GOLDEN GODDESSES: 25 LEGENDARY WOMEN OF CLASSIC EROTIC CINEMA, 1968-1985

by Nelson, Jill C.

  Bovee is equally credible in other notorious films of the 1970s decade such as Ecstasy Girls (1979) with Serena, Laurien Dominique and Georgina Spelvin. Mixing things up, she and Jamie Gillis were cast together in Lustful Feelings (1977) and Blue Ecstasy (1980), again proving Bovee was able to lend a darker edge to the embodiment of her screen characters.

  Lesllie’s farewell performance as an erotic actress was in mainstream director John Derek’s 1984 picture, Love You, with Annette Haven, Eric Edwards and Wade Nichols. Long gone from the porno showground, the consensus is that Lesllie Bovee (now in her sixty-third year with a grown son) happily resides in New York City along with her husband of several years.

  Mai Lin

  COURTESY OF WORTH MENTIONING PUBLIC RELATIONS

  Mai Lin (aka Miko Moto) is one of the first renowned Asian-American pornographic screen actresses of the classic film era. Born in Oakland, California in 1953, Lin enjoyed a long and flourishing career in front of the camera which can be attributed to her electrifying smile, nimble physique, and astounding stamina. Lin’s legacy as an insatiable sexpot was kindled in the years following her 1976 unveiling in Cracked Ice co-starring Sharon Mitchell, C.J. Laing and John Seeman. The film launched Mai in a succession of more prominent roles in pictures that enjoyed a good deal of success.

  Just one year into her career, Lin played herself in Oriental Madam (1977) as a genteel administrator, well versed at supplying girls for her clientele with deep pockets. Jade Wong, R. Bolla, Paul Thomas, Don Fernando, Eileen Wells and Herschel Savage all helped to round out the company. With effortless delivery, Mai seemed well suited to her craft, and during sex scenes, she was fully charged.

  In 1980, Lin portrayed Sue Lee, fiancée of a sailor (John Holmes) during WWII, in Prisoner of Paradise (1980), the co-directed Gail Palmer/Bob Chinn vehicle containing footage from the Hawaiian island of Kauai and Northern California. Although Lin’s character is killed off early during an attack on Pearl Harbor immediately following her intense love scene with Holmes, their sexual coupling is hot because of the sensuality exhibited between the two actors during foreplay. Caught up within the sexual interchange with his arresting and exotic co-star, in the final moments of intercourse, Holmes climaxes inside of Lin rather than providing the obligatory external “money shot.” Director Chinn recalled after the scene was completed, the two actors remained absorbed while everyone else went to lunch. Lin discussed the film in the winter of 2011 confiding her only disappointment was that her own voice was not used in the finished edition of the picture.

  During her membership as one of a designated troupe of golden age performers, Mai Lin was known to embrace all brands of sexual fetishes. As an authentic star, whose career as an adult celebrity extended well into the early part of the 1990s. Lin, who works part-time as a phone sex operator today, expressed how her infamy as a sex Goddess has been a sore spot for certain members of her family which has led to occasional disagreements. Her notoriety also provoked discord in some of her interpersonal relations with non-family members outside of the industry. Even so, Mai remains sincere to her career in erotic films while accepting the reality that many people she encounters don’t necessarily approve of her art. Mai Lin will always be affectionately remembered by porn enthusiasts for her spontaneity, and free spirited fortitude.

  Desiree Cousteau

  Desiree Cousteau (aka Deborah Clearbranch/Desiree Clearbranch), the radiant, curvaceous beauty with chocolate brown hair, is notorious for her signature, dumb-brunette routine observed in the majority of the Triple-X productions in which she appeared. Cousteau was an aspiring actress from Savannah, Georgia who acquired a minor role (although it is uncertain if she actually emerged) in director Jonathon Demme’s “B” flick Caged Heat (1974) about high jinks in a Women’s prison starring Cheryl Rainbow Smith. The film’s musical score was written by the founding member of The Velvet Underground, John Cale.

