pretty girl-next-door type. That is if your neighbor had a rather large chest, a foot fetish, and a fondness for appearing in lactation and enema pictorials. And then Leslie moved into adult films. But unlike many of her contemporaries, she didn’t want to be a big porn star, and seemed happy appearing in supporting roles for several years. Away from the movie set, her life was just as interesting. She lived in a romantic relationship with the adult film star Tigr, also known as Chelsea Manchester, for several years, she partied with OJ Simpson, and collaborated with Timothy Leary, all whilst raising a daughter. When I contacted Leslie, I realized that someone who’d never wanted publicity may not be interested in being interviewed after all these years. And it turned out, that was partly true. But there was another more important issue. You see, Leslie had had a second child, a daughter who was now in her teens. And Leslie hadn’t yet talked about her past with her. Not wanting to create any personal issues for her, we were happy to step aside. In January this year however, the two of them finally had that conversation. And so, on this Rialto Report, Leslie Winston talks about her life openly for the first time. The running time of this podcast is 80 minutes. The musical playlist for this episode can be found on Spotify. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Leslie Winston – Private scrapbooks                   With Tish Ambrose                 After retirment   Leslie Winston – today   Leslie Winston – today *   Leslie Winston – Adult magazines and films             With Anna Ventura                 * The post Leslie Winston: Beyond the Valley of the Ultra Milkmaids – Podcast 79 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

The adult film actor, Jamie Gillis, would have been 75 next month. Eight years after his passing, he’s remembered for his three decade career as one of the better actors in the industry – and this was the golden age period when acting actually meant something. I spent a lot of time with Jamie and interviewed him on several occasions before he passed in 2010 – in fact one of the interviews, about his early days in the sex film business, is another podcast on The Rialto Report website. He was always open, friendly and generous with his time. No questions were off limits, and his answers were thoughtful, contemplative, and often philosophical. And yet for someone who had bared every part of himself in hundreds of films and countless interviews over the years. there was also something enigmatic and unknowable about him as well. I once asked him if he had a favorite interview that he’d done. One interview perhaps that stood out in his mind that caught him off guard in any way. He thought about it, and next time I saw him he gave me a cassette of a conversation he’d had in 1976. The interview was with a friend, Verna Gillis, who apart from sharing his last name, had known him for years – in fact, since his days at Columbia University back in the 1960s. Now Verna wasn’t part of the adult film business in any way. She was an ethnomusicologist, specializing in producing music from various cultural backgrounds, and as a result her questions about Jamie’s choice of profession were often naïve and innocent – especially by today’s standards. But their conversation is also more personal and revealing than many other interviews I’ve heard with him. At the time of this conversation, Jamie was at his zenith. He’d just made The Opening of Misty Beethoven and The Story of Joanna, and Through the Looking Glass was about to come out. Verna’s line of enquiry has a different slant – yes, she’s interested in the mechanics of how Jamie got involved in the industry, but she’s also concerned about the effect that it may have had on him, his life, and his relationships. She challenges him too in a way that was unusual at the time. In one exchange for example, she asks why Jamie refers to women as girls. And is Jamie’s choice of words revealing about his view of the opposite sex? There’s also a recurring theme of what happens next. In 1976, the hardcore film industry was still relatively new. It was still in development, it was still being invented. Jamie talks about starting to feel too old for the business, and about his fears of looking strange as he ages on film. “No one knows what happens to old porn stars,” he says. The musical playlist for this episode can be found on Spotify. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Jamie Gillis – From his scrapbooks               *   The post Jamie Gillis in 1976: “No one knows what happens to old porn stars” – Podcast 78 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

This story begins with a single photograph, taken in 1967. It’s a photo of Jimi Hendrix, and it shows him sat on a table in his familiar hat and rock star jacket. Jimi is smoking, and he looks relaxed and happy. He seems to be sharing a joke with a man sat on a chair in front of him. I first saw this picture in the early days of the internet, and became fascinated by it. And what struck me about it was this: The photograph shows Jimi Hendrix, one of the great guitarists of all time, and someone everyone wanted to hear play. But it’s the man in front of him who’s playing the guitar, not Jimi. And I didn’t recognize this person as any other guitarist I’d ever seen. Who in earth would be in a picture with Jimi, where Jimi wasn’t the one playing a guitar? I did some digging around, and found that the person Jimi was with in the picture was actually one of the legendary roadies of the 1960s London music scene. It turned out he’d started in Liverpool in the era of The Beatles, and had worked with The Who, the Bee Gees, The Merseybeats, Cream, Lemmy, Mick Jagger, Apple Records, Robert Stigwood, Emerson Lake and Palmer, and many others, not to mention The Jimi Hendrix Experience. I found out that the roadie’s name was Neville Chesters. I wondered what happened to him, but apparently, he’d left the music industry abruptly in the early 1970s and disappeared from London. I spent years wondering about his life on the road with many of the greatest legends of music history. Years later, I was talking to a friend about the adult film industry in New York. We were talking about the 1990s. This was a few years after the so-called golden age, and it was the last gasp of the New York pornography business. At this stage, scenes were being shot cheaply on video largely for compilations that were sold for bargain basement prices. My friend told me that one of the centers of the business at that point was called the ‘New York Fuck Factory’. This was a notorious loft on 38th Street where multiple shoots would take place. I found that the owner of the Fuck Factory was an Englishman. He produced films using the name Neville Chambers… but his real name was Neville Chesters. Apparently, there were rumors he’d once been involved in the music business in London. Was this possible? And if so, how did a 1960s roadie with the Who and Jimi Hendrix in London become a porn producer in the 1990s in New York? On this episode of The Rialto Report, we track Neville Chesters down to hear about life in the swinging 60s, when he had a front row seat to witness some of the most momentous music ever made. And we also hear about how he re-emerged in New York years later as an adult film producer, of series such as Streets of New York, New York Taxi Tales, and indeed, Strap-on Sally 12: Squirting Dildo Soiree. We also hear about how The Who’s Pete Townsend may recently have actually helped save Neville’s life. Seriously, is there any other podcast in the world featuring Pete Townsend and a Squirting Dildo Soiree? The musical playlist for this episode can be found on Spotify. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Neville Chambers – His Employers in Photos The Merseybeats:       The Who:         Robert Stigwood:     Bee Gees:       Robert Stigwood with the Bee Gees:   Cream:       Mick Jagger (still waiting for his driver…):   Jimi Hendrix:         Emerson, Lake and Palmer:       Streets of New York:     New York Taxi Tales:     Neville Chesters himself: *   The post How Jimi Hendrix’s Roadie became a Porn Producer – Podcast 77 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

April Hall remembers Jerry Butler: This one is a hard one to take. Jerry Butler passed away last week. It makes no sense, because there was no one more full of life than Jerry Butler. I first met him a few years ago, and within minutes he was stripped down to the waist to show me his physique, before dropping to the floor and challenging me to a press-up contest. I know a losing bet when I see one, and so declined. Jerry’s only complaint that day was that I wasn’t filming the interview. He’d traveled across Brooklyn on his bike (he traveled everywhere on his bike), and arrived almost two hours early for our meeting. As I approached to greet him, he shouted, “Hey, do you wanna see my beaver?” as he threw a stuffed beaver towards me before I could answer. Thereafter I’d hear from Jerry on a regular basis. He’d call breathlessly from the gym (Me: “Jerry, what on earth are you doing?” Jerry: “I’m benching 250!”), or with his mouth full (Me: “Jerry, what on earth are you doing?” Jerry: “Cheese and ham omelette with fries!”) He was a hard guy not to like. Last Thursday, I drove out to his funeral in Brooklyn, and his death didn’t make sense to anyone there either. Apparently he’d had a tumor removed successfully a while ago. Then, a few months later, he was knocked off his bike. He wasn’t badly injured, but he was taken to hospital for routine tests. There the doctors found that the cancer had spread throughout his body, including his pancreas. It was inoperable. At the funeral, there was a sense of bewilderment. Family members sat with friends in near silence. Former hockey player friends, broad-shouldered, taciturn, granite-like men in their 50s, shook their heads quietly. Jerry’s sister, Linda, held everything together, generous in greeting and thanking everyone individually who was in attendance. Apart from Cathy Tavel, the co-writer of Jerry’s 1989 tell-all autobiography, Raw Talent, no one from the adult film industry was there. Cathy remembered that interviewing Jerry was like trying lasso a wild horse with freshly-cooked spaghetti. He was incapable of sitting still, talked manically, ran around the room, binged on Oreos, and paused for a moment only to dry-hump her as she took notes. I remembered a similar experience when I recorded our podcast interview with him. At the funeral, Cathy was wearing a t-shirt that Jerry had made for her. He would ask people what their favorite cartoon character was, and then show up with a hand-painted t-shirt featuring the animated figure. Several of these t-shirts were on display, as was his painting kit. He was 58 when he died, but was still the biggest kid in the world. Jerry was a lovable, crazy, mixed-up, kind-hearted soul. When he finished his press-up demonstration, I complemented him on his still youthful appearance. He laughed. “I intend to live forever. Or die trying,” he said.   April Hall has recorded a new introduction to her podcast interview with Jerry Butler. You can listen to it, or download it, through the usual channels. Thanks to Catherine Tavel and Richard Pacheco for the generous use of their photos. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Jerry Butler – A Life in Photos Jerry, with Richard Pacheco           Jerry, with Catherine Tavel, 1989   Jerry, with his dog, Little Guy, 1990   Jerry, with Catherine Tavel, Coney Island   Jerry, with Alice Springs   At the Abe Stark Skating Rink, Brooklyn, 1991   Jerry, at Harriman State Park, NY, 1992   Jerry, 1992   Jerry, in a photo from his MySpace page   Jerry, in a photo from his Facebook page, 2015   Jerry’s funeral *   The post R.I.P. Jerry Butler: May 13, 1959 – January 27, 2018 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Imagine this. It’s one night in New York in 1974. You’ve partied with friends. You stumble home at midnight, turn on the TV and flop onto the couch. On screen is channel 35. This isn’t the Partridge Family or the Rockford Files. Did you really drink that much? This was Midnight Blue, a one-hour, regular TV show that aired on Manhattan Cable. And it was like nothing you’d seen before. It was a cross between a late-night chat show, a surreal variety review, and a bad acid trip. You might see interviews with characters like Debbie Harry, O.J. Simpson and Arnold Schwarzenegger, back-stage location reports from strip clubs or brothels, and conversations with adult film stars like Marilyn Chambers, Seka, or Harry Reems. And interspersed between the features were bizarre advertisements for swingers clubs, prostitutes, phone sex lines, synthetic cocaine, and sex toys. So how did a show like this come to exist? And how was it even allowed on the air? This is the story of the rise and fall Midnight Blue. We grateful to Alex Bennett and Josh Alan Friedman for sharing their memories with us, and to Blue Underground for the use of the Midnight Blue clips in this podcast. Blue Undergound has several DVDs featuring the best moments from the show – including a recently released six disc set, Best of Midnight Blue, that comes highly recommended. This podcast is 79 minutes long. The musical playlist for this episode can be found on Spotify. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Midnight Blue Al Goldstein in the earlier days of the show     A young Sharon Mitchell interviewed on the show   Alex, Al and Georgina Spelvin   Annie Sprinkle reviewing the latest sex toys   An ad for Plato’s Retreat featuring Larry Levenson and his partner Mary   Marilyn Chambers interviewed on Midnight Blue   Midnight Blue parody ad for the Home Humiliation System   Tiny Tim interviewed on Midnight Blue   Al interviews adult film director Gerard Damiano   Al interviews comic Gilbert Gottfried   Al interviews Veronica Vera   Al interviews Veronica Hart   Al interviews Chris Stein and Debbie Harry   Al interviews Annette Haven   Christy Canyon   Jeanna Fine   Al with R Crumb *   The post The Story of ‘Midnight Blue’: Sex, Lies, and Videotape – Podcast 76 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

