Tim Kramer

Last updated
Tim Kramer
Born
Douglas Murrell Cooper

February 2, 1958
Died(1992-04-16)April 16, 1992
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPornographic film actor
Years active1980–1988

Douglas Murrell Cooper, known professionally as Tim Kramer (born 1952 or 1958, died April 16, 1992) was a gay porn star, escort and health business owner best known for the 1983 homoerotic film Gayracula among his films.

Contents

Early life

Douglas Cooper was born on February 2, 1958, in Milton, Cabell County, West Virginia. Later, he attended high school in Columbus, Ohio, and upon graduation moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he began to model for Target Studios.

Career

Later, he moved to San Francisco, where he continued his career working for Falcon Studios. Among the early films he appeared are Ship Shape and Blackout for Target Studios and Biker Liberty for Falcon Studios. During the late seventies and early eighties, he made about a dozen feature-length films including Big Summer Surprise, Style, Giants II, Gayracula, I Do, Tony's Initiation, Men of the Midway, Heroes, Trick Time, Sun Stroke, and New Zealand Undercovers.

Filmography

Later life and death

In a 1988 Advocate interview, Cooper spoke openly of the escort service he ran in Hollywood for many years: "That's where I made most of the money. I don't do drugs or liquor, so I used the (film) business to build up my name, so I could charge more money on the side in my escort service." He attempted to invest his earnings in a solar installation company but that never took off. In time parlayed into a partnership with fellow skin star Ron Pearson to found Pegasus Productions. The partnership produced only one film, Pegasus which featured the founders. By the late 1980s, Cooper made fewer films and concentrated most of his energy on a health food store in West Hollywood. It was during this time he was diagnosed HIV+, and he commented thus: "I'm in a business now that's health oriented. We're an AIDS support group, promote safe sex, and are here to try and give something back to the community and help people who are HIV+ or have AIDS. So I can't be involved in unsafe sex in front of a camera, because that says it's okay. It would make me look like a hypocrite."

Kramer died on April 16, 1992, at Doctors Hospital North in Columbus, Ohio. The cause of death was listed as AIDS complications. He is buried in the Chestnut Grove Baptist Church Cemetery, Cabell County, West Virginia. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ACT UP</span> International AIDS activism, direct action and advocacy group

AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy, and working to change legislation and public policies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GMHC</span> New York City–based non-profit AIDS service organization

The GMHC is a New York City–based non-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based AIDS service organization whose mission statement is to "end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Kramer</span> American playwright (1935–2020)

Laurence David Kramer was an American playwright, author, film producer, public health advocate, and gay rights activist. He began his career rewriting scripts while working for Columbia Pictures, which led him to London, where he worked with United Artists. There he wrote the screenplay for the film Women in Love (1969) and received an Academy Award nomination for his work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Callen</span> American writer, musician and AIDS activist (1955–1993)

Michael Callen was an American singer, songwriter, composer, author, and AIDS activist. Callen was diagnosed with AIDS in 1982 and became a pioneer of AIDS activism in New York City, working closely with his doctor, Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, and Richard Berkowitz. Together, they published articles and pamphlets to raise awareness about the correlation between risky sexual behaviors and AIDS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bareback (sexual act)</span> Sexual penetration without the use of a condom

Bareback sex is physical sexual activity, especially sexual penetration, without the use of a condom. The topic primarily concerns anal sex between men without the use of a condom, and may be distinguished from unprotected sex because bareback sex denotes the deliberate act of forgoing condom use.

Treasure Island Media is a U.S. gay pornographic studio founded in 1998 by Paul Morris that primarily produces bareback films. It was the first commercial producer to specialize in bareback films as part of the emerging 1990s underground interest in the pre-condom era of gay porn that was concerned with the freedom of the sexual experience. The studio is named after Morris's favorite childhood book, Treasure Island. In addition to the original San Francisco office, TIM has production offices in New York, London and Mexico City.

Falcon Entertainment, a United States company based in San Francisco, California, is one of the world's largest producers of gay pornography.

