Jamie Gillis (born Jamey Ira Gurman; April 20, 1943 – February 19, 2010) was an American pornographic actor, director and member of the AVN Hall of Fame.

He was married to the porn actress Serena.

Early life

Gillis was born Jamey Ira Gurman Gillis later attended Columbia University and graduated magna cum laude.

Career

He appeared in more than 470 movies as an actor. He also directed several adult movies. While appearing mostly in heterosexual pornography, Gillis was bisexual and occasionally performed in gay porn, including a sex scene with Zebedy Colt in the 1975 Gerard Damiano BDSM-themed film The Story of Joanna. Gillis appeared in the mainstream Hollywood film Nighthawks (1981) as the boss of Lindsay Wagner's character (he's credited as 'Designer'). He also made his name in two Radley Metzger films, The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1976) and Barbara Broadcast (1977); the former is considered, by award-winning author Toni Bentley, the "crown jewel" of the Golden Age of Porn.

According to Al Goldstein, Gillis was always described as "sexually the wildest, most decadent, off-the-wall guy in the business." He also co-produced the popular Dirty Debutante series with fellow director and performer Ed Powers. In the early 1990s, he directed a series of low-budget videos called Jamie Gillis: The Private Tapes, meant for a niche market and sometimes for private customers, which focused on fetish themes such as BDSM but also on some occasions golden showers and coprophilia.

Death

Gillis died on February 19, 2010, in New York City from melanoma, which was diagnosed four to five months earlier. In an audio interview given to The Rialto Report shortly before his death, Gillis stated that in the 1970s he had wanted his ashes to be scattered in Times Square, but years later he changed his mind, stating that the cleaned up Times Square that emerged in the 1990s would contaminate his ashes.

  • 1977 AAFA Award – Best Actor (Coming of Angels)
  • 1985 XRCO Award – Best Kinky Scene (Nasty)
  • 1987 XRCO Award – Best Actor (Deep Throat 2)
  • 1987 XRCO Award – Best Supporting Actor (Babyface 2)
  • 1989 AVN Award – Best Supporting Actor – (Pretty Peaches 2)
  • 1989 XRCO Award – Best Actor (Second Skin)
  • XRCO Hall of Fame

See also

  • Golden Age of Porn
  • List of male performers in gay porn films

Sources

  • Nicolas Barbano: Verdens 25 hotteste pornostjerner (Rosinante, Denmark 1999) : Features a chapter on him.
  • The Rialto Report: Jamie Gillis: New York Beginnings, audio interview with Jamie Gillis, November 17, 2013

References

  • Jamie Gillis: New York Beginnings, audio interview with Jamie Gillis, The Rialto Report, November 17, 2013
  • The Prince of Gonzo Porn – July 2007 interview
  • Interview by Al Goldstein in SCREW magazine, July 9, 1973, pp. 5–8.