Thora Birch is an American actress, producer, and director. She made her feature film debut with a starring role in Purple People Eater (1988), for which she won a Young Artist Award for "Best Actress Under Nine Years of Age". Birch rose to prominence as a child star during the 1990s through a string of parts in films, including Paradise (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Monkey Trouble (1994), Now and Then (1995), and Alaska (1996). Her breakthrough into adult-oriented roles came with her portrayal of Jane Burnham in American Beauty (1999), for which she was nominated for that year's BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.
Marilyn Ann Taylor, known professionally as Marilyn Chambers, was an American pornographic actress, exotic dancer, model, actress, singer and vice-presidential candidate. She was known for her 1972 hardcore film debut, Behind the Green Door, and her 1980 pornographic film Insatiable. She ranked at No. 6 on the list of Top 50 Porn Stars of All Time by AVN, and ranked as one of Playboy's Top 100 Sex Stars of the Century in 1999. Although she was primarily known for her adult film work, she made a successful transition to mainstream projects and has been called "porn's most famous crossover".
Crockett is a census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, in the East Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. The population was 3,094 at the 2010 census. It is located 28 miles (45 km) northeast of San Francisco. Other nearby communities include Port Costa, Martinez, Vallejo, Benicia, Rodeo, Hercules, Pinole and Richmond.
Caligula is a 1979 erotic historical drama film about the rise and fall of Roman Emperor Caligula. The film stars Malcolm McDowell in the title role, alongside Teresa Ann Savoy, Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole, John Steiner, and John Gielgud.
John Robert Stillman, billed professionally as Jack Wrangler, was an American gay pornographic film actor, theatrical producer, director, and writer. He performed in both gay and straight films.
Hardcore is a 1979 American neo-noir crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader, and starring George C. Scott, Peter Boyle, Season Hubley, and Dick Sargent. Its plot follows a conservative Midwestern businessman whose teenage daughter goes missing in California. With the help of a prostitute, his search leads him into the illicit subculture of pornography, including snuff films.
The Opening of Misty Beethoven is an American pornographic comedy film released in 1976. It was produced with a relatively high budget and filmed on elaborate locations in Paris, New York City and Rome with a musical score, and owes much to its director Radley Metzger. According to author Toni Bentley, The Opening of Misty Beethoven is considered the "crown jewel" of the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984).
Aldo Ray was an American actor of film and television. He began his career as a contract player for Columbia Pictures before achieving stardom through his roles in The Marrying Kind, Pat and Mike, Let's Do It Again, and Battle Cry. His athletic build and gruff, raspy voice saw him frequently typecast in "tough guy" roles throughout his career, which lasted well into the late 1980s. Though the latter part of his career was marked by appearances in low-budget B-movies and exploitation films, he still appeared occasionally in higher-profile features, including The Secret of NIMH (1982) and The Sicilian (1987). In 1980, Ray was awarded Best Actor for his role in Sweet Savage from the Adult Film Association's third Erotica Awards.
Digital Playground Inc. is an American independent pornographic film studio, headquartered in Burbank, California. It has been called one of the five biggest porn studios and, in 2006, was described by Reuters as one of the handful of studios that dominate the U.S. porn industry.
Carol Connors is an American former pornographic actress. She starred in about 20 adult movies between 1971 and 1981. Married to fellow former porn star Jack Birch, she is the mother of actress Thora Birch.
John Leslie Nuzzo was an American pornographic film actor-director-producer. Usually credited under the name John Leslie, he also worked under a variety of pseudonyms, including John Leslie Dupre, Frederick Watson, and Lenny Lovely.
Richard Pacheco is an American former pornographic film and video actor, writer and director who retired from the X-rated business in the mid-1980s.
The Adult Film Association of America (AFAA) was the first American association of pornographic film producers. It fought against censorship laws, attempted to defend the industry against prosecution for obscenity, and held an annual adult film awards ceremony. Founded in 1969, it continued separate operation until 1992 when it merged with Free Speech Legal Defense Fund. The organization was also host to the Erotic Film Awards which were held from 1977 until 1986.
The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American pornography, in which sexually explicit films experienced positive attention from mainstream cinemas, movie critics, and the general public. This American period, which subsequently spread internationally, and that began before the legalization of pornography in Denmark on July 1, 1969, started on June 12, 1969, with the theatrical release of the film Blue Movie directed by Andy Warhol, and, somewhat later, with the release of the 1970 film Mona the Virgin Nymph produced by Bill Osco. These films were the first adult erotic films depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States. Both influenced the making of films such as 1972's Deep Throat starring Linda Lovelace and directed by Gerard Damiano, Behind the Green Door starring Marilyn Chambers and directed by the Mitchell brothers, 1973's The Devil in Miss Jones also by Damiano, and 1976's The Opening of Misty Beethoven by Radley Metzger, the "crown jewel" of the Golden Age, according to award-winning author Toni Bentley. According to Andy Warhol, his Blue Movie film was a major influence in the making of Last Tango in Paris, an internationally controversial erotic drama film, starring Marlon Brando, and released in 1972, three years after Blue Movie was shown in theaters.
Carol Leigh, also known as The Scarlot Harlot, was an American artist, author, filmmaker, sex worker, and sex workers' rights activist. She is credited with coining the term sex work and founded the Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival and was the co-founder of BAYSWAN, the Bay Area Sex Worker Advocacy Network.
Welcome to Hard Times is a 1967 American Western film directed by Burt Kennedy and starring Henry Fonda as the leader of a dying town that is too weak to stand up to a brute terrorizing the few remaining residents. It is based upon a novel by the same name by E. L. Doctorow.
In the film industry, unsimulated sex is the presentation of sex scenes in which actors genuinely perform the depicted sex acts, rather than simulating them. Although it is ubiquitous in films intended as pornographic, it is very uncommon in other films. At one time in the United States, such scenes were restricted by law and self-imposed industry standards such as the Motion Picture Production Code. Films showing explicit sexual activity were confined to privately distributed underground films, such as stag films or "porn loops". In the 1960s, social attitudes about sex began to shift, and sexually explicit films were decriminalized in many countries.
Sex in film, the presentation of aspects of sexuality in film, especially human sexuality, has been controversial since the development of the medium. Films which display or suggest sexual behavior have been criticized by religious groups or have been banned or censored by governments, although attitudes have changed much along the years and a more permissive social environment has developed in certain parts of the world, notably in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. In countries with a film rating system, films which contain explicit sex scenes typically receive a restricted classification. Nudity in film may be regarded as sexual or as non-sexual.
