Question about the Gay porn industry during the 80s

[gidget]

Hello Guys,

I'm currently looking for informations about how the gay porn industry worked during the 80s, especially between the years 1983 and 1987. I would like to know about the gay actors behavior on set and off set. How the industry was runned....
Do you have books to recommend or articles ? Do you have gossip ? Maybe some actors of this era are still alive except Peter North who is inaccessible.
There is an amazing book about straight porn industry "The other Hollywood" by Legs McNeil, I'm looking for similar books but for the gay porn industry.
Would you say that movies like "My own private Idaho" and "Alexander : The other side of Dawn" depict correctly gay hustlers of this period ?
Is it true that all porn actors of the 80s were also prostitutes ?
If some of you have any little informations it would be great. Especially about actors like Kurt Marshall, Leo Ford, Brian Maxon, Mark Miller, Leigh Erickson, John Rocklin...

PS : English is not my native language, so sorry for my approximative english.

 

[brmstn69]

Good luck with that, almost everyone involved in gay porn during that period died in the first wave of the AIDS epidemic or from suicide or heart failure due to steroid use...

 

[Shelter]

Wow Brmstn69 thank you, thank you so much for this memory report. They died by AIDS, Overdose, Illness, Accidents - but why so many of them by SUICIDE and HOMICIDE???
This will be something I would be very interested in. What happened to them that they were taken their own lifes or have been killed?

 

[brmstn69]

Wow Brmstn69 thank you, thank you so much for this memory report. They died by AIDS, Overdose, Illness, Accidents - but why so many of them by SUICIDE and HOMICIDE???
This will be something I would be very interested in. What happened to them that they were taken their own lifes or have been killed?

Lindon Hawk - killed in a road rage incident when he was punched and hit his head on the pavement.

Christopher Lance - Stabbed to death during lovers' quarrel.

Brandon Wilde - murder remains unsolved

Ryan Morrison - What could best be described as a hookup gone bad. He went home with a guy he met in a bar, they argued, and then he was dead.

Billy London - his dismembered body was found in a dumpster, case remains unsolved.

Sergio Canali aka. Paul Dirosa at William Higgins - kidnapped in 1992 while in Florence, Italy by an obsessed fan named Leonardo Vitti. An extensive police manhunt found no trace of him. Two years later, his and Vitti's remains were found in the basement of an abandoned home belonging to Vitti that was in the process of being demolished. The cause of death in both cases remains unknown.

Morgan - not mentioned in video, found dead at the base of a cliff, there were rope burns around his wrist. His death has led to much speculation, including that he was kidnapped buy fans and held for days or weeks before he was murdered. Other stories say he was stoned and fell off the cliff while taking a piss. Another rumor has it he was killed while filming a scene for William Higgins, that the top got carried away and literally fuck him over the edge of the cliff. Another version is that Higgins himself killed him because he was being blackmailed by Morgan. And yet another version has it that a wealthy client paid Higgins to make a snuff film.
Higgins left America shortly after.

Boris Mateho - Accidental gunshot wound. Also worked for Higgins.

Leo Ford - motorcycle accident. The motorcycle was a gift from William Higgins...

Funny how many of these deaths are connected to Higgins isn't it...

 

[gidget]

Good luck with that, almost everyone involved in gay porn during that period died in the first wave of the AIDS epidemic or from suicide or heart failure due to steroid use...

Thanks for the encouragement, it is almost impossible to find information on the internet. It's very sad to know that a whole generation of people died of aids.

Lindon Hawk - killed in a road rage incident when he was punched and hit his head on the pavement.

Christopher Lance - Stabbed to death during lovers' quarrel.

Brandon Wilde - murder remains unsolved

Ryan Morrison - What could best be described as a hookup gone bad. He went home with a guy he met in a bar, they argued, and then he was dead.

Billy London - his dismembered body was found in a dumpster, case remains unsolved.

Sergio Canali aka. Paul Dirosa at William Higgins - kidnapped in 1992 while in Florence, Italy by an obsessed fan named Leonardo Vitti. An extensive police manhunt found no trace of him. Two years later, his and Vitti's remains were found in the basement of an abandoned home belonging to Vitti that was in the process of being demolished. The cause of death in both cases remains unknown.

