The Rialto Report

In 1972, Alfred Sole , a first time filmmaker, made an X-rated film called ‘ Deep Sleep ’. He didn’t know much about adult films or the industry, so he shot it in his hometown of Paterson, New Jersey and using a cast and crew made up of friends and family members. This meant that the local lawyer, banker, policeman, high school teachers, funeral home director, the mayor’s wife, even Alfred’s wife...

Ashley West of The Rialto Report writes: I’ve always loved Pat Barrington . And if you know who she is, I’m pretty sure you do too. If you’ve never heard of her, Pat was big in the 1960s, when she was a popular actress, model and stripper. She was a stunning and statuesque woman, a mess of high cheekbones, flashing dark eyes, and long limbs. And somehow she managed to look different every time you...

How is that as we approach our 100th podcast, The Rialto Report still hasn’t interviewed Kelly Nichols ? It’s not as if she was a brief flash in the pan who came and left in a hurry: in fact, Kelly had two noteworthy careers in the adult industry. First, she was a star in front of the camera in the early 1980s, where she was considered one of the best actresses in films such as Roommates , Puss &#...

George McDonald , star of Behind the Green Door (1972) and perhaps the first male star of the adult film industry, died yesterday in California. He was 70 years old. Ashley West records his memories of George in a new introduction to our podcast interview with George. This podcast is 99 minutes long. The musical playlist for this episode can be found on Spotify . __________________________________...

John Stagliano is one of the great survivors of the adult industry – and like any survivor, he seems to have had more lives than a cat. He started out in the mid 1970s as – take your pick – an aspiring writer, economist, dancer, magazine publisher, actor, and performer in sex loops. He even became one of the first Chippendale dancers, when the male stripping troupe was wildly successful. But...

Candy Samples, who enjoyed a long career as a hugely popular buxom model in men’s magazines and as an actress in adult films, passed away this week. She was 91. Candy Samples was one of the true larger than life figures that lit up the early adult industry: she appeared in cult movies such as Russ Meyer ‘s Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979) (where she was ‘The Very Big...

What happens when you’re raised in a loving suburban home, an athletic but painfully shy kid who went to church every Sunday with his very Catholic parents? A boy who developed an early love of dance but had to hide it because his mother thought that would mean he’s gay? A young man who was so intimidated by girls he stayed a virgin until he was 20 years old? Well you go on to become one of the mo...

The Rialto Report talks with Christy Canyon – about her life as a pioneering performer at start of the video age of adult films. This episode is 132 minutes long. The musical playlist for this episode can be found on Spotify . _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Christy Canyon The first thing you notice when you meet Christy Canyon...

On the last episode of The Rialto Report , we spoke to adult film actor and director, Paul Thomas , about the first part of his life. How he came from a wealthy background – one that owned household-name businesses, such as Sara Lee and Jim Beam – and how he was brought up in the lap of luxury. How he achieved success and fame on stage in musical theater, starring in Hair on Broadway, and in the 1...

Paul Thomas , or PT as he’s typically known, is one of the iconic names of the adult film industry. He was born Philip Toubus, and started out as a porn performer for the Mitchell Brothers in mid-1970s San Francisco. Until the last few years, was still in the business as a director. During the past four decades, PT won every kind of adult award – from Best Actor to Best Director, and was inducted...

  The actor Robert Kerman , also known as R. Bolla, died this week in New York at the age of 71. His career lasted over 10 years, from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, and encompassed work for all the main adult film directors. He was perhaps most well-known as the bumbling Mr. Greenfield in Debbie Does Dallas . As a tribute, we’re re-releasing our 2013 interview with Robert, together wi...

Last week The Rialto Report published an article about meeting the Avon film director, Phil Prince – and we were overwhelmed by the positive reaction we received. A number of you asked why we didn’t put the story out as a podcast as well. The simple answer is that we usually do one or the other, but we realize that many of you prefer to engage with us through our podcasts – so as an early holiday...

The 1970s was the decade of adult films and theaters in New York City. It started out with cheap and crude black-and-white softcore films, enjoyed the breakthrough of porno-chic spearheaded by the landmark film Deep Throat (1973), and ended with big-budget films that looked like regular Hollywood films – with fully explicit sex. At the one end of the spectrum were champagne directors like Radley M...