  With her exquisite physical attributes, Cousteau accepted small roles in sex films once her mainstream options came to a dead end. She assumed the title role in the Alex de Renzy film Pretty Peaches (1978) playing the lovable amnesia victim “Peaches” who falls prey to a couple of lusty men (one of them being John Leslie with facial hair) that decide to rape her while she is unaware. Upon making the discovery Peaches is the victim of a car accident, the two fellows grow hearts and attempt to help rather than take advantage of their new friend. For her efforts, Cousteau won Best Actress Award from the AFAA as the ditzy, bosomy Southern Belle unaware of the sheer potency her natural charms have on the male gender.

  In conjunction with feature films, Desiree became a regular in Swedish Erotica loops, and worked with all of the celebrated male and female personalities of the era. Cousteau did not appear to have an aversion to receiving “facials,” and was a trooper on set, although it has also been said she could be distant and not always comfortable socializing with her co-stars.

  A few of Desiree’s lasting film appearances contain content considered buoyant and frivolous, but entertaining nonetheless. Bob Chinn’s Hot’n Saucy Pizza Girls (1979) is a fun-loving venture showcasing Cousteau at her best. Desiree played “Ann Chovy,” one of four pizza delivery girls (with Candida Royalle, Laurien Dominique and Christine de Shaffer) that take to skateboarding upon San Francisco’s steep inclines delivering “special” toppings to Shakey Pizza Parlor’s loyal patrons. Chovy falls into a sweet love affair with Inspector Blackie (John Seeman), and spends more time in the sack with her new beau than she does distributing pizzas — much to the chagrin of her co-workers and bosses. Also in 1979, Cousteau had a prominent role in Hot Rackets taking on Jon Martin and Mike Ranger in a hot tub at a tennis club, followed by Inside Desiree Cousteau (directed by Leonard Kirtman), one of Desiree’s most well liked pictures. Cousteau excitedly describes how she transitioned from girl-next-door to adult film star as the story is told through explicit recollections of her employment featuring an assortment of popular sex stars engaging in coitus with Cousteau.

  Many rumors have surfaced since Desiree Cousteau’s departure from the adult industry in the mid-eighties. Some websites have claimed that Cousteau spent years institutionalized after leaving porn films, while others maintain she is a practicing psychologist in her home state of Georgia. One hopes the latter is true and that Ms. Cousteau is happy, healthy and at peace.

  Gail Palmer

  COURTESY OF WORTH MENTIONING PUBLIC RELATIONS

  A Michigan born native, while enrolled in post-secondary school, Gail Palmer met a man who owned several adult theatres and bookstores and the two became romantically involved. Hyped in the illegal movie business as a director, producer and writer, Palmer worked mostly as a colleague in various adult film productions to which she has been attributed. Still, her name and face are tantamount to the 1970s and eighties decades as a promoter of erotic pictures. Palmer was first granted directorial credits for Hot Summer in the City (1976) shot in Michigan for Caribbean films. Classified as a roughie, the feature is a delineation of brutality toward women.

  According to Bob Chinn, Gail was eventually hired as a front woman by Caribbean films strategically marketing the company’s goods to males, women and couples. With a bright and attractive young female representing Caribbean films it was believed consumers would inevitably open pocket books to purchase more merchandise. Palmer made several television appearances and did publicity junkets in order to help reconfigure the company image for their targeted clientele.

  Gail received the director credit for two highly popular adult titles: The Erotic Adventures of Candy (1978) and its sequel Candy Goes to Hollywood (1979). Both films starred Carol Connors: the busty, statuesque, bleached-blonde adult cinema star in the principal role as an inexperienced twenty-year old, ripe for the sexual episodes that ensued as the result of her gullibility. In the first, Candy (Connors) becomes familiarized with miscellaneous sex acts through the advances of several horny males anxious to get into her panties. The usual suspects are Don Fernando (i
n the role of Manuel, the Spanish gardener who takes Candy’s virginity), John Leslie, Paul Thomas and John Holmes. Georgina Spelvin and Eileen Welles are featured in supporting roles, in the invigorating and droll flick. In the sequel, Candy indeed goes to Hollywood with dreams of hitting the big time, only to be misused by a shady manager (John Leslie).

  In his forthcoming autobiography, Bob Chinn conceded that Caribbean’s endorsement of Gail as primary director and producer of select films made sense to him so he went along with it. In an excerpt from his book, Chinn wrote about his working relationship with Palmer:

  “Gail was a pleasant girl with a bubbly, effervescent personality who didn’t hesitate to speak her mind and who took her job seriously. She also had a great sense of humor, which is always a big plus in my book. She was very compassionate, and happily, I got along very well with her. I really didn’t care who received the credit of director as long as I received my salary.”

