Abigail Clayton

Last updated
Abigail Clayton
Born
Gail Lawrence [1]

(1960-06-13) 13 June 1960 (age 64) [2]
New York City, New York, United States [3]
Other namesDebbie Lordan, Abagail Clayton, Gail Wezke, Gail Lawrence [3]

Abigail Clayton (born Gail Lawrence; June 13, 1960) is an American retired pornographic actress active during the Golden Age of Porn. [3] She was inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame in 2008. [4] [5]

Contents

Early life

Clayton went to college at Stony Brook University and graduated with a bachelor's in fine arts in 1971. [6]

Film career

Clayton started her career in 1976 during the porn chic era when adult movies were shown in mainstream theaters. She started out first posing for magazines such as Hustler and Swank before making the jump to adult films. Her name would often appear in ads in major newspapers of the time, alongside other stars such as Annette Haven [7] and Leslie Bovee. [8]

One of Clayton's earliest movies was Alex de Renzy's Femmes de Sade , which was the eighth film inducted into XRCO's Hall of Fame. [9] Clayton also appeared in Harold Lime's Desires Within Young Girls with Georgina Spelvin and was the title character in Antonio Shepherd's 7 Into Snowy a parody of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . [1] Her last adult film was October Silk in 1980. [1] [3]

Personal life

The daughter of a successful doctor on the East Coast [10] Clayton worked as a film editor at Parker Labs in San Francisco. She dated actor Ken Scudder who she met filming a porn loop. [11] Clayton later married a male nurse who was a junkie but then divorced. She had a daughter. [12]

Mainstream films

Abigail Clayton was one of the first adult stars to move into mainstream films when she appeared in Bye Bye Monkey with Gérard Depardieu and Marcello Mastroianni. In 1980, she was cast as Rita in the horror film Maniac . [13] Her last mainstream role was a small part as a nun in the Ryan O'Neal film So Fine in 1981. [1]

Partial filmography

Clayton only appeared in 16 original adult films during her career, far fewer than most other adult stars. She appeared in another 22 films that were compilations of scenes from her previous movies. [3]

Adult films

Mainstream films

Awards

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Skin, Mr. (2005). Mr. Skin's Skincyclopedia: The A-to-Z Guide To Finding Your Favorite Actresses Naked (Illustrated ed.). New York City, New York, USA: St. Martin's Press. p. 315. ISBN   9780312331443. OCLC   56129204 . Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  2. ↑ Where are they now?, Art Koch, 25 July 2018, accessed 30 December 2021
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Personal Biography : Abigail Clayton". Internet Adult Film Database . iafd.com. 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  4. 1 2 Freeman, Dick (2008). "XRCO 2008 Award Categories and Winners". XRCO.com. X-Rated Critics Organization. Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  5. ↑ Holliday, Jim (1986). Only the best: Jim Holliday's adult video almanac and trivia treasury. Van Nuys, California, USA: Cal Vista Direct. OCLC   15317190 . Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  6. ↑ West, Ashley (2024-11-24). "The Passing of Abigail Clayton: A Fleeting Conversation". The Rialto Report. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  7. ↑ "A Coming of Angels (ad)". The Milwaukee Journal . Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA: Elizabeth Brenner. November 24, 1978. p. 29. ISSN   1082-8850. OCLC   55506548 . Retrieved April 9, 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  8. ↑ "A Coming of Angels (ad)". Lakeland Ledger . Lakeland, Florida, USA: Jerome Ferson. March 21, 1979. p. 27. ISSN   0163-0288. OCLC   187953892 . Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  9. ↑ Freeman, Dick (2008). "XRCO Hall of Fame". XRCO.com. X-Rated Critics Organization. Archived from the original on 2007-10-07.
  10. ↑ Interview with Howard Ziehm, The Rialto Report , 27 September 2015, accessed 30 December 2021
  11. ↑ Interview with Ken Scudder, The Rialto Report , 3 March 2019, accessed 30 December 2021
  12. ↑ Interview with Sandi Foxx, The Rialto Report , 22 June 2014, accessed 30 December 2021
  13. ↑ Stine, Scott Aaron (2003). The Gorehound's guide to splatter films of the 1980s (Illustrated ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina, USA: McFarland & Company. ISBN   9780786415328. OCLC   51842250 . Retrieved April 9, 2012.
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