We’re on vacation this week, but wanted to wish everyone a very happy Christmas from ourselves – and from two of our favorites… Johnnie Keyes and C.J. Laing (see below). We also wanted to close the year by telling you about ‘Supporting Characters‘, a podcast – where Ashley West from The Rialto Report was the interviewee this week. ‘Supporting Characters’ host Bill Ackerman talks to writers, bloggers, podcasters, fanzine publishers, programmers, preservationists and more about their creative endeavors and today’s film culture. This week, Bill spoke to Ashley, who explains how his ongoing documentary project detailing the birth of the adult film industry in New York put him on the path to recording audio commentaries with figures like Radley Metzger, consulting on the HBO series ‘The Deuce‘ and co-founding The Rialto Report, a collection of podcasts, articles and photographs chronicling the history of the golden age of adult film. Other topics covered include: fanzines, the field recordings of Alan Lomax, the adult film work of Wes Craven, Boogie Nights, the Golden Age Appreciation Fund, Video Nasties, Jamie Gillis, ‘Barbara Broadcast‘ and how an eBay bidding war can lead you to a ‘Purple Rose Of Cairo’ moment. You can listen to the podcast here. See you all in 2018! The post Supporting Characters podcast – Happy Holidays from The Rialto Report! appeared first on The Rialto Report.

You’ve probably heard us say this before, but Keisha was a different kind of adult film star. She entered the business in the same era as the first wave of video girls who dominated the scene in the mid 1980s. Stars like Ginger Lynn, Christy Canyon and Traci Lords. She appeared in loops, videos, and feature films, as well as countless magazine covers and layouts. She did phone sex, ran her own fan club, and had a long and successful career traveling the country as a featured dancer. But for all that, Keisha seemed somehow different from the other performers. For a start she looked Latina, though her unusual name gave away few clues as to her ethnicity. And at different times, she was rumored to be a psychologist, or an escort, and / or was secretly married. And Keisha stayed in the adult film industry for longer than most of her peers too. She starred in films – on and off – for 20 years, and only stopping in 2007. So, who was she really? What does she remember about her life in porn, and what is she doing now? The Rialto Report tracks Keisha down – for stories of Jerry Butler, Nina Hartley, Jim South, Henri Pachard, Edwin and Summer Brown, Megan Leigh, Suze Randall and many more. This podcast is 103 minutes long. The musical playlist for this episode can be found on Spotify. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Keisha                                 *   The post Keisha: The Innocence of an Adult Film Star – Podcast 74 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Jeanne Silver is a Rialto Report favorite and her interview with us remains incredibly popular. She was a firm favorite in films and magazines from the moment she arrived in New York in the mid 1970s, appearing in movies such as The Violation of Claudia, Water Power, Desire for Men, and Every Man’s Fantasy. We looked for Jeanne for almost 10 years before we finally found her. When we did connect, we were worried about her reaction, especially as we’d heard she had a young daughter she was trying to protect. But we found Jeanne to be one of the warmest, kind and open people we’ve ever met. Not only did she agree to share her story with us, but we’ve been lucky enough to become friends with Jeanne. Her daughter Irene even modeled our Rialto Report t-shirts that were available for a limited time. Jeanne Silver has struggled financially for a time. We previously suggested a fundraiser, but she is fiercely independent and shies from help (even though she’s the first to give it). But recent circumstances have just become too much. Jeanne requires major dental work and faces spinal surgery in the coming months, all without sufficient health insurance. She’s in significant pain but refuses to take drugs even though she feels she may be on the cusp of depression. In addition to her health issues, Jeanne’s car is no longer operational. Because she lives in a location without adequate public transportation, this means Jeanne is struggling to work. And did we mention what that work is? Jeanne has dedicated her later life to assisting the elderly, helping them with tasks like shopping and doctors’ appointments and house cleaning. And perhaps just as important, Jeanne spends time in conversation with those she helps and listens to their stories – offering them companionship many no longer get. This work includes helping her own mother who Jeanne supplies with groceries from the limited money she earns. To top this all off, Jeanne is being evicted from her home right as the holidays roll around. With little time and few resources, Jeanne needs to find a new place to live for herself and the adopted pets she cares for and loves dearly. So, we finally convinced Jeanne to let us and her generous fans help her. When we pushed the topic, Jeanne answered “I hate asking but I’m in a pit and can’t dig myself out on my own this time. I want to be that happy person that I know is buried under this mess. I miss me.” Please show Jeanne how much she is loved and appreciated. As you know we do not accept advertising on The Rialto Report and never charge for the original content we offer every week. We’ve had many people ask us how they can thank us for the work we do – these fundraisers are the answer. In conjunction with The Golden Age Appreciation Fund, we’ve raised almost $20,000 for people like Sharon Mitchell, Kay Parker, Tom Byron and George Payne – all because of your generosity. No amount is too small – but as an extra incentive, every donation $40 and above will receive a personalized signed photo from Jeanne. And the donor who gives the most by the end of the fundraiser will receive a signed prosthetic leg previously worn by Jeanne. It’s hard to imagine a better conversation piece in your home! This fundraiser will remain open until Friday December 1st but please don’t wait. Show your appreciation for Jeanne right now using the Donate link below. And thank you as always for your generosity. We are so grateful for your willingness to help. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Jeanne Silver fundraiser                                 The post Jeanne Silver: A Fundraiser appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Since the filmmaker Radley Metzger passed away earlier this year, we’ve received a lot of email asking if we have a podcast interview with him. In the last few years, we recorded several commentaries with Radley in which he spoke about his ‘Henry Paris‘ films in some detail – so instead of going over the same ground, we wanted to do something different. We decided that, rather than listen to Radley in recent years, when his film career was behind him and he’d had chance to reflect on it, we wanted to go back and hear from him when he was in the middle of making movies, back when the culture and times were so different. The year we’ve chosen to re-visit is 1971. This podcast is 53 minutes long. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Radley Metzger on ‘The Merv Griffin Show’ By 1971, Radley Metzger had already directed and distributed a number of highly successful films, such as Camille 2000 (1969), Carmen Baby (1967), and Therese and Isabelle (1968). But despite this track record, he still wasn’t getting the recognition he deserved as a filmmaker. His latest film, The Lickerish Quartet (1970), had come out, so he set out to raise his profile, appearing on a number of notable television and radio shows. One that interested us from the time was a guest appearance on ‘The Merv Griffin Show’ which was one of the most popular late night talk shows of the time. Radley appeared on the show in January 1971 with the actress Eva Gabor. We wanted to include that interview here, but sadly after extensive investigation, the episode appeared to be lost. This is not unusual: It was common practice in the television industry that, after an initial broadcast, the network would erase the tapes so that they could be reused for new programming. It was done as a cost-saving measure as tape was pretty expensive. We grew hopeful when we learned that several episodes of ‘The Merv Griffin Show’ were recently found in the private collection of Richard Nixon. But apparently, Nixon would only tape TV shows featuring anyone he regarded as an enemy. Which means that unless Tricky Dick thought that Radley Metzger or Eva Gabor were a danger to the country, he’s unlikely to have recorded this particular episode – so it appears to be lost forever. We were able to find still photographs from the episode, and they can be seen below. While ‘The Merv Griffin Show’ was a dead end, we did find two fascinating and rare 1971 interviews that we’re sharing. The first is an appearance by Radley on ‘AM New York’ – a lighthearted local breakfast TV show on WABC-TV, which served as the genesis for what eventually became ‘Good Morning America’. The second is a more serious, and antagonistic, interview for a program called ‘The Movies.’ The interviewer is Joseph Gelmis – a film critic for the Long Island newspaper, Newsday. Gelmis was a huge fan of Stanley Kubrik, and had written a book about him called ‘The Film Director as Superstar’ published the previous year. However Gelmis was known not to have the same admiration for Radley’s work – in fact the rumors were that Gelmis felt that Radley’s films weren’t even serious enough to review, and that he was annoyed at having to give Radley any airtime at all. If this was true, well… it comes across in this sometimes combative interview. In both interviews, Radley is at times attacked in different ways for the sexual content of his films, and it’s interesting to see how he defends himself. And this was still years before he became Henry Paris and started making hardcore films. In the podcast, we’ve also interspersed some radio spots from films that Radley made or distributed. These weren’t part of the interviews but add more color from the time. John Bartholomew Tucker, host of AM New York, interviewing Radley Metzger       Radley Metzger, Merv Griffin, Eva Gabor   David R. Reuben – a psychiatrist and self-professed sex expert, Radley Metzger, Merv Griffin   *   Save The post Radley Metzger: 1971 – Podcast 73 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

For the last 25 years, we have interviewed hundreds of people who were connected to the birth of the pornographic film industry in New York – from film directors to actors, theater owners and distributors, and a fair number of cops and politicians too. We wanted to make sure that the real story of the era was preserved – not just by journalists, academics, filmmakers or fans, but by the people who actually lived and worked in this era. People who took risks. People who did things they were proud of, or may have regretted later. Who were they, what made them get involved, and what happened to them afterwards? Four years ago, we started to share these interviews in a series of podcasts and articles published on The Rialto Report website. In 2015, we were approached by the producers of an HBO series that was being developed, called The Deuce, and we had a small role working with the show’s writers and researchers. The Deuce is a semi-fictionalized account of Times Square in 1971 and 1972, telling the interconnecting stories of the people who worked there. There’s the birth of the adult film industry, prostitution and pimps, policing, crime and politics, and much more. The show is produced by David Simon and George Pelecanos, who had big television hits with ‘The Wire’ and ‘Treme’. It’s centered around real life twins, Steve and Johnny d’Agrosa, who operated out of 42nd Street and become fronts for the Mob. In ‘The Deuce’ they’re called Vincent and Frankie Martino, and both parts are played by James Franco. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Candy, a Times Square sex worker with an entrepreneurial spirit who is drawn into the emerging pornography industry. On today’s Rialto Report, we speak to three people involved in the making of ‘The Deuce’: One of the show’s producers, Marc Henry Johnson, who knew the real-life twins who Vincent and Frank were based on, talks about coming up with the original idea for the show; One of the writers, Megan Abbott, talks about creating the various characters that populate the series; And Michelle MacLaren, who directed the first and last episodes of the first season, talks about the challenges of recreating 1970s Times Square on location in modern day New York. ‘The Deuce’ premieres on HBO on September 10th 2017, and is currently available on HBO streaming platforms. This podcast is 56 minutes long. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ The Deuce – Official Trailers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7YMlL8x8GE   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jfpNwCU5JU                         Save Save The post The Deuce: Behind the Scenes – Podcast 72 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