  In retrospect, Caribbean Films was prudent in appointing Gail Palmer as the face of their company. She not only fulfilled her position dutifully as assigned, but aided in softening the perception of the DNA behind the production of adult material.

  Samantha Fox

  Born in New York City, Samantha Fox’s contribution to the adult film community and fans as a gifted actor and performer during the latter 1970s and into the first part of the 1980s is enormous. Not to be confused with the British pop singer Samantha Fox, the passionate and pretty X-rated star (aka Stasia Burgoff and Moran Moore), danced professionally prior to her transition into pornographic films. Fox was discovered by director Chuck Vincent who cast her as the lead in Bad Penny (1978).

  While working almost exclusively on the east coast, Samantha became a predominant female figure in adult productions requiring an actor possessing diversified range. She always left audiences wanting more. Sweet and fresh one minute, and alternately domineering and rough the next, Fox shaped her characters depending upon what the scene called for. Often working with her boyfriend of a number of years, Bobby Astyr (according to Astyr, they met in Double Your Pleasure released in 1978), the couple generated more than a few unforgettable flashes of magic and chaos.

  One of Fox’s renowned roles is in the Roger Watkins (nom du porn, Richard Mahler) picture Her Name Was Lisa (1980). Samantha is outstanding as a hooker converted into a fashion model by a photographer, subsequently falling into a depraved pit of drug abuse, victimization and manipulation when a publisher puts her up in a swank penthouse so she can cater to his fantasies. In a particularly disturbing scene, Fox’s character is brutally raped by Astyr and Randy West. In real life, Fox and Astyr lived in adjacent apartments for more than twenty-four years in New York City. When Astyr was dying of lung cancer in April 2002, Fox nursed him until his death at age sixty-four.

  Along with co-stars Veronica Hart and Kelly Nichols, in 1981, Samantha won raves for an ensemble performance in Chuck Vincent’s Roommates in her portrayal as one of three girlfriends sharing living space while hoping to make it in the Big Apple. Fox also left a lasting impression as the character Evelyn in Outlaw Ladies (1981) coaxing a socialite (Jody Maxwell) to extend beyond her sexual comfort zone to share in overpowering a sexual conquest (Joey Silvera) in a seedy motel room. Samantha has won coveted awards for her thespian work in more than one feature film.

  In a 1984 video interview, Fox articulated that she had grown tired of her genitalia being exposed on camera, although she also stated she had enjoyed her work as an adult performer but wanted to explore other options. In recent years, reports that Samantha became a Christian have surfaced and that she no longer wishes to discuss her history in sex films. However, Fox apparently stays in touch with a few friends from the industry. Wherever she is today and whatever her beliefs may be, Samantha Fox will always be held in high esteem in the eyes of her comrades and fans.

  Lisa DeLeeuw

  Lisa DeLeeuw was born in Moline, Illinois in 1958. According to a 1980s interview, the top-heavy, well-rounded country girl (aka Lisa Woods and L’il Redhead) lost her virginity to two male friends just prior to her sixteenth birthday in the back seat of a Firebird.

  Strawberry blonde Lisa was first introduced to erotic films in the 1970s through a boyfriend who had worked in an adult theater. At the outset, DeLeeuw found the movies unappealing. After working as a house dancer at the Mitchell Brother’s O’Farrell Theatre in San Francisco prior to moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting, Lisa embarked upon a short modeling career in Men’s magazines and made her adult debut in 800 Fantasy Lane (1979). The picture, directed by Svetlana (deemed a tyrant according to DeLeeuw) starred Jamie Gillis and Bud Wise as two gas station attendants pretending to be wealthy oil tycoons to meet and bed beautiful women. DeLeeuw portrayed one of the bodacious females willing to fulfill the demands of the pair of con artists at 800 Fantasy Lane. Serena, Desiree Cousteau, and Nancy Suitor (another fan favorite with a remarkably short career in adult films) all co-starred.

