Capone here again. I've included two YouTube clips that make up Marilyn Chambers 2006 Chicago appearance at the Flashback Weekend Horror Convention. The sounds isn't great, but if you crank it up, you can hear her just fine.
And for those of you confused as to why I put up this obituary in the first place, I'm guessing you are either too young to really understand who Chambers was or you just don't know much about the history and cultural acceptability of X-rated cinema in the 1970s and early 1980s. Someone reminded me that Chambers was the first porn star to get a percentage of the gross from her films, so BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR (one of the finest of the plot-centric XXX titles) actually made her a millionaire. But more than that, adult movie houses were a perfectly acceptable place for mainstream couples to go on a date. If you see the 2005 documentary INSIDE DEEP THROAT, you get a sense of just how ingrained adult films were in the cultural zeitgeist. Marilyn was at the forefront of this movement, but more importantly, she was the first to crossover into mainstream films. She's an important part of a segment of film history that doesn't often get the credit it should.
Anyway, enjoy my talk with Marilyn Chambers. I'd forgotten just how energetic she was this day and how no subject was off limits.
Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here with some devastating news to those of us with a fondness for the Golden Age of adult film. The porn world's first real star, Marilyn Chambers, died yesterday at 57 (some reports are putting her age at 56). The cause of death has yet to be determined.
Many of the details of her life and career are nicely accounted in this AVN news story, but those of us a little too young to watch some of her best known work got our first taste of Chambers acting in David Cronenberg's 1977 horror piece RABID. Chambers was maybe the first adult film performer who taught the world that porn stars could also be decent actors. She wasn't about to win any awards, but the simple truth is that she was a fairly solid B-movie actress, and I in no way mean that as an insult. She was renowned for combining her girl-next-door beauty with her anything-goes sexual performances.
I did a Q&A with Marilyn a few years back at the Flashback Weekend Horror Convention, and had a chance to chat with her before our time on stage. She was the sweetest possible woman, who had an impressive knowledge of many of the film websites (including AICN) and loved telling stories about her impact and influence on the world of adult film and about working with Cronenberg on RABID. She was even kind enough to sign a photo of herself for me free of charge (I immediately had it framed, and it hangs in my home); and she signed a copy of INSATIABLE, which I gave to Harry as a birthday present. I know he "treasures" that DVD on a nightly basis.
I've been told a video of our Q&A exists, and will be on YouTube hopefully later today. I'll update this posting with the video as soon as I get word it's up and running.
Say what you want about where her career went after she got older--the softcore fantasy movies, some starring her, some featuring her a narrator--but the woman was a legend, and I will remember her fondly. Usually when I think about Marilyn, it's a two-tissue experience, but for the next couple weeks, at least one of those tissues will be reserved for dabbing tears from my eyes. We'll miss you Ms. Chambers. Our condolences to her family and loved ones.
Give us your thoughts on the passing of this iconic woman...
-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com