If you were a male teenager in the mid-1980s, and you rented an X-rated video cassette by director Greg Dark, it’s likely that the song ‘Electrify Me‘ by The Plugz will still send a shiver down your spine. This was the theme to the Greg Dark’s ‘New Wave Hookers’- starring Ginger Lynn, Jamie Gillis, and an underage Traci Lords. This film, and others by Dark, offered a radically different vision from most other adult films. Instead of aspiring to mainstream movies, with straightforward plots and conventional actors, Dark’s movies were surreal, MTV-influenced videos, which featured some of the most imaginative and odd sex scenes ever filmed. And then there was the sex itself: it was often deliberately un-erotic, nightmarish, and racially charged – who could forget seeing the African American performer Sahara’s scene with actors dressed as members of the Ku Klux Klan while she listened to gospel music for example? This was porn as surreal, provocative, performance art. It was new, it was shocking, and it was the start of the alt-porn movement. Behind films like Black Throat, Between the Cheeks, Let Me Tell Ya ‘Bout Black Chicks, and The Devil in Miss Jones –Part 3 and Part 4, were the larger than life Dark Brothers – Greg and Walter Dark. They declared than porn was dead and that they would revolutionize it. They weren’t content with staying behind the camera either. They adopted flashy, white pimp characters, who wore fur coats, arrived at premieres in stretch limos, and flipped off the awaiting cameras. No one had seen this before, and the mainstream media were quick to pick up on it. Greg Dark was the subject of various profiles. Esquire magazine claimed he was capable of extravagant cruelty and said that he might be the devil. Vanity Fair said that the Dark Brothers’ films were “sacrilege, no apology, hostile pathology, and hoarse gusts of laughter from the jaws of hell….” So who was the creative force behind these films? And if he was so provocative, how was he one of the only adult filmmakers who went on to achieve success in mainstream film – where he almost single-handedly invented the erotic noir thriller genre, before becoming a much in-demand director of music videos for artists as diverse as Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, Ice Cube, and Snoop Dogg? Greg Dark doesn’t give a lot of interviews. This is his story. This podcast is 97 minutes long. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Greg Dark one-sheets                   Greg Dark music videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk6xFA4iphk         *   The post Greg Dark: ‘Porn Is Dead. Long Live The Dark Bros.’ – Podcast 71 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

The Rialto Report is on vacation this week, so we re-visit one of our most popular podcasts – the story of how we found what happened to Helga Sven, star of 1980s adult films and magazine layouts. We also spoke to a fan of hers who tracked her down and has his own unique story to tell. Tales of mid-1980s video porn, the Vegas mob, Stalin’s Red Army, John Holmes, child abduction, Frank Sinatra, arson, attempted murder, and Candy Samples – all on this episode of The Rialto Report. This episode running time is 78 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ When older actresses started to appear in adult films in the 1980s, I always wondered: How does someone who has never appeared in front of a movie camera suddenly become a pornographic film star at a relatively late age? I figured they were probably restless housewives looking for glamor and excitement, one last fling before the retirement community beckoned. Or maybe they were prostitutes, looking to raise their value in the growing market for X-rated videos. It had to one of the two, right? Boredom or business. One actress who stood out was Helga Sven. She was a formidable looking blonde with an accent that was as heavy as her chest. She looked like a 50 year old Zsa Zsa Gabor and for a short time in the mid 1980s, she was all over the sex magazines of the era. She was prolific in films too starring in 30 or so, such as Beyond Taboo (1984) as the incestuous mother, Thrill Street Blues (1985) where she plays a madame, and Anthony Spinelli’s Spectators (1984). She appeared with industry veterans like John Holmes and Candy Samples, as well as the new breed of video stars like Traci Lords and Tom Byron. Sometimes she showed up as Helga. Other times it was Ursula. Or Polly. Or Sabrina. In truth even people in the industry knew nothing about her. She was well-liked however. Jerry Butler described her as a ‘real woman’ in his biography ‘Raw Talent’, saying that there were a lot of girls in this business, but very few women. And then just as quickly as she appeared, in 1986 she disappeared again. So where had she come from, and where had she gone? As it turned out, I wasn’t the only one who was wondering. A small but determined cult of Helga started to grow, sharing information about her and trying to work out who she was. One fan in particular was keen to track her down. His name is Klaus, and this is his story too. He’s been a fan of Helga’s since the first time he set eyes on her in a magazine in a German porn shop in 1984. And when I say a fan, I mean he’s a fan.   Helga Sven photographs: The post Helga Sven: Her Mystery. And Her Fan. Podcast 21 – Reprise appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Andrea True was a unique character. Here was an adult film star from the early days of the porn film industry who became an international superstar as a disco diva. She was a rare example of a cross-over – which is uncommon even today – of someone who went on to find success outside of the adult film industry, succeeding where so many others have tried and failed. But when her music and film career waned, she seemed to disappear. In the last Rialto Report podcast, I attempted to track her down, and we heard from a number of people from Andrea’s life in music and film – and if you haven’t heard it, I recommend that you listen to that episode first. When I eventually found Andrea, she was living with a friend, a fellow adult film actress from the 1970s, called Valerie Marron. They were living in Woodstock, two hours or so north of New York City. I didn’t know if Andrea would welcome being contacted, so when she agreed to be interviewed, in person, and on film, I traveled up to meet her as soon as I could get there.   We’re also happy to publish a selection of newspaper articles, one-sheets, and the original Federal Records release of ‘More, More, More’ – and previously unseen photographs taken on tour with Andrea back in 1976 – 1977, courtesy of The Andrea True Connection band member Joey Barbosa.   For more information about disco queens, we recommend First Ladies of Disco: 32 Stars Discuss the Era and Their Singing Careers by James Arena – which contains an excellent chapter on Andrea. This podcast is 46 minutes long. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Andrea True: The Federal Records single The original 7″ Federal Records release of ‘More, More, More’ in Jamaica, before Tom Moulton remixed it for the hit US release on Buddah Records. Vocal A-side: https://www.therialtoreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/More-More-More-Vocal.mp3   Instrumental A-side: https://www.therialtoreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/More-More-More-Instrumental.mp3     Andrea True: A selection of news articles and adult film artifacts, in chronological order (more or less..) Ad for Andrea True’s mother’s Silver Plating business (see name at bottom of ad) – January 3rd, 1954   Andrea (pictured on bottom row, right side) wins an award as a teenager, Nashville Tennessean – May 14th 1960                               The Guardian – October 17th 1975     Los Angeles Times, June 25th 1976         Philadelphia Enquirer – June 10th 1976   Courier Post, Camden NJ – June 25th 1976     Los Angeles Times – July 12th 1976   The first iteration of The Andrea True Connection – 1976/77   Paris News, TX – July 16th 1976   Salina Journal, KS – July 18th 1976   Los Angeles Times – July 1976   Nashua Telegraph, NH – July 24th 1976   TV appearance on the Mike Douglas show, News Journal DE – August 5th 1976   Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester NY – September 2nd 1976   Greenville News, SC – October 29th 1976     Poughkeepsie Journal, NY – March 9th 1977   Valley Morning Star, TX – April 30th 1977   Fort Lauderdale News, FL – May 23rd 1975   Cincinnati Enquirer, OH – June 29th 1977   Corpus Christi TX – September 21st 1977   Indianapolis Star, IN – November 16th 1977     News Press, Fort Myers, FL – October 15th 1978     Sydney Morning Herald, Australia – December 3rd 1978     Billboard – January 16th 1999   Ad showing the sale of Andrea’s possessions, West Palm Beach Post FL – October 4th 2004   Obituary in the Los Angeles Times, November 25th 2011   Obituary in the Baltimore Sun, November 25th 2011 * The Andrea True Connection on tour Previously unseen photographs taken on tour with Andrea back in 1976 – 1977, courtesy of The Andrea True Connection band member Joey Barbosa.                           *   The post Andrea True: Her Last Interview – Podcast 70 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

In the 1970s, Andrea True was a rarity. She was a porn star that many people had heard of – even if they knew nothing about porn. She belonged to a select group of adult film actors whose names were widely known for a short time: Linda Lovelace, Marilyn Chambers, John Holmes, and yes, Andrea True. But Andrea’s fame was different. You see, most people hadn’t heard of Andrea because she’d appeared in sex films. They’d heard of her because for a short time she was a successful singer – with one of the biggest hits of the disco era, ‘More, More, More.’ In the discos and nightclubs of 1976, ‘More, More, More’ was part of the soundtrack of an era. You couldn’t escape it. Billboard magazine called it “one of the truly classic club hits of its time.” It was reported that Andrea received two Grammy nominations. She was on television, on tour, on the radio, and on fire. But what about Andrea’s scandalous past in sex films? Well, rather than hide the fact that she’d had appeared in over 50 X-rated movies, the song seemed to celebrate it. After all, the lyrics referred to performing in front of the cameras. This was not the usual story of someone trying to hide their porno past. But soon after her music success, Andrea seemed to disappear. And even though she’d had her fifteen minutes of fame, many details about her life were still unknown. Like how did she end up making adult films in New York when she was from Tennessee? How she did end up recording her big hit in Jamaica? And where did she disappear to after her film and recording career ended? Andrea True died in 2011 – but fifteen years ago, I went looking for her. I spoke to adult film actors like Harry Reems and Jeffrey Hurst, record producers Tom Moulton and Michael Zager, her agent Mitchell Karduna, and band members such as Joe Barbosa. I wanted to find out more about who she was, and how, for a short time, she became the Queen of Disco. This is the story of the search for Andrea True. For more information about the disco queens, we recommend First Ladies of Disco: 32 Stars Discuss the Era and Their Singing Careers by James Arena – which contains an excellent chapter on Andrea. This podcast is 78 minutes long. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Andrea True’s first album, ‘More, More, More’ (1976)       Andrea True’s second album, ‘White Witch’ (1978)       Andrea True’s third and final album, ‘War Machine’ (1980)     *   The post ‘More, More, More’: The Search for Andrea True, and the Creation of a Disco Sensation – Podcast 69 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Rhonda Jo Petty has long been a favorite at The Rialto Report. She started out on the West Coast in the late 1970s where film producers capitalized on her resemblance to Farrah Fawcett. One of her best-known roles was in Little Orphan Dusty (1978) with porn icon John Holmes. Then she moved to New York where she appeared in more films, while traveling the country enjoying great success as a feature dancer. In later years she became a cult figure with biker crowds. However her successful film career masked a very different real life story – one that Rhonda has been understandably reluctant to talk about until recently. Rhonda recently re-emerged as one of the special guests at the Golden Age of Adult Cinema event at the Cupcake Theater in Los Angeles. Furthermore she has also set up her own website for fans who wish to contact her. We’re grateful to Rhonda for this candid and moving interview. This podcast is 92 minutes long. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ April Hall, who interviewed Rhonda Jo Petty for The Rialto Report, writes: I don’t know about you, but when it comes to memories I can hardly remember what I had for lunch yesterday. So I completely understand when I interview someone for The Rialto Report – and find that they’re a little hazy on the details of something that may have happened on the set of a film 40 years ago. I know how strange it must seem for decades to pass, and then, out of the blue, they get a call from someone they don’t know, asking questions about intimate events from their past. So imagine how difficult must it be for someone who’s deliberately tried NOT to recall the events of their youth? Someone perhaps who was pretty traumatized by their life before they entered the adult film industry, and well, making sex films didn’t exactly help life get better. That’s the case with the adult film actress, Rhonda Jo Petty. I remember first seeing and hearing about Rhonda in films and magazines when she was still active in the 1980s, and thinking she had everything. She was the blonde California girl who looked like she grew up on a beach and perhaps lived in a West Coast hippy community. She looked young, fresh, and happy. She was even promoted as “the Farrah Fawcett look-alike.” And as it turns out she WAS a California girl who WAS raised on the coast, though far from being a glamorous diva, Rhonda was a wild child tomboy: She rode horses and motorbikes, and even hung out at Charles Manson’s Spahn Ranch before the infamous murders. Which brings me back to what she remembers about her life back then. And some of it isn’t pretty. But here’s the difference with Rhonda: the history of the adult film has been peppered with people who blame the industry for all their problems. They lash out against it, and criticize it for not protecting them from themselves. This is not the case with Rhonda. She didn’t have an easy time and has difficulty remembering some of it, but she’s clear-eyed when it comes to who she is, what happened, and why it happened. And mostly she’s brave to open up and talk about it to us. One thing is sure though. She’s a survivor.                                             *   The post Rhonda Jo Petty: Happiness is the Truth – Podcast 68 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

