She was born February 23, 1963 as Stacy Mitnick in Wayne, New Jersey (my old stomping grounds). She came from a Jewish family, her father was a dentist and her mother was a stay at home mom. She was a good student at Wayne Hills High School and was involved many extracurricular activities. After graduation Stacy went on to get a degree in Merchandising from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. It was while the sexy 5’ 2” blonde was in New York that she would become involved in the adult film industry.

Because she was a wild and uninhibited female with a voracious sexual appetite, she was pretty much a regular at Plato’s Retreat, New York City’s well known swinger’s club. She was even named Ms. Plato’s in 1985.  Through her spending time at Plato’s she got to know a lot of people in the porn industry, so it was inevitable that Ms. Dare would venture into the business.

Dare became an instant hit in the business with her all out sexual appearance, her love of sex and being able to get along with everyone. While she was a total pro on the set, she was also a fun girl to be around. It also helped that in addition to her sexuality that she could also act and make her roles very realistic and believable.

She became one of the first porn actresses to sign an exclusive contract with a production company after she signed a $100,000 contract deal with Essex Video. In addition she also did a lot of photo shoots for a number of men’s magazines like Hustler, Swank, Club International Fox and High Society. Among some of the 100 plus films she appeared in were “Blame It on Ginger”, “Double Dare”,  “Suzi Superstar”, “Naked Stranger” and “Corporate Affairs”.

She left Essex and signed on with Vivid becoming one of the company’s first Vivid Girls. Her talents were recognized as Ms. Dare would win several awards. In 1987 she won the AVN Award for the Best New Starlet. Then in 1989 she would take home the AVN Award for Best Actress for the video “Naked Stranger” and in 1990 the AVN Award for Best All-Girl Sex Scene in the video “True Love” with April West.

Barbara left the business in the early 90’s and would return a few years later working in PR behind the scenes. She spent some time touring the U.S. and Canada as a stripper and also ventured into mainstream. She had small roles in films like “52 Pick Up” with Ann Margaret and Roy Schieder and the comedy horror from 1992 “Evil Toons”. Ms. Dare also became hooked on heroin, but sought help, got it and cleaned up her act and has lived a good life since. At last report Barbara Dare, who is now 53, was living in Beverly Hills and working as as a substance abuse counselor.

Totally divorced from the industry since her exit, she is a member of both the AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame and rightly so. She brought a lot to the industry in the 80’s and very early 90’s with her personality, her talents and her sexuality. If you have never seen this petite blonde, then check out some of her films. Barbara Dare was definitely a star and bright light in the world of porn.

Art Koch, National Features & DVD Editor, NightMoves Magazine and AAN