  Often cast as a strong, ballsy woman, Lisa won a Best Supporting Actress award for her role as Bev, one of two prostitutes (the other is played by Samantha Fox) paid to indulge in S&M games with a crooked City Councilor (John Alderman) in Amanda by Night (1981) starring Veronica Hart. DeLeeuw delivered a straight up, consummate depiction of a young woman hardened against the world who turns the tables on a powerful, but pathetic client only to meet her untimely fate.

  Throughout her film career, DeLeeuw struggled with her weight. She was often told she would need to slim down in order to be hired. In 1983, Lisa was cast as the fleshy, alcoholic Althea Anderson in a tale about two competitive Country and Western singers in the entertaining Up ‘N Coming (1983, written by Jim Holliday and directed by Stu Segal), opposite Marilyn Chambers. DeLeeuw’s performance is extraordinary and along with Chambers, Lisa performed all of her own singing numbers. In another outstanding turn, DeLeeuw struck a convincing chord as the independent-minded Hollywood starlet Dixie Ray, in Dixie Ray Hollywood Star (1983). Set during post WWII, Ray hires a private investigator (John Leslie) to look into the whereabouts of her absentee husband and the two become sexually entangled.

  In a 1980s interview excerpt at lisadeleeuw.org, DeLeeuw spoke fittingly about the perceptions and criticism of adult performers by those on the outside turf of the sex industry: “If a club owner hires a singer, he’s giving her an ‘opportunity,’ but if he hires a topless dancer, it’s called ‘exploitation’. In both cases the performer is combining her natural beauty with the craft and artistry she has developed.”

  Since she left hardcore films in the early 1990s, it is reputed Lisa died of AIDS in 1993. Many believe the story was circulated by DeLeeuw herself in order to make a fresh start. According to her friend and former adult actor Jon Martin, Lisa DeLeeuw did pass away some time ago, but not from AIDS. If true: R.I.P. Lisa DeLeeuw.

  Porsche Lynn

  COURTESY OF WORTH MENTIONING PUBLIC RELATIONS

  Porsche Lynn (aka “Mistress Porsche Lynn”) was born in St. Johns, Michigan on Valentine’s Day in 1962. At age six Lynn experienced a traumatizing event when she witnessed her father murder her mother before shooting himself. After the incident, Lynn was raised for part of her young life by her grandmother, and later, she resided in two different orphanages before the courts eventually granted custody of Lynn to her aunt (Lynn’s father’s sister).

  Porsche said that she was physically and sexually abused during the period she lived with her aunt and uncle, but explained she escaped in scholastics and through her involvement in extracurricular activities: volleyball and basketball in particular. Porsche was a shy girl; she was not “the cheerleader” and had few close friends. As a young woman, Lynn admired and respected the life and work of Helen Keller.

  Porsche attended Michigan State University for two years on a scholarship before working as a topless dancer in clubs to help finance her education once her scholarship ended. Lynn entered adult films in 1985 at age twenty-two, and enjoyed a fruitful career spanning seve
nteen years. One of her earliest appearances was in Kirdy Stevens’ Taboo V (1986) with Amber Lynn, Colleen Brennan, Karen Summer, Jamie Gillis, Joey Silvera and Buck Adams. Admitting her experiences in films were an essential component toward personal growth, Porsche said she wouldn’t change anything about her past or her profession. She is proud of her work in the adult industry but became bored with vanilla and formulaic sex films. Lynn emphasized that while dysfunction certainly exists within the adult industry as it does everywhere, it is not the only factor motivating people to become sexual performers.

  Presently, Porsche resides in Phoenix, Arizona. She is an expert shooter and an active member of the NRA (National Rifle Association). At the time of our conversation in the spring of 2010, Lynn was involved in a long-term relationship with a man who is one of the country’s best shooters. As a fierce believer in a human being’s right to protect and defend oneself, Lynn contends there is a distinct connection between her penchant for shooting and her father’s fatal actions. Needing to come to terms with what happened, Porsche developed a respect for weapons which became a portal for her to overcome her fear of guns.

  Today Porsche works as a dominatrix teaching her clients how to balance the distribution of power using BDSM technique. Through fantasy role-play, her instruction is erotic in nature and utilizes consensual domination, submission and restraint as therapeutic tools pertaining to the restoration of power and equalization of authority. Porsche is a spiritually motivated person and espouses some of the same devout principles as Kay Parker. Lynn’s website can be found here.