The icon, the legend and the pioneer!

Of all the stars from porn’s golden age of the 70′s, the emergence of one Georgina Spelvin is quite a story. A story that actually goes in the reverse of what many porn stars have looked to accomplish. Over the years a number of porn stars have hoped to go from adult into mainstream and some have made it in small doses. However, in the case of Georgina Spelvin, it was the opposite as she went from mainstream (Broadway) into adult, and all my pure chance.

She was born Michelle Graham in Houston, Texas on March 1, 1936. During her growing up years she could have been an inspiration for Willie Nelson’s song “On The Road Again” as her father was a Geophysicist and they traveled a lot. Her mom would make sure to find a dancing school for young Michelle in every town they stayed in. The fact is, she spent her schooling in fourteen different schools. She graduated high school as a National Honor Society member in 1954 and took a job dancing in the chorus of the Dallas State Fair musicals.

Then Michelle decided it was time to head off to the bright lights of the Big Apple and Broadway. Once she arrived in New York City she landed the role as the principle dancer at the world famous Latin Quarter supper club in right in the heart of Times Square. That was followed by a dancing in the chorus of shows like “Sweet Charity”, “Guys and Dolls” and “Pajama Game” where she then became the understudy to the show’s star, Shirley MacLaine. Next she would take over for Ms. MacLaine, who went to Hollywood to do a film, for the last three months of the show’s run. Broadway fame can be fleeting and for Shelley things just seemed to go downhill as far as starring in musicals was concerned.

A variety of jobs would lead to film production jobs in the city. That led to all kinds of interaction with various underground film activities that were beginning to take place. By 1973, she was short on money and with the rent due, she signed on to be the cook for the cast and crew of a new adult film. Little did Michelle know what lay ahead for her. She soon found herself, at the age of 37, cast in the lead role, and her legendary erotic performance launched her on a career path that would come to define the era of what was known then as “Porn Chic”. Thus became the birth of Georgina Spelvin and her lead role of Miss Jones in Gerard Damiano’s landmark adult film, “The Devil in Miss Jones”.

While she continued to make films like “Deep Throat Part 2″, “The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann”, “Babylon Pink”, “The Erotic Adventures of Candy” and countless others, there was another problem. Georgina was also was beginning to drown in alcoholism and it really began to take a toll on her. Fortunately she pulled herself together and found sobriety, continued to make adult films and in 1983 her porn career had just about come to a close. The reason was that after all those years she had found the man of her dreams. They would marry, Ms. Spelvin straightened her life out and began to pick up work in mainstream, most notably the “Police Academy” films, but there were also appearances on TV series like “Dream On’ and “Lost World” as well as personal appearances at various adult functions.

She also became adept at desktop publishing through her work with the L.A. Times. When she went into full retirement in 2004 she set out to write THE book, as she called it, a memoir titled “The Devil Made Me Do It” that was well received and is available in both book and Kindle form. It has some tears, some laughs and a very personal look at the industry and the person who was there, who was part of it and who wrote it. I’ve read excerpts from it and it is truly and entertaining and aq very interesting read.

Today, at 79, Ms. Spelvin lives a very simple, quiet life away from the business. In her career she was a winner of numerous Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards for her great performances. She is also a most worthy member of both the AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame, and still one of the names most remembered from the golden age. The industry was blessed to have her talents and personality for all those years and it is great knowing her great films can still be seen today on DVD. You can find out even more about this lady at: www.georgiespelvin.com It is an incredible journey into the history of this multi-talented lady who gave us some of the most memorable performances in porn that will live on forever.

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