Morgan - not mentioned in video, found dead at the base of a cliff, there were rope burns around his wrist. His death has led to much speculation, including that he was kidnapped buy fans and held for days or weeks before he was murdered. Other stories say he was stoned and fell off the cliff while taking a piss. Another rumor has it he was killed while filming a scene for William Higgins, that the top got carried away and literally fuck him over the edge of the cliff. Another version is that Higgins himself killed him because he was being blackmailed by Morgan. And yet another version has it that a wealthy client paid Higgins to make a snuff film.
Higgins left America shortly after.

Boris Mateho - Accidental gunshot wound. Also worked for Higgins.

Leo Ford - motorcycle accident. The motorcycle was a gift from William Higgins...

Funny how many of these deaths are connected to Higgins isn't it...

Wow, thank you for these information. So many of them. It was very sad to read, and very tragic. Also I'm wondering why nobody never wrote something about it, because it's very interesting. Do you have any information about Brian Maxon ?According to IMDB it seems that he just disappeared after 1986, and then his image was used in footage video in 1989 and 1994.

Also how are you aware of all these events ? because you seems to know a lot, and it's very helpful

 

[Shelter]

Thank you Brmstn60 - you are legend!
But why no one was interested in WH? No police, no prosecutor?
That could be a story for a new TV -serial!
But it shows us that this porn industry is a very dangerous industry! Life-dangerous!

 

[dargelos]

That was the American scene. In Britain things were more sedate. Film censorship was highly conservative so there was no commercial gay porn video industry at all during the eighties. It was well into the nineties before the first softest of softcore movies appeared.
UK gay porn in this period consisted of Zipper, a magazine of muscular men, Vulcan, a magazine of pretty boys, and the Mike Arlen Collection which specialised in artistic portraits of men with big cocks. All the models will have been amateur, none will have used their real names, so there is not much chance of finding out what happened or who it happened to.

As to William Higgins conspiracy theories, if the police or anybody else wanted to ask him any questions, they knew where he could be found. Probably in his bar in Prague. If you have worked with all the gay porn stars of the eighties generation then it is inevitable that your name will be linked to the ones of that generation who died before their time. There is nothing suspicious about that.

 

[gorgik9]

Hello Guys,

I'm currently looking for informations about how the gay porn industry worked during the 80s, especially between the years 1983 and 1987. I would like to know about the gay actors behavior on set and off set. How the industry was runned....
Do you have books to recommend or articles ? Do you have gossip ? Maybe some actors of this era are still alive except Peter North who is inaccessible.
There is an amazing book about straight porn industry "The other Hollywood" by Legs McNeil, I'm looking for similar books but for the gay porn industry.
Would you say that movies like "My own private Idaho" and "Alexander : The other side of Dawn" depict correctly gay hustlers of this period ?
Is it true that all porn actors of the 80s were also prostitutes ?
If some of you have any little informations it would be great. Especially about actors like Kurt Marshall, Leo Ford, Brian Maxon, Mark Miller, Leigh Erickson, John Rocklin...

PS : English is not my native language, so sorry for my approximative english.

Hello my friend!!!

I've got a number of books and articles to recommend and I'm only recommending serious scholarly works with years of research behind them, but I wont focus specifically on the short period 1983-1987.

So let's start with a grandiose book on gay male eroticism in photography and film BEFORE Stonewall: Thomas Waugh: Hard To Imagine: Gay male eroticism in photography and film from their beginnings to Stonewall., Columbia University Press 1996.

If you want a well written map of the modern gay porn industry starting around 1970 I will gladly recommend Jeffrey Escoffier: Bigger Than Life:
The History of Gay Porn Cinema from Beefcake to Hardcore., Running Press 2009.

The following anthology - Porn Studies., edited by Linda Williams. Duke University Press 2004 - has a number of useful essays, in particular the essays by Thomas Waugh, Jake Gerli and Eric Schaefer.

And then I'd like to recommend a loooong thread posted by myself and my dear friend haiducii in 2015-2016 in this very section of our forum.

Here's a directlinc to days and weeks of reading, watching and wanking:

http://www.gayheaven.org/showthread.php?t=494992

If you need more recommendations on books and essays, send me a PM and give me more detailed specifics on what you want and need!

 

[brmstn69]

Thanks for the encouragement, it is almost impossible to find information on the internet. It's very sad to know that a whole generation of people died of aids.



Wow, thank you for these information. So many of them. It was very sad to read, and very tragic. Also I'm wondering why nobody never wrote something about it, because it's very interesting. Do you have any information about Brian Maxon ?According to IMDB it seems that he just disappeared after 1986, and then his image was used in footage video in 1989 and 1994.

