Joey Stefano (born Nicholas Anthony Iacona Jr.; January 1, 1968 – November 26, 1994) was an American pornographic actor who appeared in gay pornographic films.
Career
Born Nicholas Anthony Iacona Jr., Stefano grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania. His father, Nicholas Sr., was a union painter who died of colon cancer when Stefano was 15. After the death of his father, Stefano began using drugs and was eventually sent to rehab for six months. After rehab, he tried to become a model and built a portfolio. In 1989, he met a gay porn actor named Tony Davis who helped him enter into the gay adult film industry. His image and success caught the attention of Madonna, who used him as a model in her 1992 book Sex. While he was a popular performer, Stefano's family had no idea he was gay nor were they aware that he was performing in adult films. According to Stefano's older sister Linda, he told the family that he was a male model. She later found out about his real occupation but did not inform their mother. After the videotaped interview appeared on Rick X's show, OutWeek Magazine "outed" Geffen, who went on to announce his homosexuality at an AIDS fundraiser.
Stefano danced at the Gaiety Theatre in the late 1980s and early 1990s. A biography, Wonder Bread and Ecstasy, was written about him by Charles Isherwood that touches on his life as an erotic dancer at the Gaiety.
Over the course of his five-year career, Stefano appeared in 58 gay adult films, and two music videos with Madonna. Despite his success, Stefano did not save his earnings and relapsed into drug and alcohol abuse.
Death
On November 26, 1994, Stefano's body was found in a motel room in Hollywood. It was later determined by the Medical Examiner that he died of an accidental speedball overdose (in his case, a mixture of cocaine, morphine, heroin, and ketamine).
His life is the subject of a one-man-play, Homme Fatale: The Fast Life and Slow Death of Joey Stefano, by Australian playwright Barry Lowe.
In 2010, Director Chad Darnell began working on a film based on Stefano's life, tentatively titled X-Rated.
Awards
- 1990 XRCO Award – Newcomer
- 1995 AVN Award – Gay Video Performer of the Year
- 1997 AVN Hall of Fame
See also
- List of male performers in gay porn films