In one of his first detailed interviews for many years, Tom Byron joins us to look back at one of the most prolific careers in adult film history. His life story resembles the history of the adult film industry since the beginning of the video age, during which time he’s won just about every kind of adult film award going and is in every Hall of Fame invented by the industry. He’s appeared in literally thousands of films, and he’s directed, produced, and edited hundreds too. He’s weathered the storms of AIDS, obscenity charges, tax indictments, pro-wrestling, drugs, industry controversies, and much more. So how does he make sense of it all? What does he remember about Traci Lords, John Holmes, Alex de Renzy, Marc Wallice, Ginger Lynn, Jim South, John Stagliano, Patrick Collins and others? And, now in his 50s, what is he doing today? You may be surprised. This podcast is 109 minutes long. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ If you’ve followed us for long here at The Rialto Report, you know how much we respect and admire actors like Jamie Gillis, John Leslie, George Payne, and others. But as a teenager growing up watching their films, I have to admit – I never watched the screen and really identified with them. I never saw myself in their shoes. I never looked at them and thought, hey, that could be me. And then one actor came along who did look familiar. He looked like us, talked like us, and seemed just like all the teenage kids I knew. It was almost like watching ourselves onscreen. In an adult movie too. And that was Tom Byron. He looked like a naïve choirboy virgin who’d watched a golden age porn film in a theater somewhere in Texas, and decided it looked so much fun that he’d climb up onto the screen and join the action. And, as it turns out, that’s almost exactly what happened. Tom Byron started appearing in adult films in 1982 often showing up in the role of the innocent brother or son who discovers sex. In the years since then his life story resembles the history of the adult film industry since the beginning of the video age. He’s appeared in literally thousands of films, and he’s directed, produced, and edited hundreds too. He dated Traci Lords when it was revealed that she was underage in one of the biggest scandals ever to hit the adult film industry. He saw so many come and go, he weathered the AIDS crisis, drugs, tax investigations, and burn out. He’s had his own film production company several times, including the controversial Extreme Associates which he started with his best friend Rob Black, which featured rough sex and ultimately legal charges for obscenity. He tried his hand at launching a music career as a singer, and even formed a wrestling company, Xtreme Pro Wrestling. He saw the industry re-invent itself – several times, and all the time he kept working and making more films. And he still looked like a teenager. * In this podcast, Tom refers to the effect that the Frontline documentary, ‘American Porn‘, had on Extreme Associates, the business he owned with Rob Black. * The post Tom Byron: A Life Choice – Podcast 67 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Henri Pachard was one of the most successful adult film directors in America in the 1980s and 1990s – making award-winning films like ‘Babylon Pink’ (1979), ‘The Budding of Brie‘ (1980), and ‘October Silk’ (1980). He worked with the biggest names and won just about every award there was to win in the industry. But back in the 1960s, Henri Pachard was just Ron Sullivan, and he was a young filmmaker in New York City trying to learn about filmmaking any way he could. He was part of a small group of pioneering and revolutionary filmmakers that helped create the modern day adult film industry. When he started out nudity was still forbidden, and sex was simulated. The Rialto Report met and spoke with Ron on several occasions before he passed in 2008. He was always great company and happy to talk about the glory days when his 1980s hardcore movies were shot on film, shown in theaters, and scooped up awards. The last time we interviewed him was just a few months before he died. He’d been fighting a battle with cancer – first jaw, then throat – and so at times, understandably, he found it difficult to talk. But as always he was excited to be looking back at his life. In our last conversation though, rather than talk about his most successful period, all Ron wanted to do was to go back and remember his early days in New York back in the 1960s when he first discovered filmmaking, when he fell in love with the movie camera, and when he helped create an entire industry. He remembered those days with a mixture of excitement, innocence and even regret. In some ways, he said, they were the best days of his life. On this Rialto Report, we hear that conversation with Ron Sullivan. But this time, it’s not an interview. This is just Ron Sullivan. In his own words. Note: Due to the fact parts of the interview may sometimes be difficult to understand due to Ron’s illness, we’re also publishing a transcript of the podcast below. However we still urge you to listen to the podcast to hear the stories in Ron’s own voice. This episodes run time is 38 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Background My attraction to movies… I had no idea why until I turned 40 years old, and went to get new glasses and they told me I needed bifocals, and the reason why was because I have no depth perception. I was born without depth perception. Hence my fascination for a single dimension movie! My family background was I was brought up in a lower-middle class white neighborhood in Kansas City with and older sister and a younger sister and a younger brother and with loving parents. We never went hungry, we never had any resentments, we never had any fights, and we never had any issues with the opposite sex. My upbringing was very, very typical. We played football in the streets, we had dogs off leashes, I went to the movies once a week, I watched television late at night. I watched movies on Channel 9 so I could learn about movies when I was 14 and 15. All through the summer, I watched movies. I loved them.   Move to New York I got married in Kansas City and wanted to study some form of show business in either in New York or California. It was a coin toss, and the coin said New York. We drove out there, my wife and I, and I went into acting and directing in 1962. I got a job in a theater, the Circle in the Square Theatre, in 1962, hanging props and cleaning out the theater, being a Janitor and an usher, and helping actors like George C. Scott. He was a great actor and he was doing a play for us then. And that’s how I got into the entertainment business! I was hired as an actor in one play, I hated acting, but I wanted to continue with directing and production management. I wanted to get into film and a young composer knew an educational filmmaker. He said, “Would you like to work in movies?” I said “Absolutely.” He said, “This is not feature stories, this is like educational film.” I said, “I don’t care” and I started there in about 1963, working in educational films.   Birth of Adult Film Over the years in this kind of business, I would run into my friends and colleagues who would talk about these adult movies. In those days, we’d called them ‘nudie cuties’. The adult entertainment business in New York, the ‘nudie cutie’, began with European films. They were terrible movies that nobody wanted. The American rights would get purchased by somebody over here and there would be inserts shot: We’d take a body double and match the costume, match the hair, shoot the back of her head, have her take her clothes off from here to here or something like that, and have hands on their bodies, nothing very suggestive, in fact we kept the bras and the panties on most of the times back then… and so that’s how I got some of my work. We were shooting inserts. We would be hired to shoot for a day. We’d have some young American girl, who was getting $50 for the day, and she had to do he

The Rialto Report would never presume to express an opinion about the upcoming political elections in the United States. After all, we’re merely a site that seeks to preserve the oral history of early adult films. However we were interested to note that this summer Donald Trump signed a pledge to give serious consideration to appointing a Presidential Commission to examine the harmful public health impact of pornography on American culture. Someone who is partially responsible for that impact was Al Goldstein. Back in the 1970s both Donald Trump and Al were larger than life figures in New York. Trump was making a name for himself as president of the Trump Organization, engaged in projects like developing the Grand Hyatt Hotel next to Grand Central Terminal. Al on the hand had a publishing empire, which included his weekly newspaper Screw and a cable TV show, Midnight Blue. Midnight Blue was an unlikely but entertaining mix of performances, interviews, and sex ads. The sign-off of the show would always feature Al’s profanity laced rants aimed at any one who made him angry that week. It could be anyone, a celebrity, an airline, or a taxi-driver. These features became affectionately known as the show’s ‘Fuck You Rants.’ But when is came to running for President, Al was actually ahead of Donald. He announced his intention to stand for election in the 2008 race. Among his campaign promises were “Removing the ‘o’ from country” and “Universal AL-Care” which would provide daily government-subsidized oral sex for women and a damn good cigar for men. As to who would be his running mate, Goldstein said his campaign finances were limited so he’d be willing to trade sex for the vice presidency. His campaign website shortlisted possible candidates which included Jenna Jameson, Triumph The Insult Comic Dog, and Larry Flynt. When I spoke to him at the time, he said he was standing because he hated George but loved bush. In today’s mini podcast, we listen back to one Midnight Blue rant from the 1970s when the subject of Al’s attention just happened to be Donald Trump. This episode’s running time is 5 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Donald Trump & Al Goldstein         Save Save Save Save Save The post Donald Trump by Al Goldstein: An Edifice Complex – Podcast 65 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