Also how are you aware of all these events ? because you seems to know a lot, and it's very helpful

Thank you Brmstn60 - you are legend!
But why no one was interested in WH? No police, no prosecutor?
That could be a story for a new TV -serial!
But it shows us that this porn industry is a very dangerous industry! Life-dangerous!

For one thing, I have eidetic memory. I can remember almost anything I read or watch on TV. Most of these stories have appeared in gay news letters and blogs at one time or another. The reason they are so hard to find is because mainstream news media uses real names, not stage names when reporting these crimes and before the internet, most news agencies didn't even know about their porn careers. So in less it was a particularly grizzly case like Billy London whose severed head and feet were found in a dumpster, it was a third or fourth page story, not headline news.

Morgan is a really difficult case to verify because no one knows his real name. As for William Higgins, it's correct to assume that given his connections in the industry that he could be expected to be linked to so many of these cases. Anyone involved in gay porn back then crossed paths with Higgins at some point. So, the rumors and conspiracies are all just speculation.

There was an old saying back then...
"The three fastest ways to spread a rumor are telephone, telefax, tell a fag"...

No solid info on Brian Maxon, but considering he did scenes with Mike Henson, Jim Bentley, Kurt Marshall, and was rumored to have dated actor Dack Rambo (Jack Ewing on "Dallas") who was known to favor drug fueled orgies, and all of whom dies of AIDS, you can draw your own conclusions...



A side note, yes there is a lot of tragedy in the porn industry, but is it the industry itself that causes it, no. As I stated time and time again, porn attracts damaged people and many of them were already on coarse to self destruct before they ever appeared in porn...

 

[gidget]

Sorry Guys, I only reply now because I have been quite busy these days.

If you want a well written map of the modern gay porn industry starting around 1970 I will gladly recommend Jeffrey Escoffier: Bigger Than Life:
The History of Gay Porn Cinema from Beefcake to Hardcore., Running Press 2009.

The following anthology - Porn Studies., edited by Linda Williams. Duke University Press 2004 - has a number of useful essays, in particular the essays by Thomas Waugh, Jake Gerli and Eric Schaefer.

And then I'd like to recommend a loooong thread posted by myself and my dear friend haiducii in 2015-2016 in this very section of our forum.

Here's a directlinc to days and weeks of reading, watching and wanking:

http://www.gayheaven.org/showthread.php?t=494992

If you need more recommendations on books and essays, send me a PM and give me more detailed specifics on what you want and need!

Thanks man, I really appreciate your gentle message. I take notes of all your recommandation. Especially for the Jeffrey Escoffier book, that I purchase. Im quite surprise by your rating of this book, because on goodreads and amazon the critics were very bad, according to people it was poorly written and more like a gossip book. I dont have a problem with the gossip side if they information are accurate.
I will contact you in PM. Thanks again buddy

For one thing, I have eidetic memory. I can remember almost anything I read or watch on TV. Most of these stories have appeared in gay news letters and blogs at one time or another. The reason they are so hard to find is because mainstream news media uses real names, not stage names when reporting these crimes and before the internet, most news agencies didn't even know about their porn careers. So in less it was a particularly grizzly case like Billy London whose severed head and feet were found in a dumpster, it was a third or fourth page story, not headline news.

Morgan is a really difficult case to verify because no one knows his real name. As for William Higgins, it's correct to assume that given his connections in the industry that he could be expected to be linked to so many of these cases. Anyone involved in gay porn back then crossed paths with Higgins at some point. So, the rumors and conspiracies are all just speculation.

There was an old saying back then...
"The three fastest ways to spread a rumor are telephone, telefax, tell a fag"...

No solid info on Brian Maxon, but considering he did scenes with Mike Henson, Jim Bentley, Kurt Marshall, and was rumored to have dated actor Dack Rambo (Jack Ewing on "Dallas") who was known to favor drug fueled orgies, and all of whom dies of AIDS, you can draw your own conclusions...

A side note, yes there is a lot of tragedy in the porn industry, but is it the industry itself that causes it, no. As I stated time and time again, porn attracts damaged people and many of them were already on coarse to self destruct before they ever appeared in porn...

Man I'm so jealous of your eidetic memory, I would have dreamed to be blessed with this skill.

1. If you still have some gay newsletters or old papers. Would you accept to scan them ? And feed this thread. I think it would be amazing for the community. It great if you can keep archive of our History, and the legacy of these poor guys.

