Headpress
Paperback
346 pages
25 B&W stills and 16 colour plates
April 2024
RRP: £18.99/ $23.95
ISBN: 978-1-915316-19-6
Review
by Adrian Smith
Marilyn
Chambers grew up in a wealthy suburban household and dreamed of fame. A brief
modelling career in New York lead to her being chosen as the face of Ivory
Snow, one of America’s most well-known soap brands. A couple of brief movie
roles then followed (The Owl and the Pussycat (1970) starring Barbra
Streisand and Together (1971), a sexploitation documentary from future Friday
the 13th (1980) director Sean S. Cunningham), but no real
success. After moving to San Fransisco and marrying a hippy, her constant
search for acting roles lead to Marilyn accidentally attending an audition for
a new pornographic feature film being shot by the Mitchell Brothers. As this
book details, she initially tried to leave once she realised where she was, but
they saw her star quality and made her a financial offer she couldn’t refuse,
plus the opportunity to become a movie star. That film was Behind the Green
Door (1972), an experimental, arthouse-infused pornographic odyssey that
could only have been made in the 1970s. It was controversial but, riding on the
coattails of Deep Throat (1972), it became part of the porno chic wave
that saw queues round the blocks as legitimate theatres screened X-rated movies
and millions of dollars were made (some of it allegedly going to organised
crime groups). Behind the Green Door was even screened to great applause
at the Cannes Festival. This success saw Marilyn thrust into the limelight as
the public face of porn, alongside Deep Throat’s Linda Lovelace, even
though she had not really intended to become an adult movie star.
The
fame she experienced proved to be both a blessing and a curse, as Jared Stearns
details in this excellent biography. All Chambers wanted was to be taken
seriously as an actress, but ‘legitimate’ acting roles were not easy to get
once you had starred in pornography. This was increasingly apparent after the porno
chic fad had died down. Despite this she managed to sustain a very
successful career acting on stage in dramatic plays, she did a Broadway
musical, starred in a TV series and in her most recognisable credit for those
of us largely unfamiliar with her X-rated work, the starring role in David
Cronenberg’s second feature film Rabid (1977). She gave an impressive performance
in this film, and it ought to have enabled her to work in more non-porn films.
Unfortunately, although now recognised as an important and groundbreaking film,
at the time of its release Rabid was not taken particularly seriously,
and it made no immediate impact on Chambers’ career.
Alongside
all the other work she was doing she also had her own live shows in which she
would sing, dance and often perform nude (she even brought her show to the UK,
where she could be seen at the Raymond Revue Bar in 1979). Having left her
first husband she took up with the infamous Chuck Traynor, who had been
previously married to Linda Lovelace. That marriage having collapsed (Lovelace
would go on to accuse Traynor of abuse and coercion), Traynor became Chamber’s
manager, lover and eventual next husband. The details in this book about their
relationship and the impact it had on her both personally and professionally is
both fascinating and troubling. He introduced her to a showbiz lifestyle
(through her she became very good friends with Sammy Davis Jr.) and took her
career to the next level, but he was also abusive, controlling and enabled her drug
use. Eventually, she had a third, happier marriage which resulted in one
daughter, but she continued to struggle with sobriety and passed away fifteen
years ago.
(Photo: Cinema Retro Archives)
Marilyn
Chambers’ story is inspiring, fascinating and sad, and Jaren Stearns is to be
commended for his archival research and the dozens of interviews conducted with
her family, friends and colleagues. Never judgmental nor overly sentimental,
Stearns reveals both the tremendous highs and the devastating lows of her life
and career. A true icon, championing freedom of sexual expression throughout
her life, her story deserves to be better known. This is an excellent biography
that one hopes will land on the desk of a Hollywood producer somewhere. There’s
a film to be made about the life of Marilyn Chambers; she really should have
been a mainstream Hollywood star, and this book may help her finally become
one.
Pure
is available from Headpress in both paperback
and hardback editions, and can be ordered here: https://headpress.com/product/pure/