The 1980s were a tough period for the golden age of adult films. More and more movies were being made on video, with less care and much less money, and AIDS was becoming a major issue in society. To make matters worse, President Reagan ordered a comprehensive, and comprehensively biased, investigation into pornography. The so-called Meese Report was published in July 1986 and contained 1,960 pages. It concluded, controversially, that the content of adult films contributed significantly – both to sexual violence and to societal discrimination against women. So who was behind what was being shown in the movies? Who was writing the scripts that portrayed all manner of perversity? From the mid 1980s onwards, hundreds of the movies were written by someone called ‘Raven Touchstone’. This person wrote many of the biggest films, featuring the stars of the day such as Ginger Lynn, Barbara Dare, Traci Lords, and Christy Canyon. Films like Blame It On Ginger, Nothing To Hide: Justine, and Skin Hunger. They were so prolific that it seemed impossible that all these scripts could come from just one person. Who was Raven Touchstone? And what kind of life had they led that enabled them to write so much from their fevered imagination? It turns out that Raven Touchstone was just one person. And she was a middle-aged, Jewish woman from a sheltered upbringing in the mid-west. So how did she come to be the grand-dame of adult film scriptwriting? How did she get started and how does she remember working with all of the big names in the industry? On this episode of The Rialto Report, we start with the legendary adult film actor and director, Paul Thomas, whom Raven wrote some of her best work for. Then April Hall speaks to Raven Touchstone herself to look back on her unlikely life and career in Raven’s first detailed audio interview. This episode’s running time is 83 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Raven Touchstone   Penny Antine (aka Raven Touchstone) in Caprice (1967) (with Doris Day and Richard Harris)     Raven Touchstone and Ron Sullivan at the 1989 XRCO Awards   Raven Touchstone and friend in 1990   Alexandra Silk, Raven Touchstone, Kelly Nichols and Keisha   Raven Touchstone, Annie Sprinkle and Veronica Hart   Raven Touchstone, Veronica Hart and Georgina Spelvin   Paul Thomas and April Hall   The writer – finally inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame in 2016   Save Save Save Save Save The post Raven Touchstone (and Paul Thomas): A Writer’s Tale – Podcast 64 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Tiffany Clark was a memorable performer on the New York adult film scene in the early 1980s, a favorite stripper at the Melody Burlesk, and a ubiquitous presence on the party scene with her husband and fellow actor, Fred Lincoln. For a time they seemed to be everywhere – from swingers clubs like Plato’s Retreat or fetish venues like Hellfire, to writing, directing and producing their own successful films. And she was stunning too. A dark-haired beauty who was often featured in the magazines of the day. The trouble was that for a long time we had no idea where she was or even who she really was. Then, one day about 10 years ago, we were in Florida to interview an old loop maker from the early 1970s named Sal Sodano. He was an old man in ill-health so we weren’t prepared for the person who opened the front door. The person who greeted us was a beautiful middle-aged blonde woman – who looked suspiciously familiar. It turned out that she was the person formerly known as Tiffany Clark – who Sal happened to be staying with at the time. Over the next years we’d go and see Tiffany and her family often, and slowly got to know more about the real person behind Tiffany Clark. And as it turns out, her real life was more dramatic, more surprising than we could ever have imagined. Tiffany was understandably hesitant to open up and share her story. Finally earlier this year we sat down, and over the course of four meetings, she talked about her life, and how she remembers the exciting, scary and wild times. It’s a story of love, parties, arrests, drugs, abuse, family, jail, murder and survival. It’s the story of Tiffany Clark. She’s a remarkable person, and we’re privileged that she shared her story with us. For more pictures from Tiffany’s life, see here. This episode’s running time is 121 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Tiffany Clark             The post Tiffany Clark: No Simple Yes or No – Podcast 63 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Some of the first adult movies that were made in New York in the early 1970s starred an attractive and slender woman with long dark hair. If you hung around long enough to read the credits, you’d see that she was called Tina Russell. For a short time in the early 1970s, she was the biggest name in adult films. She was the original porn star. Except that she was unlike other porn stars you may have come across. She looked happy, intelligent, and innocent, like the girl next door. In films she often appeared with her husband Jason, and in interviews she spoke passionately about wanting to make adult films that appealed to everyone. ‘Pretty fuck films’ she called them. She wanted bigger budgets that would allow directors to make artistic statements that would make everyone sit up and take notice. And then along came the success of ‘Deep Throat‘ (1973) and Linda Lovelace, and Tina Russell was slowly forgotten. The Rialto Report wanted to find who Tina Russell really was. Why did she make adult films at a time when it was all so new and such a taboo? Where did she come from and what was she like? And whatever happened to her after she left the film industry? We tracked down people who knew her to find out what really happened to her. Friends, family, filmmakers, and fans. People like Jason Russell, Harry Reems, Andrea True, Fred Lincoln, Marlene Willoughby, Carter Stevens, Ultramax, Tallie Cochrane, John Amero, Ed Seeman, Alex Mann, Jamie Gillis, Georgina Spelvin, Gerard Damiano, Jeffrey Hurst, Tony Richards, Annie Sprinkle, Marty Hodas, Eric Edwards, and more. All of them talk here for the first time about their memories of Tina. 12 years in the making, 25 interviews. The Rialto Report is back. This is Tina Russell’s story. The lost girl of porn. For more pictures from Tina Russell’s life, see here. With special thanks to Julia Knippen for her expert voiceover skills, Shane Brown for his immaculate taste in music, and Something Weird Video for the best selection in golden age films. This episode’s running time is 107 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Tina Russell     One of Tina’s earliest publicity photos   Tina and Jason – at the Nook of Knowledge for the ‘Porno Star’ publicity tour   Tina poses with one of her favorite cats, and referred to this as her ‘pussy photo’   Tina returned to making loops at the end of her career       The post Tina Russell: Searching for the Lost Girl of Porn – Podcast 62 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Vintage audio interviews with Lisa DeLeeuw, Jamie Gillis, and John Seeman. Conducted by Richard Pacheco. Since we started the The Rialto Report, several people have said to us, “Wouldn’t it have been great if you could’ve spoken with these adult film stars back in the golden age itself?” And sure, it would’ve been fun, but part of what I enjoy about our interviews is precisely the fact that many years, decades even, have passed since these people were making films. So what we hear from them now is something rather different. In other words, how have they chosen to remember the past? And how does it affect them today? And yet, it would have been good to go back in time and speak to some of the main players. It would have been interesting to interview them when they were in the middle of the industry and dealing with the life that came with it. And then we found out that the adult film actor Richard Pacheco had done exactly that. Back in the day, he interviewed fellow actors, directors, and crew members, and taped these conversations that he had with them. Some of the interviews were done on film sets, others were done over the phone, and all are intimate and candid portraits that are unlike any others from the time. These conversations weren’t done by publicists seeking to aggrandize, academics trying to intellectualize, or the mainstream looking to scandalize. These were just candid conversations between people comparing notes, sharing war stories, and considering their place in the changing world of entertainment. They speak honestly, and they’re not selling anything – themselves or their latest film. I listened to these tapes, and was particularly interested in a series of recorded phone calls that took place almost 30 years ago. It was 1987, and the early generation of adult film performers were being confronted with a set of issues they hadn’t dealt with before: They were becoming older and replaced by newer, younger performers. AIDS was a now reality. Movies were being shot on video rather than film, which meant plummeting costs and cheaper productions. Money was in short supply for the performers. They had to start thinking of new careers, maybe outside of films. And as they aged, romantic relationships were becoming more important to them, but also more problematic because of their jobs. This was one of the first generations that had to deal with these issues, and at times there’s a melancholy to the conversations. On this episode of The Rialto Report we listen back to three conversations: Firstly Jamie Gillis, who at the time had just moved back to New York from California, desperate for money. Then we hear from Lisa DeLeeuw, who’d started to consider what was coming next in her life. Finally we hear from John Seeman, who was looking back at his career and wondering if it was all worth it. Before we hear the tapes, we also asked Richard Pacheco to tell us what he remembers about each of these three people. This episode’s running time is 6o minutes. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Richard Pacheco aka Howie Gordon recently published his memoirs – ‘Hindsight’. It is an excellent read, but don’t just take our word for it: “Howie Gordon writes about life as a porn star with more honesty, integrity and humor than any other porn star, ever! You will laugh, cry, and fall in love. I hope his book gets made into a movie, because it will be a one-of-a-kind blockbuster.” Annie Sprinkle, Ph.D. Internationally Acclaimed Performance Artist Author of Post Porn Modernist   Autographed copies of HINDSIGHT available at www.hindsightbook.com   Jamie Gillis on the set of Bad Girls IV     Lisa De Leeuw on the set of Ten Little Maidens     Howie with John Seeman     Save Save Save Save The post 1987: Lisa DeLeeuw, Jamie Gillis, John Seeman – Podcast 61 (The Richard Pacheco Tapes) appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Eric Edwards is a true trailblazer of the adult film industry. He started his adult career in the 1960s and stayed in the business for four decades. He starred in silent loops and narrative features. He moved between acting and directing, softcore and hardcore, and the east and west coast industries. Since retiring from the business, things haven’t been easy for Eric. He lost his home and has struggled with cancer. But he’s doing better now and living in a modest apartment an hour outside of Los Angeles. Until recently he has shared this home with one of his sons with whom he has split the living expenses. We recently learned from Eric that his son has to move out and as a result Eric is grappling to make ends meet. He fears losing his apartment and having to live in his tent as he has done in the past when times have been tough. Eric is arranging to bring in a roommate to help share costs but until that happens, he needs some help so he can keep his home. This month through the Golden Age Appreciation Fund we are raising money for Eric, and are reprising our 2013 interview with him. We are also pleased to present below a selection of rare photos from Eric’s personal collection. Please consider donating whatever you can to Eric through the Golden Age Appreciation Fund. The fundraiser will be active until Friday June 24th, 2016 and 100% of the money raised will go directly to Eric. For every $25 donated we will send you a golden age adult film DVD and an issue of Cinema Sewer magazine (while supplies last). And the first donation of $150 will receive a limited edition ‘Tit Print’ courtesy of Annie Sprinkle. This comes from the final batch of prints made by Annie and is a true rare collector’s item. Endless thanks to Annie for her generosity to supply us with this work of art for this cause. Note: due to high international shipping prices, we can only mail the thank you gifts above within the United States.   This episode running time is 92 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Eric Edwards fundraiser                         The post Eric Edwards: A Fundraiser – Podcast 22 reprise appeared first on The Rialto Report.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Veronica Hart was a natural candidate for show business stardom. She was born and raised in Las Vegas, and had a natural talent for acting and dancing. But she was smart and adventurous too, and after graduating college in record quick time, she headed over to Europe where she settled in England. It was the time of Bowie and glam rock – and she wanted to be part of the music scene there. So she managed a prog rock band, danced in shows, and did some modeling, before suffering a life-changing accident that threatened her growing performing career. So what happened next, and how did she end up in New York where she became a stripper and live sex show performer in Times Square, before becoming one of the biggest stars in adult film of the early 1980s? And how did she then go on to be one of the most successful female adult film directors of all time, and still finding time to act in mainstream films like Boogie Nights along the way? Not a bad career for a woman who defines herself first and foremost as a mother. The last decade has been a tough one for her, but she’s survived and she’s still active – in fact she’s excited about some important developments in the next stage in her life. On this podcast, Veronica talks about her life in and out of films, with stories of Boogie Nights, Chuck Vincent, Club 90, Fred Lincoln, Georgina Spelvin, Hellfire Club, Jamie Gillis, Julianne Moore, Leonard Kirtman, Michael Ninn, Paul Thomas Anderson, Rob Black, Roy Stuart, Russ Hampshire, Seka and Suze Randall. As a bonus Veronica Vera has kindly allowed us to include her article about Veronica Hart’s stage show. It was originally published in Adam magazine in July 1990. For more of Veronica Vera’s writing, we recommend her blog, and you can also listen to her podcast interview. This episode’s running time is 111 minutes. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Veronica Hart, by Veronica Vera   Veronica Hart films Candida Royalle, Shanna McCullough, Veronica Hart   Save Save The post Veronica Hart: Hart to Heart – Podcast 60 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Johnnie Keyes was the first black porn star, and from the moment he emerges in Behind the Green Door (1972), dressed in nothing but crotchless tights and an African necklace, nothing was quite the same again. There may have been more prolific or famous male adult film stars over the last 50 years, but has anyone made a more iconic entrance and statement? He was paired with Marilyn Chambers – the whiter than white Ivory Snow girl – and their interracial scene broke new ground, striking a blow to a major sexual taboo in U.S. society. Johnnie featured on and off in adult films for the next decade, but was never defined by the adult film industry – he always seemed to have something else on the go. So who was the man behind the character – who became the most famous black actor in 1970s adult film? Now 76, Johnnie speaks to us in a rare interview, remembering his porn films, but also his starring roles in musicals and the theater, his time as a boxer, a singer, and a sex surrogate, and his life in the Army and in Vietnam. With stories of Behind the Green Door, Candida Royalle, the musical Hair, Desiree Cousteau, Jamie Gillis, Jimi Hendrix, John Holmes, Lesllie Bovee, Marilyn Chambers, the Mitchell brothers, Seka, Serena, Swedish Erotica, Heavenly Desire, Pro-Ball Cheerleaders, and much more… And a bonus story from the actor Idris Elba. With special thanks to Margaret Thompson and Bill Margold. This episode’s running time is 74 minutes. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Johnnie Keyes films Behind The Green Door (1972):   Johnnie Keyes emerges from ‘Behind The Green Door’       Resurrection Of Eve (1973):     The Decline and Fall of Lacey Bodine (1975):       SexWorld (1978):     Heavenly Desire (1979):     Pro-Ball Cheerleaders (1979):       *   Johnnie Keyes, with The Rialto Report’s April Hall   The post Johnnie Keyes: The Man Behind The Green Door – Podcast 59 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Last week we presented a selection of pictures personally chosen by Barbara Dare from her collection – and have been amazed by the response. We received email from so many of you, all eager to know more about the elusive star of the 1980s who vanished from the scene almost 25 years ago. Barbara was a superstar of the adult industry in the 1980s video era. She started out in New York – where she was a regular at the sex club Plato’s Retreat – before moving to California. There she quickly became one of the leading ladies of porn throughout the late 1980s, starring in over 100 features. She was one of the first contract girls – initially with Essex Video, then with Vivid. She made films with Ginger Lynn, Erica Boyer, Paul Thomas and all the other big stars from the era. She traveled regularly to Europe to make movies there with people like Rocco Siffredi. She retired from film in the early 1990s, opting to travel across the U.S. and Canada where she was a big draw on the dance circuit. There was talk about her moving into the mainstream – with a one-woman show that Sandra Bernhard’s manager was interested in promoting. And then what happened? This week Barbara talks candidly to The Rialto Report in her first in-depth interview in decades – it’s a moving, entertaining, and surprising story. All photos belong to Barbara Dare. This episode’s running time is 100 minutes. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Barbara Dare films                             April Hall and Barbara Dare, 2016   The post Barbara Dare: A Curious Woman – Podcast 58 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

