The Golden Age of Porn: Men, Mustaches, and Monster Dicks

Rough, Tough, Hairy, and Packing Wood; Porn Men Before Viagra

John C. Holmes: Undeniably one of the most famous male performers in porn history, Holmes is as remembered for his troubled and dramatic personal life as he is for the reoccurring character Johnny Wadd. Born to a 26-year-old mother of three in rural Ohio and fathered due to an affair, Holmes was a normal-ish person until he was honorably discharged from the Army in 1963 and moved to Los Angeles. A job as a forklift driver at a meatpacking warehouse damaged his lungs and caused his then-wife to miscarry three times, so he began to look for alternatives. While standing at a urinal at the Gardena club, where he frequently played cards, he claimed to meet a photographer who suggested he appear in underground porn films. In 1969, he began modeling and starring in stag films and loops.

Things changed in 1971, when Johnny Wadd was created by director/writer Bob Chinn, who Holmes worked with frequently over the years. The character was so popular that it led to a series, including Flesh of the Lotus the same year, followed by titles including Tropic of Passion, Around the World with Johnny Wadd, Here Comes Johnny Wadd, The Jade Pussycat, The China Cat, and more. As porn became chic even while its legality was in limbo, Holmes was arrested for pimping and pandering, turned informant, and avoided prison. Alas, life outside of porn did not get easier for him, and in 1980 he became addicted to crack cocaine, heroin, Quaaludes, and more, none of which did anything to help his on-camera performances. Still making as much as $3,000 per day, he began to have erectile issues. He joined the Wonderland Gang as a drug dealer, worked as a bisexual prostitute, and helped organize a home invasion and armed robbery. This resulted in the infamous Wonderland Murders and the first time that videotape was used as evidence during a trial.

When not in jail or running from the law, Holmes appeared in non-Johnny Wadd films including Cream Rinse, Fantasm Comes Again, Dracula Sucks, Insatiable, Prisoner of Paradise, and The Private Pleasures of John C. Holmes.

Famous for his large uncircumcised penis, which was reported to be somewhere between 10 and 13 inches and unable to become fully erect, it appeared in 573 films, including at least one homosexual feature. The first inductee into the X-Rated Critic’s Organization (XRCO) Hall of Fame, and a 2008 XBIZ Lifetime Achievement Award, Holmes passed away in March 1988, from complications associated with AIDS.

John Leslie: As Holmes’ star began to set, John Leslie’s began to rise. The huge success of the 1980 film Talk Dirty to Me, in which he co-starred with Richard Pacheco, Juliet Anderson, Sharon Kane, and Jesie St. James, rocketed him to superstardom. The Italian-American lad from East Liverpool, OH, who dreamed of a career in art and music found fame and fortune in porn, instead. His arrival in California during the mid-1970s saw him appear in Coming Attractions, the first of at least 600 adult films before he became one of the first performers to turn to directing, ultimately specializing in the gonzo genre.

While appearing in such films as Desires Within Young Girls, Obsessed, Dracula Sucks, Pretty Peaches, Insatiable, Nothing to Hide, and Talk Dirty to Me Part II, he worked with several A-List, sometimes controversial, co-stars. The multiple AFAA, XRCO, and AVN Award winner worked alongside or inside Seka, Kay Parker, Annette Haven, and Traci Lords, as well as fellow male performers Holmes and Pacheco.

A familiar face and occasional musical performer at AVN Awards, Leslie died in 2010 at the age of 65 in his home in Mill Valley, CA from a heart attack.

Jamie Gillis: Born in the Big Apple, Gillis graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University and entered the adult entertainment industry thanks to an ad in The Village Voice. His later works often depicted rough sex and other extreme acts, but his early films are among some of the best ever shot. Among his 470 acting gigs is the kinky Gerard Damiano-directed film The Story of Joanna, during which the openly bisexual Gillis had a sex scene with Zebedy Colt.

In spite of being one of the more extreme sexual personalities of his time, he appeared in such early porn blockbusters as director Randy Metzger’s The Opening of Misty Beethoven and Barbara Broadcast. Other titles of interest include Deep Throat Part II, Neon Nights, Dracula Sucks, and New Wave Hookers. During his career, Gillis won multiple AFAA, XRCO, and AVN Awards, as well as being inducted into the AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame. In 2010, the 66-year-old legend died in New York City from melanoma five months after diagnosis. 

Harry Reems: If there is only one porn mustache that can be remembered for all time, it belonged to Harry Reems. Both Reems and his dark, bountiful mustache are most famous for their appearance in the iconic 1972 film, Deep Throat, in which he played Dr. Young. The next year, he was The Teacher in porno chic’s The Devil in Miss Jones. He continued to work steadily, except for an eight-year break, until his retirement in 1985 when he got clean and sober, met a nice girl, got married, converted from Judaism to Christianity, and entered the world of Utah’s real estate.

Initially, the former Marine who had trained to be a dentist found work in silent stag films and loops, as well as sexploitation and hardcore features, and the occasional off-Broadway and other non-porn theater. After being offered a lighting crew gig for Deep Throat, he found himself in the lead male role because no one else fit the part. He earned a total of $1,200 for his work in the film and earned his place in history as the first American porn actor prosecuted on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute obscenity across state lines. He was convicted in 1976 and had his conviction overturned the next year.

However, he almost hit the mainstream film world in a big way when he was cast in the 1978 movie musical Grease as Coach Calhoun. Once his fame as an adult performer was discovered, he was replaced by Sid Caesar. During his time in porn, he starred in other films including Deep Throat Part II, For Your Thighs Only, Obsession, Talk Dirty to Me One More Time, and Those Young Girls. Later that year, Reems was inducted into the XRCO and AVN Halls of Fame. In 2013, the infamous actor died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 65.