2. I'm not even surprised for these rumors. I remember a book where it was written as joke something like that "Aren't gay porn films the usual cover for snuff films". I dont remember the book, but I think it was part of an interview of a porn actor in "The other hollywood"

3. I'm very sad to have agree with you for Brian Maxon. I'm just hoping the guy survived of this disease but I doubt. What make me the most sad, is the fact that he probably died with nobody caring for him except his family. Or worst nobody know (or even care) he is dead. It make me feel very sad.

4. I fully agree with your last sentence about the porn industry, it still the same now, except more and more people are doing porn for the fun and fame but they ended desperate and sick.

 

[brmstn69]

Man I'm so jealous of your eidetic memory, I would have dreamed to be blessed with this skill.

1. If you still have some gay newsletters or old papers. Would you accept to scan them ? And feed this thread. I think it would be amazing for the community. It great if you can keep archive of our History, and the legacy of these poor guys.

Don't be, there's plenty I've seen and even more that I've done that I really wish I could forget. So much so that I once crawled into a bottle of whiskey and didn't come back out for 15 years.

And no, I don't have any material to scan. Most of it was learned from online newsletters and blogs, many of which have long since gone off line.

 

[gidget]

Don't be, there's plenty I've seen and even more that I've done that I really wish I could forget. So much so that I once crawled into a bottle of whiskey and didn't come back out for 15 years.

And no, I don't have any material to scan. Most of it was learned from online newsletters and blogs, many of which have long since gone off line.

I see it must be sad to be forced to keep in mind horrible things. However it must be an amazing gift for learn languages, History and event stuff like laws etc...

 

[gorgik9]

Sorry Guys, I only reply now because I have been quite busy these days.



Thanks man, I really appreciate your gentle message. I take notes of all your recommandation. Especially for the Jeffrey Escoffier book, that I purchase. Im quite surprise by your rating of this book, because on goodreads and amazon the critics were very bad, according to people it was poorly written and more like a gossip book. I dont have a problem with the gossip side if they information are accurate.
I will contact you in PM. Thanks again buddy

.

I just don't get what people mean if they say that it isn't a well written book, I just don't get it - and I'm a very experienced reader.

Escoffier is a well known writer who has published a number of books, written for a number of big American newspapers and magazines and also been a gay activist in his youth. "Bigger than Life" is written for the general reader, and in particular for readers who are gay men - but it's a book well equipped with a standard academic book machinery, that is: precise notation for every quotation, a full bibliography after every chapter and a very detailed index - things you don't get in a pure gossip book...

On the other hand I'm not particularly fond of Legs McNeil's & Jennifer Osborne's book "The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film History."

I think that this is a patently dishonest book - It's a 620+ pages book published in 2005, stating that it's a book about "the other Hollywood...the Porn Film Industry", but it manages to totally hide and forget about the other other Hollywood, that is: the gay porn industry in West Hollywood. The only flimsy word to acknowledge the mere existance of a large gay porn industry is the following line at the end of the introduction:

"I regret that this isn't the history of gay porn: We tried, but in the end discovered that that's another book unto itself."

Not good enough mr McNeil!

 

[gidget]

I just don't get what people mean if they say that it isn't a well written book, I just don't get it - and I'm a very experienced reader.

Escoffier is a well known writer who has published a number of books, written for a number of big American newspapers and magazines and also been a gay activist in his youth. "Bigger than Life" is written for the general reader, and in particular for readers who are gay men - but it's a book well equipped with a standard academic book machinery, that is: precise notation for every quotation, a full bibliography after every chapter and a very detailed index - things you don't get in a pure gossip book...

On the other hand I'm not particularly fond of Legs McNeil's & Jennifer Osborne's book "The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film History."

I think that this is a patently dishonest book - It's a 620+ pages book published in 2005, stating that it's a book about "the other Hollywood...the Porn Film Industry", but it manages to totally hide and forget about the other other Hollywood, that is: the gay porn industry in West Hollywood. The only flimsy word to acknowledge the mere existance of a large gay porn industry is the following line at the end of the introduction:

"I regret that this isn't the history of gay porn: We tried, but in the end discovered that that's another book unto itself."

Not good enough mr McNeil!

I don’t know why people wrote so many bad review about this book, because after readings your words, the only thing that I want to do is to read this book as quick as possible.

Personally, I loved the Other Hollywood, so I have to disagree with you except on the fact gay porn wasnt include. Except maybe some words about «*Boys in the Sand*». However I can understand why gay porn was exclude, the book was already very big and it would have been bigger with gay inside. And considering the fact the writers were a little bit lazy, the concept of the book was a lot of interviews back-to-back, and unfortunately majority of huge gay porn actors have passed away.
But i would have love to read connexion between the two industry, especially things about Peter North who switched on gay and straight porn during the 80s, and who is «*thanks god*» still alive.