As much as we enjoy talking with veterans from the golden age of adult film, I’m aware that their perspectives are always those of an insider. Their observations, experiences, and even memories are affected by the fact that they were wrapped up in the industry. And an insider isn’t always the most impartial witness. So we’re always keen to seek out people who ended up in porn by accident, or...

Keli Richards ’ career in adult films was short and sweet. Her flame burned brightly at a time when Ronald Reagan was president, video was king, and Los Angeles was staking a claim to be the adult film capital of the world. She was part of the mid 1980s cohort that included Traci Lords , Ginger Lynn , and Christy Canyon , and she was known for her big hair, Boston accent, and enthusiastic performa...

On this episode of The Rialto Report , we listen to a rarely heard documentary made in 1988, called ‘Working for Mr. X’. The mid to late 1980s marked an inflection point for the adult film industry. Home video had firmly taken over from theatrically released movies, making the business more widespread than it had ever been before. Never in history had so many people consumed sexually explicit mate...

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. There’s this powerful American politician who’s at the top of his game. Then you’ve got a notorious sex worker with a love of performing. They have a scandalous affair that rocks Washington. And a media storm sweeps the nation. It’s on the nightly news, and all over the newspapers. People just can’t get enough of it. That’s right – I’m talking about Wilbur...

It’s with great sadness that The Rialto Report marks the passing of Jennifer Welles . She passed away last Tuesday at the age of 81. Jennifer Welles was one of the last truly old school performers. In the 1950s she was a song and dance lounge club performer, in the 1960s she was a burlesque dancer and then soft core film actress, and in the 1970s when she was 40 she became one of the superstars of...

Johnnie Keyes passed away this week from complications following a recent stroke in Seattle, Washington. He was 78. He was best known for his role opposite Marilyn Chambers in the 1972 Mitchell Brothers’ film Behind the Green Door . When you start a podcast series like The Rialto Report , focused on people who were active 30 or 40 years ago, you have to expect that sooner or later they will...

The Rialto Report tried to interview Lynn LeMay . Believe us, we really tried. You see, for ages we’d wanted to talk to her about her memories of her adult film career. She’d started making films in New York in the 1980s, where she worked with many of the golden age greats like Jerry Butler , Joe Sarno , and Jamie Gillis . Then she moved to California, where she appeared in movies by people like H...

To celebrate her 64th birthday, we re-visit our 2013 interview with Seka – the last star of the golden age of adult film and the first star of the video era. Tales of John Holmes , John Leslie , Dracula Sucks , Swedish Erotica, drugs, boyfriends, Morton Downey Jr , Alan Thicke , Sam Kinison , comebacks, retirement, and her new book Inside Seka – all on this episode of The Rialto Report. This episo...

We’d wanted to interview Leslie Winston for several years, and judging by the number of requests we’ve received at The Rialto Report , many of you have been curious to hear from her too. And why not: Leslie started out in the early 1980s as a popular pin-up model, appearing in scores of magazines across the country. She was on the cover of many of them, often with different names. She was Lisa, Ly...

The adult film actor, Jamie Gillis , would have been 75 next month. Eight years after his passing, he’s remembered for his three decade career as one of the better actors in the industry – and this was the golden age period when acting actually meant something. I spent a lot of time with Jamie and interviewed him on several occasions before he passed in 2010 – in fact one of the interviews, about...

This story begins with a single photograph, taken in 1967. It’s a photo of Jimi Hendrix , and it shows him sat on a table in his familiar hat and rock star jacket. Jimi is smoking, and he looks relaxed and happy. He seems to be sharing a joke with a man sat on a chair in front of him. I first saw this picture in the early days of the internet, and became fascinated by it. And what struck me about...

April Hall remembers Jerry Butler: This one is a hard one to take. Jerry Butler passed away last week. It makes no sense, because there was no one more full of life than Jerry Butler. I first met him a few years ago, and within minutes he was stripped down to the waist to show me his physique, before dropping to the floor and challenging me to a press-up contest. I know a losing bet when I see one...