Nova Studios was a gay pornographic film studio established by Scott Masters in 1977. It closed in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Will Clark (actor)</span> American gay pornographic film actor

Will Clark is an American gay pornographic film actor. He is a member of the Grabby Awards Hall of Fame and has received a special citation from the GayVN Awards for his fundraising work in support of HIV/AIDS charities.

Charles Steven Key, better known as Paul Morris, is the owner of Treasure Island Media, a San Francisco, California-based gay pornography studio that specializes in bareback pornography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik Rhodes (pornographic actor)</span> American pornographic actor and director

James Elliott Naughtin, known professionally as Erik Rhodes, was an American gay pornographic film actor and director. After making his adult film debut as a performer in 2004, Rhodes became an exclusive model with Falcon Studios, and began directing adult films for Raging Stallion Studios when the studio was acquired by Falcon in 2011. Beyond his work in pornography, Rhodes was active in New York City nightlife and celebrity circles, and was once linked to fashion designer Marc Jacobs. In 2012, Rhodes died from cardiac arrest at the age of 30.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gay pornography</span> Pornography depicting sex acts between males

Gay pornography is the representation of sexual activity between males. Its primary goal is sexual arousal in its audience. Softcore gay pornography also exists; which at one time constituted the genre, and may be produced as beefcake pornography directed toward heterosexual female, homosexual male and bisexual audiences of any gender.

Rodger Allen McFarlane was an American gay rights activist who served as the first paid executive director of the Gay Men's Health Crisis and later served in leadership positions with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Bailey House and the Gill Foundation.

Sexually transmitted infections in the pornography industry deals with the occupational safety and health hazard of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by workers in the sex industry. Since the 1980s many cases of pornographic performers contracting HIV/AIDS have been reported. However, since the mid 2000s strict adherence to rigorous STI testing, and limiting sexual contact with only fellow tested performers has halted the spread of HIV and other STIs in the industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurt Marshall</span> American actor and model

Kurt Marshall was a model and an actor who performed in gay pornographic films in the mid-1980s. Although he appeared in only four films, the gay pornographic industry trade publication Unzipped named him one of the top 100 gay porn stars of all time in 2006, author Leigh Rutledge listed him as the ninth most influential gay porn star of all time in 2000, and adult film magazine editor John Erich called him one of the "most beautiful" gay adult film stars of the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Laubenstein</span> American medical researcher

Linda Jane Laubenstein was an American physician and early HIV/AIDS researcher. She was among the first doctors in the United States to recognize the AIDS epidemic of the early 1980s; she co-authored the first article linking AIDS with Kaposi's sarcoma.

Charles M. "Chuck" Holmes was an American adult film producer, businessman and philanthropist. He founded Falcon Studios in 1971.

Measure B, also known as the County of Los Angeles Safer Sex In the Adult Film Industry Act, is the law that requires the use of condoms in all vaginal and anal sex scenes in pornography productions filmed in Los Angeles County, California. The measure also requires porn production companies to obtain a health permit prior to production and to post the permit and a notice to performers regarding condom use during production. All individuals involved will also be required to pay $1,600 every 2 years.

Richard Holt Locke was an American actor in gay erotic films of the 1970s and 1980s, who went on to become an AIDS educator and activist. As a performer in adult cinema, Locke has been credited with being one of the "earliest and most widely emulated VCR stars" in gay erotic cinema, as well as someone whose performance and physicality contributed to the evolution of gay sexual behavior in the 1970s and 1980s.

New York City was affected by the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s more than any other U.S. city. The AIDS epidemic has been and continues to be highly localized due to a number of complex socio-cultural factors that affect the interaction of the populous communities that inhabit New York.

References

  1. Escoffier, J. (2010). Bigger Than Life: The History of Gay Porn Cinema from Beefcake to Hardcore. ReadHowYouWant.com, Limited. p. 258. ISBN   978-1-4587-7988-5 . Retrieved 5 July 2016.