Wow I havent realized this book was from 2005, it’s so old and it missed the internet who totally changed the two industry.

Still about straight porn, I want to read the biography of Jerry Butler, who is well-know because it was the second scandal who touch the straight porn industry after the Traci Lords affair. Also Jerry Butler was such an hottie, and a decent mainstream actor too. He played in the horror film «*Evils of the Night*» with Julie Newmar and Amber Lynn. This film is on youtube. It’s kind of cheesy but I love it, because despite being an horror flick it for me the closest «*on screen*» material close of Sweet Valley High, hahaha I was a huge fan of these books as kid.

Anyway, I dont know a lot of gay scandals in the gay porn industry except AIDS, and Brent Corrigan affair. Also I dont understand how Brent Corrigan didn't succeed to switch as a mainstream actor with all the elements he had on his side against the gay porn industry.

 

[gorgik9]

I don’t know why people wrote so many bad review about this book, because after readings your words, the only thing that I want to do is to read this book as quick as possible.

Personally, I loved the Other Hollywood, so I have to disagree with you except on the fact gay porn wasnt include. Except maybe some words about «*Boys in the Sand*». However I can understand why gay porn was exclude, the book was already very big and it would have been bigger with gay inside. And considering the fact the writers were a little bit lazy, the concept of the book was a lot of interviews back-to-back, and unfortunately majority of huge gay porn actors have passed away.
But i would have love to read connexion between the two industry, especially things about Peter North who switched on gay and straight porn during the 80s, and who is «*thanks god*» still alive.

Wow I havent realized this book was from 2005, it’s so old and it missed the internet who totally changed the two industry.

Still about straight porn, I want to read the biography of Jerry Butler, who is well-know because it was the second scandal who touch the straight porn industry after the Traci Lords affair. Also Jerry Butler was such an hottie, and a decent mainstream actor too. He played in the horror film «*Evils of the Night*» with Julie Newmar and Amber Lynn. This film is on youtube. It’s kind of cheesy but I love it, because despite being an horror flick it for me the closest «*on screen*» material close of Sweet Valley High, hahaha I was a huge fan of these books as kid.

Anyway, I dont know a lot of gay scandals in the gay porn industry except AIDS, and Brent Corrigan affair. Also I dont understand how Brent Corrigan didn't succeed to switch as a mainstream actor with all the elements he had on his side against the gay porn industry.

I'm happy if I've made you realise that Escoffier's book is well written and useful

And I'm thinking about sending you some more recommendations in a PM!

 

[brmstn69]

Also I dont understand how Brent Corrigan didn't succeed to switch as a mainstream actor with all the elements he had on his side against the gay porn industry.

If Corrigian would audition with "The Asylum", you know the studio that gave us "Sharknado", "Jersey Shore Shark", "ZNation", etc., I'm sure he'd get roles left and right. They don't seem to mind casting former gay porn stars in leading roles. Dylan Vox, a.k.a. gay porn star Brad Benton has appeared in several of their movies and TV shows...

 

[gidget]

I'm happy if I've made you realise that Escoffier's book is well written and useful

And I'm thinking about sending you some more recommendations in a PM!

It would be so great

If Corrigian would audition with "The Asylum", you know the studio that gave us "Sharknado", "Jersey Shore Shark", "ZNation", etc., I'm sure he'd get roles left and right. They don't seem to mind casting former gay porn stars in leading roles. Dylan Vox, a.k.a. gay porn star Brad Benton has appeared in several of their movies and TV shows...

This studio is very interesting they make films with C-list actors like Tara Reid and Ian Ziering, films with former pop idols Tiffany and Debbie Gibson, and now films with a former gay porn star. In my opinion, they want to make the buzz prior the release of their films with a sulfurous leading role with a fanbase.

 

[jonsbay119]

very sad

 

[azanallover]

I went to a lot of gay parties during the mid 80's and there were lots of porn stars floating around. They were mostly high or drunk and half looked sick. A lot of the actors had sex for money at parties. It was well known they worked on the side as they needed cash for those drug habits and crazy lifestyles they lived.

 

[gidget]

Do you guys have any more info on these below like press articles, rare pictures or anything else

Bill Henson
Kurt Marshall
Steve Henson
Christopher Lance
ROD PHILLIPS
Kris Bjorn