João Fernandes was adult film’s first true cinematographer. He started in New York in the 1960s shooting black and white soft-core sexploitation films. Then he was the man looking down the camera when Deep Throat, Devil in Miss Jones, The Story of Joanna and other groundbreaking Gerard Damiano films were made. He worked with Doris Wishman, Armand Weston, Jonas Middleton and many others. He was responsible for the visual flair of films like Through The Looking Glass and Take Off. But his talent and success was a double-edged sword. How could he hope to turn his underground fame in a semi-legal industry into a mainstream career? After years of struggling, he did find success in Hollywood, working as Director of Photography on Chuck Norris films, shooting movies starring people as diverse as Tony Randall, Tom Berenger and Christopher Lambert, and even directing episodes of the hit TV show Walker, Texas Ranger. But all the time, he wondered: What would happen if Hollywood found out about his adult film past? For years he denied his involvement in adult film – even when it eventually seemed to be an open secret. So when Ron Howard’s production company came knocking in 2005, looking for an interview for their documentary, Inside Deep Throat, he continued to resist, still determined to keep his decades old secret. As a result the man himself has been a mystery. No one knew much about him. How did a Brazilian become porn film’s first visual artist, what does he remember about the notorious and fabled films he worked on, and does he have any regrets? On this episode of The Rialto Report, the artist also known as Harry Flecks breaks a 50 year silence. In a special extended interview, we speak to the man himself. Joao Fernandes. This episode’s running time is 118 minutes. ________________________________________________________________________________________ João Fernandes             The post João Fernandes: The Artist Formerly Known as Harry Flecks – Podcast 57 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

We recently heard that one of our all-time favorites, golden age actress Miss Sharon Mitchell, has recently been going through a very tough time. The Rialto Report interviewed Mitch early in 2014 – and heard how she had struggled since the closure of her AIM organization a few years ago. In recent years she’s lived in a rural area in the country outside of Los Angeles where she has struggled to find work. After several years of looking, Mitch finally found work with a nearby AIDS advisory service this summer, but shortly after she started work there she crashed her motorbike. She was badly hurt in the accident – and the bike was almost a complete write-off. What made this even worse was that she needed the bike to commute to her job, and Sharon has not been able to afford the cost of the repairs so the bike remains with the repair shop. Without the bike, Mitch will not be able to stay in work – and she badly needs the income to survive. This holiday season we’ve joined up with the Golden Age Appreciation Fund to raise money for Mitch. Please visit the site and give whatever you can. It’s so important to Mitch that she can get back to work. Thanks very much for all your help. This podcast episode running time is 107 minutes. ________________________________________________________________________________________ The post Sharon Mitchell – Her Interview Revisited: A Christmas Fundraiser appeared first on The Rialto Report.

April Hall of The Rialto Report writes: Aaah… Billy Dee. It’s complicated. I’d wanted to contact him for years. But accurate information about him was just difficult to find. He was one of my favorite porn actors – who got started in the golden age of adult films in the 1970s and survived into the video era of the 1980s. I heard he’d served in the armed forces during the Viet Nam years, or that he’d done time in prison for drugs. Some said he’d taught tennis at a nudist camp, but others remembered him having his own successful male stripping group before The Chippendales were famous. People couldn’t even agree on his race – was he black or mixed race? And some said he’d left adult films to attend Bible College. He’d become a preacher, a Southern fire and brimstone evangelist, who shunned his porn past and wouldn’t welcome anyone asking about it. And so no one had heard of him since then. I looked for him everywhere and eventually managed to reach him last year. The thing is I didn’t get a reply back from him until just a few weeks ago. It turned out that he was wary about talking about his career in adult films. He explained that when he stopped making films, he made sure that he really disappeared. Even his partner, actress Nikki Knights, didn’t know where he’d gone. In the end Billy Dee agreed to talk. And it turns out he’s a salesman living in Scotland. Like I said, it’s complicated. April Hall interviews Billy Dee in this special extended edition of The Rialto Report. This episode’s running time is 134 minutes. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Billy Dee – Yesterday and Today                         The post Billy Dee: Porn Again Christian – Podcast 56 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Candy Samples was one of the true larger than life figures that lit up the early adult industry. Whether is it was in black and white cheesecake photo sets from the late 1960s, thousands of magazine appearances, and scores of films – from softcore to hardcore, from loops to catfight wrestling shorts. She had a mischievous, friendly look that stood out from all the other models. She often played the roles of older women that somehow looked like your mother’s naughty friend, exuding a mysterious sex appeal. And then there were her breasts. With her formidable physique, she looked like an Amazonian queen; fit, tanned and physically invincible. No wonder she was cast as Chief Nellie in the 1974 science fiction spoof Flesh Gordon, or in the 1979 Russ Meyer film Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens. Her staggering physique made her an instant favorite, and for many years she toured as an exotic dancer. Somehow she just seemed to get better with age. She developed a huge following that endured right through to her retirement in the late 1980s – and continues today. After she retired, she remained active – writing columns in the 1990s for magazines like Juggs. And she had an online fan club where she would have chat sessions with fans. About ten years ago she disappeared from public view just as we were getting curious to learn more about her life. What was it like being one of the people who was there at the birth of the adult industry? And how difficult had been to stay there for so long? The Rialto Report figured that as she’d been active in the industry for almost 40 years it wouldn’t be difficult to find her. We figured wrong. We looked for the legendary star and made some surprising discoveries. This episode’s running time is 45 minutes. The musical playlist for this episode can be found on Spotify. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Candy Samples recommendations If you want to see more of Candy, head over to the good folks at Something Weird Video and we recommend the following titles: Dragon Art Theatre Double Feature Vol. 21 Candy’s Cat House / Candy Get Your Gun Dragon Art Theatre Double Feature Vol. 69 Sex As You Like It Dragon Art Theatre Double Feature Vol. 150 Million Dollar Mona Dragon Art Theatre Double Feature Vol. 163 – The Erotic Director DragonArt Theatre Double Feature Vol. 200 – Mrs. Harrison Bucky Beaver’s Vol. 225 XXX Porno Superstars Bucky Beaver’s Vol. 228 XXX Big Bust Loops and countless other volumes of Bucky Beaver’s Stags Loops and Peeps! And for soft core fans: Ensenada Pick-Up Is There Sex After Marriage Love Bocaccio Style Bucky Beaver’s Double Softies Vol. 3 – Window Of Passion and many many volumes of Big Bust Loops! Candy Samples magazine appearances               The post Whatever Happened to Candy Samples? – Podcast 55 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Our friend Candida Royalle passed away this week. She was 64. Candida was a former star of pornographic movies who became a self-styled feminist filmmaker at 30 when she started producing and directing films for her own company, Femme Productions. She defined her work as female-oriented, sensuously explicit cinema as opposed to formulaic hard-core pornographic films that she said degraded women for the pleasure of men. Candida succumbed to ovarian cancer not long after tracking down the mother who abandoned her as a child and discovering that she had already died of the same disease. At the time of her death, she’d been working on a documentary, While You Were Gone, about the search for her mother. We were fortunate to get to know her well in recent years, and will miss her happiness, wisdom, sense of fun, and warmth. In 2014 The Rialto Report interviewed Candida over five separate days. The result was our podcast Candida Royalle: ‘Femme’, Feminism, and a Female Icon which we are pleased to re-present here. This episode running time is 106 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Candida Royalle                 The post Candida Royalle: ‘Femme’, Feminism, and a Female Icon – Podcast 35 reprise appeared first on The Rialto Report.

George McDonald was an adult film star at a time when there were no adult film stars. He started in the era of short, silent 8mm films and saw first hand the progression to full-length pornographic features within a couple of years. This was an era of shame and secrecy when no one used their real name – except for George. And for a time his name was everywhere – he once counted nine theaters showing his films in San Francisco at the same time. He was in the industry so early that one of his last films was the Mitchell Brothers‘ Behind The Green Door – often cited as one of the first adult films. So what kind of person ends up being the original porn star? Maybe not the kind of person you’d think. George McDonald was an all-American boy, high school athlete, good-looking, good grades, good future. He signed up to the Air Force when the Vietnam war was going on. And he had political aspirations too. He was sure he’d be mayor one day. But along the way he ended up working in porn films, headlining a live sex show in Hawaii where he competed with John Holmes, and living the life no one had ever really lived before. And then he retired from the industry, and opted for the quiet life. Which in George’s case meant joining filmmaker Alex de Renzy on a drug-smuggling round the world boat trip. Another time. Another life. Another Rialto Report. This episode running time is 97 minutes. The musical playlist for this episode can be found on Spotify. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ George McDonald                 News article about the Marysville ship, that George and Alex de Renzy sailed in   Despite the police search, nothing was found – this time…   The post George McDonald: The First Adult Film Star – Podcast 54 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

The Rialto Report really took off when we tracked Jennifer Welles down for one of our first podcasts. Over two years after its posting, it still remains one of our most popular interviews. We’ve stayed in touch with Jennifer since we first met her and she continues to be surprised and delighted by the level of interest in her story. While she values her privacy, we’re pleased that she chose to share some of her recent photos with The Rialto Report. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ From our original podcast with Jennifer Welles: “Whatever happened to” is a question that is often asked in relation to the stars of the golden age. But seriously: whatever happened to Jennifer Welles? She was one of the rare actresses who started out in 1960s sexploitation before moving into hardcore films in her late 30s often playing the role of a more mature woman. One moment she was appearing in a string of highly successful films that culminated in the box office smash Inside Jennifer Welles, and then suddenly she was gone. Formerly close friends and colleagues, and even her ex-husband all told a similar story of how her disappearance was as complete as it was sudden. The story circulated that she had made it clear that no one should attempt to find her. How could someone whose image had been so prominently splashed across billboards and the pages of magazines have vanished into thin air? Where has she been for the last four decades? The answers are revealed in this episode of The Rialto Report.                                 All photos thanks to Oui Click ’em Ink Studios.   The post Jennifer Welles: The Lady (Un)Vanishes appeared first on The Rialto Report.

