We all have our favorite shows from the 80s and 90s that no longer air, or our favorite actor/actress who has either retired or moved on to other ventures in mainstream media. There are some who seem to drop off the radar and have become extremely reclusive. Sometimes you may have to settle a debate with a friend and Google a person for the sake of bragging rights on being right. In the adult film industry it seems that stars rise to astronomical heights for a period of time before they “disappear” to an obscure background. I’ve always wondered about life after porn and what these ladies have been up to since then. I know there is life after porn, but what does one do with it? Here are a few entertainers from that time I’m sure you’ll remember with the fervor of the horny teen or young adult you were while watching them do “The Do”.
Vanessa Del Rio
Vanessa Del Rio started in 1975 and earned the moniker “Latin from Manhattan.” The Manhattan Latin made her mark in the business and sky-rocketed her career by being one of the raunchiest girls in the adult industry, and her career spanned more than 25 years and well over 100 films! Ms. Del Rio also has quite a few awards she could boast about, including Best Supporting Actress in 1980 and 1981, bestowed by the CAFA, Legend of Erotica in 1997, and the Urban Spice Awards Association inducted her into the Hall of Fame in 2008. Vanessa has since retired, but still keeps her coffers full by selling her memorabilia on eBay and her website which advertises girls, girls, girls, and of course more girls. She has also made cameo appearances in a few rap and hip-hop videos.
Veronica Hart
Veronica Hart started around 24 years old in 1980. She has won the AFAA Awards in 1982 for Best Actress for Roommates and Best Supporting Actress for Foxtrot. She is also the recipient of two AVN awards and a host of others. Although she is WELL known in the industry, Ms. Hart has done amazing things since then career-wise. She has been a sex educator in China, sold her film production company to Hustler studio, and even served as a tour guide in a sex museum. She has made appearances on mainstream shows such as Six Feet Under, Lady Chatterly’s Stories, and was featured in the documentary First Years.
Gail Force
Gail Force was known only for her blonde hair, but the trademark “windblown” styles she wore. Gail got her start in 1984 and appeared in movies produced by studios such as Vivid, Sin City, Coast to Coast, etc. Gail also married noted porn director Jim Powers in 1992 and started directing her own adult pictures soon after. She was also inducted into the Porn Star Hall of Fame in March 2009.
Heather Hunter
Like quite a few other girls, Heather Hunter started the business as soon as she turned 18 years old in 1988. Even though she was young, she had a plan. She admits she wanted her name to be a household item much like Vanessa Del Rio’s, but she didn’t want to be as kinky. She also admits her 1st performance for a movie was shot on her birthday, indicating her motivation for implementing her grand hustle! Ms. Hunter retired at the ripe old age of 21 or 22, partially due to the rise of the HIV epidemic, and because she wanted to focus on being taken seriously in the music industry. Even though she hasn’t performed for very long, this dynamite diva managed to become iconic in not just the adult entertainment industry, but she’s also known in the hip-hop circles as well. She even released an 18 track rap music album titled Double H: The Unexpected through Bio Records, owned by long-time manager Dave Copeland. She is currently enjoying life and being the head of her own company.
Asia Carrera
Asia Carrera’s career began in 1993 and continued for a 10 year period, and Carrera has made nearly 300 films. She’s also an AVN Award recipient for Best Performer of the Year. But what most people don’t know about the Japanese/German vixen is with an IQ of 156, she qualified to be and is a Mensa member. She had to fight for acknowledgement because of her known affiliation with the adult industry, but she prevailed! Ms. Carrera retired from the industry in 2003 and has since then lent her voice to several erotic Hentai OVAs and lives quietly in Utah raising her family.
