Candida Royalle (born Candice Marion Vadala; October 15, 1950 – September 7, 2015) was an American producer and director of couples-oriented pornography, pornographic actress, sex educator, and sex-positive feminist. She was a member of the XRCO and the AVN Halls of Fame.

Early life and education

Royalle was born Candice Marion Vadala on October 15, 1950 to a working-class Catholic family in Brooklyn, New York. Her father, Louis, worked as a professional jazz drummer and had a hot temper. Her mother, Peggy Frazier, left the family when Royalle was 18 months old and Royalle never saw her again. Candice and her sister Cinthea were raised by their stepmother, Helen Duffy.

In 1975, she began her career as a pornographic performer, appearing in about 25 movies including Hot & Saucy Pizza Girls. Her final film was Blue Magic in 1980, which she also wrote. Royalle quit performing because she got married and was uncomfortable being sexual with other men.

Royalle returned to New York in 1980.

Royalle stated that she tried to avoid "misogynous predictability", and depiction of sex in "...as grotesque and graphic [a way] as possible." She also criticized the male-centredness of the typical pornographic film, in which scenes end when the male actor ejaculates. Royalle's films are not "goal oriented" towards a final "cum shot"; instead, her films depict sexual activity within the broader context of women's emotional and social lives. In 1989, she signed the Post Porn Modernist Manifesto.

She was featured in Maya Gallus's 1997 documentary film Erotica: A Journey Into Female Sexuality.

In 1997, she was presented with the Free Speech Coalition Lifetime Achievement Award as a director.

Royalle wrote regular columns for adult magazines High Society and Cheri. She was also a public speaker, giving lectures at Smithsonian Institution, the World Congress on Sexology, and numerous universities and professional conferences.

Affiliations

Royalle was a member of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists, and a founding board member of Feminists for Free Expression.

Club 90

In 1983, Royalle, along with Gloria Leonard, Annie Sprinkle and Veronica Vera founded Club 90, the first adult film actress support group.

Personal life and death

In the 1980s, Royalle was married to producer Per Sjöstedt; they separated in 1988. She died in Mattituck, New York on September 7, 2015, aged 64, from ovarian cancer.

Legacy

In 2019, Candice, a documentary about Royalle's life and finding out what happened to her mother who left her as a child, was screened at various documentary film festivals. It was directed by Sheona McDonald and distributed by Mbur Indie Film Distribution.

Royalle is the subject of the book Candida Royalle and the Sexual Revolution: A History From Below by Jane Kamensky, a former historian at Harvard University. Kamensky describes Royalle's unique place in feminist history. "She is way too critical and self-critical for many of the sex-positive feminists... and she absolutely does not fit into an anti-pornography box", Kamensky told The New York Times. Kamensky worked to put Royalle's archive, including her photos, letters, film clips, and other memorabilia, into the Schlesinger Library.

  • Femme (1984)
  • Urban Heat (1984)
  • Three Daughters (1986)
  • Christine's Secret (1986)
  • A Taste of Ambrosia (1987)
  • Rites of Passion (1987)
  • Sensual Escape (1988)
  • Revelations (1993)
  • My Surrender (1996)
  • The Gift (1997)
  • The Bridal Shower (1997)
  • Erotica: A Journey Into Female Sexuality (1997)
  • One Size Fits All (1998)
  • Eyes of Desire (1998)
  • Eyes of Desire 2 (1999)
  • Afrodite Superstar (2006)
  • Under the Covers (2007)

References

  • Candida Royalle's Website
  • Papers of Candida Royalle, 1920-2017. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.