It’s safe to say that Roberta Findlay wasn’t immediately interested when I contacted her for an interview. In fact I lost count of the number of times she told me to just go away. Actually I do remember. It was 14. Or 15 if you count the time I called her afterwards to thank her for this interview. That’s not to say I wanted to force her to speak. But I did try and convince her that her career in film is much more important and interesting and pioneering than maybe she thinks it is. Roberta just shrugged and asked, how is it be possible to be a pioneer for doing something you have very little intention of doing in the first place? So let’s look at the evidence: Firstly Roberta had a long career in film spanning several completely different eras: from the 1960s black and white films of her husband Michael Findlay, to the soft core films she made on her own for Alan Shackleton in the early 70s, to the long sequence of hardcore films she made with famed New York music studio owner, Walter Sear, and finally the horror films that she directed in the late 80s. Secondly she often did almost everything herself – she produced films, wrote the scripts, directed, shot, and edited them. And she distributed them too. And thirdly she’s a woman. And how many women do you know who’ve been so prolific over several decades in any male-dominated industry? So yes, Roberta Findlay has had a more important and interesting career than she admits. And it wasn’t meant to be that way. If her parents had had their wish, she’d have become a concert pianist. And if Roberta had had her way, she would have been a doctor. So how did she become one of the most prolific directors of sex films? Is it really true that the negatives for her films have been sealed behind a wall and that no one can get at them? And why is she so keen on not being interviewed? These questions and many more on this episode of The Rialto Report. This episode’s running time is 83 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Roberta Findlay one-sheets and stills:                           The post Roberta Findlay: A Respectable Woman – Podcast 53 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

When we launched the Rialto Report a few years ago, one of the first people we were keen to interview was the actor George Payne. He was a dramatic and intense on-screen presence in early 1980s New York adult films, often playing mentally unhinged characters. We wanted to know more about the man behind the craziness. It turns out George is one of the most gentle people you could hope to meet, and we’ve kept in close contact with him ever since. Sadly George and his wife Diane have recently been going through a difficult time relating to Diane’s battle with cancer, and are having trouble affording health care and housing. This week we’re teaming up with the Golden Age Appreciation Fund to raise money for George and Diane, and are reprising our 2013 interview with George. The fundraiser is active until July 17, 2015. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ George Payne fundraiser George Payne is one of the most recognizable stars of the golden age of adult film in New York. After making his debut in Jerry Douglas‘ seminal gay porn film ‘The Back Row‘ (1973), George became a regular on porn sets for the next 20 years. He appeared in some of the genre’s most famous movies – including ‘The Tale of Tiffany Lust‘, ‘Tigresses and Other Man-eaters‘, ‘American Desire‘, ‘Public Affairs‘ and ‘Puss ‘n Boots‘ – working with all the best directors along the way. He’s perhaps best remembered for his intense and manic portrayals of psychopaths in a series of roughies including ‘The Story of Prunella‘ and ‘Oriental Techniques in Pain and Pleasure‘. George met his wife Diane over 30 years ago when Diane was a casting agent for mainstream films. They were married shortly afterwards and lived an apartment in Queens. Both worked hard, were reliable, and were well-liked in the film industry. Ashley West met George in 2005 when he was working as a cleaner at a gym in Queens. Retired from films, George was exercising there every day and keen to develop a fitness video for senior citizens. Despite his on-screen ‘crazy’ persona, George is one of the most gentle people you could hope to meet. He’s thoughtful, polite and considerate – he never forgets anyone’s birthday – and prefers to inquire about your well-being rather than talk about himself. In late 2014, unable to afford their rent George and Diane were evicted from their Queens apartment and moved into a shelter. It was a unpleasant experience which became even more difficult when Diane underwent surgery for breast cancer. She required additional medical procedures at the beginning of 2015 and, struggling to pay for Diane’s medication, they moved to Florida where it’s more affordable to live. Staying with friends before moving to temporary housing, life has remained tough as George stopped working to care for Diane. They are currently seeking more permanent accommodation and are eager to move back to New York, but with their lack of funds options are limited. The Golden Age Appreciation Fund states: “George Payne, a legend of American adult films who is too proud to ask for help himself, should be the focus of our current fundraising efforts. Our goal is to help George and Diane get back on their feet by raising enough money for a housing deposit, so they can sign a proper lease and secure their immediate future.” This fundraiser is active through July 17, 2015. Your help spreading the word on our efforts is appreciated and those interested in donating please visit the George Payne fundraiser page. The post George Payne: Wild Man – Podcast 02 reprise (a Fundraiser) appeared first on The Rialto Report.

When we contacted Sharon Kelly to request a Rialto Report interview with her, we suggested the conversation might take a couple of hours. She wrote back immediately expressing mild surprise that anyone would want to listen to her for that long. Actually to be more precise she said: “Jesus Christ – two hours?! I wouldn’t listen to George Clooney beg to have sex with me whilst a resurrected John Lennon plays background music especially written for the occasion for that long”. Well – that’s where we differ. Because Sharon Kelly is one of the rare actresses whose career straddled two very different eras. After dancing in clubs, from the notorious Clermont Lounge in Atlanta to the Classic Cat in Hollywood, she starred in a string of mid 1970s sexploitation films, many produced by Harry Novak. Along the way she also made appearances in Russ Meyer’s Supervixens (1975) and two of the Ilsa women in prison films – and had cameo parts in mainstream films like Hustle (1975) with Burt Reynolds and Shampoo (1975) with Warren Beatty. She usually played wholesome though naïve girls, and her busty, freckled redhead looks invariably lit up the screen. Then she abruptly disappeared for several years before reappearing in the 1980s – except this time she was called Colleen Brennan and she was making hardcore films. She won new generation of fans and a string of acting awards before retiring once again. On this episode, Sharon remembers her two careers in film, her dancing years, softcore, hardcore, marriages, reform schools, phone sex lines, raising a daughter, cocaine, Ron Jeremy at the buffet table of Plato’s Retreat, and stories of Burt Reynolds, Warren Beatty and Roman Polanski. And how good is it? Almost as good as listening to George Clooney beg to have sex with you while a resurrected John Lennon plays background music especially written for the occasion. This episode’s running time is 72 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Sharon Kelly / Colleen Brennan photographs                   1982 Adult Film Association of America’s Erotic Film Awards       The post Sharon Kelly / Colleen Brennan: From Soft to Hard – Podcast 51 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Michelle Maren’s life has been eventful, surprising and difficult. So much so that she has recently finished a documentary, ‘An Autobiography of Michelle Maren’ which she co-directed with award-winning filmmaker, Michel Negroponte. The film is starting to appear in film festivals around the country. It recounts her troubled beginnings as a victim of abuse and domestic violence. By the age of 17 in 1979, she was homeless, living on the streets of New York, spending her days in Times Square and her nights in flophouses. The next years were a bewildering blur: she won the Miss Big Apple beauty contest and for a while was Tiny Tim’s support act. She worked in a succession of jobs – an increasing number of them in the sex industry, from sexual surrogate, go-go dancer, escort, and as a model in men’s magazines. And all that was before Michelle even entered the adult film industry. In 1984, she starred in Gerard Damiano’s ‘Deep Throat’ sequel ‘Throat… 12 Years After’ (1984), and had parts in Henri Pachard’s ‘Public Affairs’ (1983), the ‘Flashdance’ adult film spoof ‘Flash Pants’ (1983), and others. She stopped making films as mental illness and depression threatened to engulf her, and started her journey to recovery. For years lived she lived quietly, privately, virtually cut off from the outside world. Which makes her documentary all the more startling. It’s a remarkably open and brutally honest telling of her story. On today’s episode, Michelle looks back and remembers her years in New York and her time making adult films. Brace yourself. This episode’s running time is 90 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Michelle Maren: Visit Michelle Maren’s blog here Visit Michelle Maren’s Facebook page here Visit Michelle Maren’s Google + page here     Michelle Maren, Miss Big Apple 1981   Michelle Maren, Miss Big Apple 1981   Michelle Maren, Miss Big Apple 1981             Anco Theatre, 254 West 42nd Street – with Flash Pants picture   Anco Theater, New York         Michelle Maren today   UPDATE: November 2015 Michelle contacted us recently to tell about the New York premiere of her film at NYCDOC. She kindly shared the following pictures with us.       The post Michelle Maren: A Reluctant Star – Podcast 50 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Jim South didn’t act in many adult films, and certainly didn’t take part in any sex scenes. He didn’t direct, produce, or finance many movies either. But if you watch any film made in Los Angeles since the mid 1970s, the chances are that Jim South was intimately involved in who you’re actually watching on-screen. For years his company, World Modeling, supplied talent to the adult film industry. Actresses would converge there from all over the country for a chance to be cast in X-rated films. The agency represented adult stars such as Shauna Grant, Marc Wallice, Ginger Lynn, Savannah, Katie Gold, and Christy Canyon. His office was a hive of activity, always at the center of things. His huge casting calls were legendary, as were the picture books that he meticulously kept with Polaroids of every actress taken on the day they turned up in his office for the first time. His agency was successful and profitable, but not without controversy. He had to weather all kinds of storms – the police had him under surveillance, he was arrested for pimping and pandering on several occasions, several high profile actresses that he got started in the industry committed suicide, he was charged over the underage Traci Lords scandal, and rivalries with other agencies sometimes spilled into physical violence. Somehow Jim survived. Maybe being an Irish, right wing Republican from Texas had something to do with it. Over the years the adult film industry changed, people changed, and social networking replaced the old order, but Jim South is still in business. The golden days may have gone but he remains the same. He’s still out there, looking for the next girl, the next breakout star. He’s one of the last of the original dinosaurs, and this is his story. This episode running time is 72 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Jim South’s World Modeling’s website is here. Jim South (with actress Lucky Starr)     The post Jim South: The Last Agent – Podcast 49 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Make no mistakes about it, Howard Ziehm is one of the people who invented the adult film industry. He was there taking still photos for adult bookstores in the 1960s – when the most you could reveal was a girl in her underwear. He made some of the first color loops – when all you could show was the subject writhing on a mattress by herself. And then in 1970, as the market finally demanded hardcore, he made the groundbreaking ‘Mona: The Virgin Nymph’. Time magazine called it the ‘The Jazz Singer’ (1927) of fuck films. Variety called it “the long-awaited link between the stag loops and conventional theatrical fare” and it was listed it their annual Top 50 grossing films – the first pornographic film to feature. And it was the first nationally released 35mm adult feature film to play in actual movie theaters. In short, it was the blueprint for the 1970s porno chic hits that followed. Howard went onto make many more adult films over the next decade, including ‘Flesh Gordon’ (1974), a science fiction adventure comedy erotic spoof of the Flash Gordon serials from the 1930s. So who was the mysterious Howard Ziehm behind these films? Fortunately he’s finally completed his autobiography which The Rialto Report is assisting Howard to publish shortly. And it’s a hell of read. It’s a huge, entertaining, and riveting book that names names, settles scores, and tells truths. It’s also one of the best biographies you’ll read about anyone in the film industry. And it turns out here was someone who was going to be a theoretical physicist, owned one of the most successful clubs of the 1960s folk scene, worked as a nude model, had a drug running scheme importing marijuana across the border into the US, played guitar in a Los Angeles band called Father Plotsky and the Umbilical Cord – and all that before he ever even thought of making a porn film. Today we’re joined by Howard Ziehm to talk about his surprising life leading up to the film ‘Flesh Gordon’. It’s quite a ride. This episode’s running time is 99 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ For those interested: Howard Ziehm’s soon to be published memoir, “Take Your Shame and Shove It: The bare truth exposed” tells in vivid detail the surreal and picaresque forces that almost prevented Flesh Gordon from being made and the hedonistic bacchanal that followed that quickly found itself being swallowed by a rising tide of drug abuse and mysterious diseases that nearly destroyed the newfound freedom of a world unrestrained by puritan chains.   ‘The Virgin Runaway’ (1970) (directed by Howard Ziehm) ‘Hollywood Blue’ (1970) Japanese one sheet for ‘Hollywood Blue’ (1970)   ‘Mona’ (1970) ‘Harlot’ (1971) Newspaper ad for ‘Harlot’ (1971) (using an alternative name)   Newspaper ad for ‘Harlot’ (1971) (using an alternative name) Beverley Cinema     The post Howard Ziehm: Mona… (and marijuana, music, and M.I.T.) – Podcast 48 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