Jenna Jameson
Jenna Jameson started acting in erotic videos in 1993 after having worked as a stripper and glamour model. By 1996, she had won the “top newcomer” award from each of the three major adult movie organizations. She has since won more than 35 adult video awards, and has been inducted into the XRCO and AVN Halls of Fame. Jameson founded the adult-entertainment company ClubJenna in 2000 with Jay Grdina, whom she later married and divorced. Initially a single website, this business expanded into managing similar websites of other stars and began producing sexually explicit videos in 2001. The first such movie, Briana Loves Jenna (with Briana Banks), was named at the 2003 AVN Awards as the best-selling and best-renting pornographic title for 2002. By 2005, ClubJenna had revenues of $30 million with profits estimated at half that. Advertisements for her site and films, often bearing her picture, have towered on a 48-foot-tall billboard in New York City’s Times Square. Jameson has also crossed over into mainstream pop culture, starting with a minor role in Howard Stern’s 1997 film Private Parts. Her mainstream appearances continued with several guest-hosting and guest-starring on various television programs. Playboy TV hosted her Jenna’s American Sex Star reality show, in which aspiring porn stars competed for a ClubJenna contract. Her 2004 autobiography, How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale, spent six weeks on The New York Times’ Best Seller list. Jameson announced her retirement from pornography at the 2008 AVN Awards, stating that she would never return to the industry. Jenna is now the proud mom of three kids. Even though she’s focusing on family life, Jenna is still a knockout… maternity pics and all.
Kimberly Chambers
According to IMBD, Kimberly Chambers began performing in explicit hardcore movies at age 19 in 1993 after meeting starlet Dyanna Lauren; she appeared in over two hundred X-rated pictures and has directed at least three films. She won a XRCO Award for Best Anal Sex Scene in 1995 and an AVN Award for Best Solo Sex Scene in 2002. Moreover, Kimberly has not only been featured in such men’s magazines as Score, Gent, Juggs, and Hustler Busty Beauties, but also has participated in California-based bodybuilding competitions where she frequently placed among the top 10. Chambers retired from the adult film industry in 2007.
Fun fact: She was inspired to use the last name Chambers after meeting and being inspired by Marilyn Chambers.
Flower Tucci
Flower Tucci has the ability to female ejaculate, and does so in series such as Flower’s Squirt Shower which has won four AVN Awards. Tucci was working as a cake decorator in a bakery when she answered an ad in the LA Weekly. She started working under the alias “Flower” due to the tattoos of flowers and vines along her spine, but later added “Tucci” as a means to differentiate herself from an earlier Asian actress. In addition to performing, Flower formerly hosted two radio shows on the now defunct adult radio station KSEX radio, called ‘The Porn Hunnies Smut Top 20’ and ‘Tushy Talk’. She is a spokesperson and model for the Los Angeles-based clothing company Mofowear and has a recurring role on the Showtime series Family Business. In 2009, Tucci filed a lawsuit against RK Netmedia, the parent company of Reality Kings, to regain the right to the domain flowertucci.com, after her exclusive performance contract with LLL Advertising was terminated.
Stacy Valentine
Stacy Valentine is a member of both the AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame elite. Stacy’s rise to adult fame started with an entry to Gallery Magazine’s “Girl Next Door” amateur photo contest, which she won and parlayed into bigger and better things, until eventually winding up in front of the camera as a contract girl. She chose the stage name Valentine because her first shoot happened to take place on Valentine’s Day. She knew she didn’t want to stay in the business too long and figured that after she reached her goals she would exit on top. That’s exactly what she did, and at the age 36 she currently works as a Director of Model Recruitment for Penthouse magazine. She also has a pay website that contains much of her porn work.
Audrey Hollander
Although she didn’t start until 2002, this Titian-haired sensation made sure she stood out from the rest! Audrey Hollander’s first scene was in the film More Dirty Debutantes 268 with Ed Powers. As of November 2013, she has appeared in over 400 productions and is credited as co-director for the Otto and Audrey Destroy the World series of films. She won quite a few AVN Awards for categories included but not limited to: Best New Starlet and Female Performer of the Year in 2006. Audrey has lived in Texas with roommate Kelli Roberts and manages her own website after her split with hubby Otto. The redhead sensation has over 30 AVN nominations for her devoted and fervent work. She thought long and hard about coming back, but decided she would much rather enjoy her quiet life with a bedroom dedicated to nothing but sex toys. Wish I had a retirement plan like that one!
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