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David Henry Sterry | |
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| Born | David Henry Sterry June 2, 1957 United States |
| Occupation | Writer, actor/comic, activist |
| Period | 1983–present |
| Notable works | Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent (2002), Hos, Hookers, Call Girls & Rent Boys (2009), The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published, co-authored with his wife, Arielle Eckstut. |
| Spouse | Arielle Eckstut |
David Henry Sterry is an American author, actor/comic, activist and former sex worker.
Sterry's parents were immigrants from Newcastle, England.[ citation needed ] He grew up in New Jersey; Birmingham, Alabama; Virginia, Minnesota; and Dallas, Texas.[ citation needed ] He attended boarding school at Darrow School in New Lebanon, NY, went to Immaculate Heart College in Hollywood for one year, where he also was employed as sex worker.[ citation needed ] This became the subject of his first memoir, Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent. He then transferred to Reed College, where he studied existentialism and poetry, and graduated in 1978.[ citation needed ] At 21, was offered a professional soccer contract.[ citation needed ]
He started in show business as a stand-up comedian and improviser in the San Francisco during the early 1980s.[ citation needed ] He also began to act in small productions.[ citation needed ] In 1984, he moved to New York, where he appeared in commercials for McDonald's, AT&T, and Levi's, eventually becoming the spokesman for Publisher's Clearing House.[ citation needed ] He also performed in many Off-Off Broadway plays.[ citation needed ] In 1985 he was hired to be the master of ceremonies at Chippendales.[ citation needed ] Nick de Noia, the creator of the show, was assassinated while Sterry was working for him.[ citation needed ] This would become the subject of his second memoir, Master of Ceremonies: A True Story of Love, Murder, Roller Skates & Chippendales. [1] He had a role in the film Memoirs of an Invisible Man . He appeared in a pilot for Eddie Murphy's production company. It starred Margaret Cho, and was not picked up by ABC.[ citation needed ] This led to[ citation needed ] a string of guest starring roles in black sitcoms like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air , Sister Sister and Roc . He became a regular on the HBO/CTW show Encyclopedia , where he played characters ranging from George Washington to Napoleon Bonaparte to Leif Erikson.
He began writing books in 2001, with the publication of Satchel Sez: The World, Wit & Wisdom of Leroy Sawtchel Paige (Random House). His next book, the 2002 memoir, Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent, [2] details his experiences as a teenage hustler in 1970s Hollywood .
Sterry ran a writing workshop for at-risk teenagers and survivors of the sex industry for the United States Department of Justice in Washington DC in 2005.[ citation needed ]
He performs in a show titled Sex Worker Literati, which consists of people from the sex industry reading and performing original works. [3] Sterry is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post [4] and NPR [5] [6]
With the publication of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published (Workman, 2010), he co-founded the company The Book Doctors, and developed a show called Pitchapalooza, where writers get one minute to pitch their books ideas to a panel of publishing experts. [7] [8]
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