For the first time on The Rialto Report, we feature a current day adult film performer. But the twist is that Nina Hartley is also one of the true stars of the golden age, having appeared scores of films since her start in 1984. By any standards, Nina is a unique person. The daughter of a socialist blacklisted writer, she was raised in Berkeley, CA and became a registered nurse whilst dancing at the Mitchell Brothers’ O’Farrell theater. For many years she was married in a troubled menage-a-trois arrangement, having both a husband and a wife. And since 1984 she has acted, directed and produced over 400 films, covering many types of sexuality, and even had a role in the hit mainstream film, ‘Boogie Nights’. Today Nina is widely respected as a pro-sexuality feminist, and one of most outspoken supporters of the adult industry and free speech issues. Her fights have taken her to speaking to state legislatures, and national TV shows as Oprah. She is married to Ira Levine, also known as Ernest Greene, legendary BDSM and fetish filmmaker and editor of Hustler’s Taboo Magazine. And she is still going strong, still speaking out, even appearing as Hillary Clinton in a recent lesbian film. So how does she remember starting out? How has the industry changed since those early years? And has she really been having a long-running affair with a school friend she first met in high school? This episode also features Carol Queen, author, editor, and sexologist active in the sex-positive feminism movement, and Nina’s close friend for many years. (The above image is from the Suze Randall archives). This episode running time is 101 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________This Nina Hartley Find more of Nina’s photos, videos and writings on her website. Nina Hartley & Sharon Mitchell Nina Hartley & Ernest Greene   The post Nina Hartley: The Importance Of Being (With) Earnest – Podcast 47 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

For many people Radley Metzger’s 1976 film ‘The Opening of Misty Beethoven’ was the greatest adult film of all time. It had everything – a witty script, great cast, international locations, and was made by a talented filmmaker. And it had the enigmatic Constance Money. Hers is one of the iconic roles in the golden age of adult film. She was an unlikely star; unlike other actresses in the industry, she made very few films – and two of those, she says she appeared in without her consent, when Radley Metzger re-used footage of her that was shot for Misty Beethoven. So how does she remember the ‘Misty Beethoven’ experience? The truth isn’t pretty, and she has outspoken and shocking thoughts on the subject. After ‘Misty Beethoven’, Constance Money continued to surprise. She managed a hunting lodge in Alaska, appeared in a famous Playboy feature – the first X-Rated actress to do so, and featured in the Blake Edwards film ‘10’ with Julie Andrews. She lived with adult film actor, John Leslie, for a number of years, had a complex relationship with Jamie Gillis – her Misty Beethoven co-star, had a son, and made a surprising comeback for one film in the 1980s. But what happens to your life when you are still remembered for that one film made forty years ago? On this episode, for the first time Constance Money speaks about her life, in and out of films. And in another first for the Rialto Report, we also speak to her father. What is his view of what happened? This episode running time is 81 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Constance Money photos: Constance Money Playboy pictorial   Constance Money Playboy pictorial   Constance Money Atom Video contest   Constance Money Playboy pictorial     Constance Money Playboy pictorial   Constance Money Playboy pictorial   Constance Money Playboy pictorial     The post Constance Money: The Re-opening of Misty Beethoven. And her father. – Podcast 46 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

For our first podcast of 2015 we’re reaching back into last year’s archives to honor a legend of adult cinema who is in need of our help: Kay Parker: Many Lives – Podcast 32. About a month ago together with Jill Nelson and Mark Murray, we set up The Golden Age Appreciation Fund after learning that Kay is experiencing financial difficulties which have forced her out of her home. The goal of the drive is to raise enough money to cover Kay’s first and last month’s rent plus a security deposit. Many of you have already generously donated and for that we thank you. The drive for Kay will run until this coming Friday, January 9th at midnight. This is a non-profit initiative so 100% of your donation will go directly to Kay – no donation is too small. And feel free to also leave a message for Kay when you donate – we will ensure it is passed on to her Thanks so much – and Happy New Year! This episode running time is 100 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Kay Parker Kay Parker is one of the true legends of adult cinema. In a career that started in 1977 and spanned over a decade, she became one of the industry’s most recognizable and best-loved figures. Since her retirement, Kay has dedicated herself to the welfare of others, working as a freelance New Age metaphysical counselor and writing a book about her spiritual experiences. From her beginnings in war time Birmingham in England, Kay Parker was introduced to the adult film industry in the mid 1970s by playing small non-sexual roles. It was director Anthony Spinelli who talked her into doing her first sex scene in the 1977 film SexWorld, and Kay was soon one of the leading lights of industry. Kay is perhaps best remembered for her role in the original ‘Taboo‘, where she plays the mother role and is partnered with Mike Ranger, who plays her son Paul Scott, in one of the golden age’s most memorable scenes. Apart from her film roles, Kay also became a prominent spokesperson for the business – appearing on television, college campuses, and in magazines, passionately defending the rights of the filmmakers and the performers. She is remembered with great fondness and respect by all who worked with her, including such luminaries as Seka, Eric Edwards, and Richard Pacheco. Kay was recently featured in the book ‘Golden Goddesses’ by Jill Nelson (Bear Manor Media), and interviewed for The Rialto Report podcast – where both her appearances received much positive attention proving that she is still remembered and loved by her many fans. The Golden Age Appreciation Fund would like to highlight Kay’s need, and also make it easy for anyone who wishes to make a donation to her. Together we can help Kay get back into a place of her own. Please donate – every penny donated to Kay will go directly to her. The Golden Age Appreciation Fund is a non-profit initiative, that was established in 2014 to help raise funds for those formerly associated with the golden age adult film industry. It was set up by Mark Murray, Jill Nelson, and Ashley West.   The post Kay Parker: Many Lives – Podcast 32 (reprise) appeared first on The Rialto Report.

When people talk about the early pioneers of adult film in New York, names like Jamie Gillis, Harry Reems and Tina Russell spring to mind. But in January 2013, the industry lost someone who was there at the beginning, and remained there pretty much until his passing – and that’s Fred Lincoln. Fred was born to a traditional Italian family in 1930s Hells Kitchen, New York. He was smart, but preferred the streets and petty crime to church and school, maybe influenced by family connections to local mobsters. After a time in the marines, Fred tried the quiet life; he settled down, got married and worked at a regular job, but the bright lights of the city were calling. He started acting, and before long became one of the very first adult film performers in loops and early features. Fred made loops with all the early characters like Sam Menning, Teddy Snyder and Smitty. He starred with Harry Reems in ‘Sex USA‘ (1971), Gerard Damiano’s pre-‘Deep Throat‘ (1972) hit that paved the way for porno chic. He acted regularly before turning his hand to directing and following the industry out to the west coast. Along the way, he was married seven times, counting adult star Tiffany Clark and porn director Patti Rhodes among his wives. He helped Larry Levenson manage Plato’s Retreat and started the notorious Hellfire Club. He even found time to regularly work in mainstream movies as a stuntman, and to star in one of the most influential horror films of the early 1970s, ‘Last House on the Left‘ (1972). I wanted to know how Fred remembered the early days of the porn industry when loops were king, porno was chic and New York was the center of it all, so in 2007, I sat down with him to discuss his New York years. This episode running time is 46 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Fred Lincoln – Rare pictures: Fred Lincoln (right)   Fred Lincoln in ‘Millie’s Homecoming‘ (1971)   Fred Lincoln in ‘Millie’s Homecoming‘ (1971)   Fred Lincoln in ‘The Weirdos and the Oddballs‘ (1971)   Fred Lincoln in ‘The Weirdos and the Oddballs‘ (1971)   Fred Lincoln (1937-2013)   The post Fred Lincoln: The Early Years – Podcast 45 appeared first on The Rialto Report.

Hyapatia Lee was always an instantly recognizable figure in the adult films and magazines of the 1980s; she was a strong and striking presence with an unusual Native American persona, which it turned out was more than just a character – Hyapatia is one-quarter Cherokee which was and is a proud part of her heritage. But her wholesome image masked a troubled life; she grew up raised by her grandmother and thinking that her mother was actually her sister. She suffered abuse and rape, and, in part as a response to these terrible events, developed dissociative identity disorder – commonly referred to as having multiple personalities. She dreamt of singing and dancing on Broadway – but instead became a stripper and then an actress in adult movies. She was one of the first genuine stars and contract girls – first with Harry Mohney’s Caribbean Films and then with Vivid. She starred in a string of hugely successful films, including ‘The Ribald Tales of Canterbury’ which she also wrote and was one of the most expensive pornographic movies of the era. At the same time she had a parallel career as a singer with her own band – and recorded a couple of CDs. But controversy was never far away, whether it was her continuing mental illness, her marriage to her manager and frequent co-star Bud Lee, or the rumors that she faked her death to leave the industry or to increase merchandise sales. To set the record straight, she published an autobiography in 2000 – but the Hyapatia Lee story didn’t stop there. In 2013 she appeared under her real name on the reality TV show ‘Gigolos’ as a client for one of the male leads and at the age of 53 engages in an unsimulated sex scene. Today she lives in Colorado growing marijuana and writing for the pro-cannabis magazine ‘High Times’. On this episode, Hyapatia Lee joins April Hall to look back at her eventful life. This episode running time is 114 minutes. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Buy Hyapatia Lee’s autobiography here. Visit Hyapatia’s website here. Hyapatia Lee photos:                 The post Hyapatia Lee: Secrets and Lives – Podcast 44 appeared first on The Rialto Report.