dv8 Report This Comment Date: April 14, 2009 02:01PM
Marilyn Chambers, Sex Star, Dies at 56
Marilyn Chambers, whose photograph as the mother of a newborn on a laundry soap
package and whose performance as a fantasy-fulfilling wanton in a pornographic
movie evoked stunningly contrasting portrayals of womanhood, was found dead in
her home on Sunday on the outskirts of Santa Clarita, Calif. She was 56.
The cause was not yet determined, said Ed Winter, assistant chief of the Los
Angeles County coroner’s office. He said that the death was being investigated
but that foul play was not suspected.
Ms. Chambers was an aspiring actress and model in 1972 when she starred in
“Behind the Green Door,” a pornographic film about a woman who is abducted
to a theater and ravished in front of an audience, ultimately to her great
satisfaction, by both men and women. It became especially popular when it was
learned that its star was the same fresh-faced blonde who appeared beaming at a
baby on boxes of Ivory Snow, a laundry soap famously described by Procter &
Gamble, its manufacturer, as “99 and 44/100 percent pure.”
Ms. Chambers declared at the time that her film would help “sell a lot more
soap,” though Procter & Gamble did not see it that way and replaced her.
“Behind the Green Door” was among the first X-rated films to gain wide
distribution and, along with “Deep Throat,” released the same year, is
generally credited with helping establish a mainstream market for
pornography.
“Behind the Green Door” was more than just a parade of sex scenes, said
Steven Hirsch, the co-chief executive of Vivid Entertainment Group, which makes
adult films. Even though Ms. Chambers did not actually have any lines in the
film, he said, she brought it to life.
“It was a movie that really dug deep into sexuality, psychologically,” Mr.
Hirsch said in an interview on Monday. “It took you to a place that no other
adult film had gone before, and the reason they were able to pull that off is
that she was a talented actress.”
When Ms. Chambers died, she was identified by documents with her body as Marilyn
Ann Taylor, evidently the name she assumed after a marriage, though along with
many other details that could not be confirmed on Monday. She was born, Mr.
Winter said, on April 22, 1952, though he could not confirm that her birth name
was, as often reported, Marilyn Ann Briggs. She is most often said to have been
born in Westport, Conn., though in a 2007 interview with The Providence Journal
in Rhode Island, Ms. Chambers said she was born in Providence and grew up in
Westport.
The Associated Press reported that her survivors include a daughter, McKenna
Marie Taylor; a brother, Bill Briggs; and a sister, Jann Smith.
Before making “Behind the Green Door,” Ms. Chambers had hoped to establish
an acting career in fully clothed roles. She had had a small part in “The Owl
and the Pussycat,” a 1970 comedy starring Barbra Streisand and George Segal,
and she later appeared in “Rabid” (1977), an early film by David Cronenberg,
but most of her work after “Green Door” capitalized on her fame as a sex
star.
“I thought there would be a chance to cross over,” she said in the
Providence Journal interview. “Boy, was I wrong.”
PostMaster Report This Comment Date: April 14, 2009 11:49PM
Why do you have a shot of Linda Lovelace in action? She died a long time ago.
(Car accident in Denver, Colorado.)
dv8 Report This Comment Date: April 15, 2009 01:02AM
a he/she who knows their porn stars. i was in a hurry and threw deep throat in.
Mint Report This Comment Date: April 15, 2009 05:43AM
wow. Soooo many late nights on Skinemax as an early teen watching her.
SkullandChains Report This Comment Date: April 17, 2009 09:28PM
Posted by: Mint [x]
wow. Soooo many late nights on Skinemax as an early teen watching her.
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She's helped millions of teenage boys spank their monkeys. 
