Linda Lovelace

Adult Film Actress. Her role in the movie, "Deep Throat" (1972), made her a star overnight and her stage name a household word. She died of injuries resulting from an automobile accident. Born Linda Boreman, in the Bronx borough of New York City. In her autobiography, "Ordeal," (1980) she depicted her first husband, Chuck Traynor, as forcing her into a life of violence and pornography. She made several adult films, but her breakthrough film was "Deep Throat" (1972), which was a hit even in respectable theaters. For "Deep Throat" she was paid only $1,250, even though the film grossed over $600 million. It caused an immediate controversy, and made her a cult movie star virtually overnight. She divorced her first husband in 1973. She made several more adult films on her own, but was unable to sustain audience interest, including "Linda Lovelace for President" (1976) and "Midnight Blue 2" (1980). About 1980, she quit the adult film industry, and began to lecture on the evils of pornography and how it dehumanizes women, becoming a favorite speaker of feminists. She testified to the Congressional Meese Commission on her role in the adult film industry, reinforcing the theme of how the industry dehumanizes women. In 1974, she married Larry Marchiano, and they had two children. They divorced amicably in 1996 after 22 years of marriage, yet remained close to each other. In a 1997 television interview for E! True Hollywood Story, she stated "I look in the mirror and I look the happiest I've ever looked in my entire life. I'm not ashamed of my past or sad about it. And what people might think of me, well, that's not real. I look in the mirror and I know that I've survived."