Gay Porn Historian, Legendary Director Jerry Douglas Dies at 85

 

A winner of more than two dozen awards in the adult industry, Douglas is credited with winning more Best Screenplay honors than any other person in the industry at the GayVNs, and was inducted into the GayVN Hall of Fame in 1998.

 

In a last chat I had with Jerry on his 84th birthday last November, he told me, "I am most proud of the writing. I want to be known as a writer. I brought some stories to the porn world, and I'm proud of that."

 

He worked with legends in the industry such as Joey Stefano, Ryan Idol, Kurt Young and Dean Phoenix and Derrick Stanton, and turned many of them into multiple award winners for their performances.

 

"He turned Joey Stefano into an actor," said Chi Chi LaRue, a longtime friend of Douglas's who called him a mentor. "He would look at my movies and then call me and ask me if they could act."

 

As an homage to Douglas, LaRue re-imagined his first porn movie The Back Row starring Casey Donovan. "It was the first porn movie I ever saw and while I was re-making the movie we were on the phone every day."

 

LaRue added, "Jerry really loved the industry, but he had a tough time getting directing jobs because he was so meticulous and it would take a long time to make his movies."

 

Yet, Douglas worked for many of the major studios including All Worlds, Sierra Pacific, Odyssey Men, Colt Studios, Studio 2000 and many others.

 

 

He also was known as a porn historian, he started Manshots magazine in 1974 which not only featured naked men, but in-depth interviews with porn stars, as well as behind-the-scenes people like reclusive director Matt Sterling and All Worlds founder Rick Ford, both notoriously shy of the press. He also wrote for The Advocate, Update, FirstHand and Stallion magazines.

 

He scripted one of the first mainstream films to explore bisexual relationships in 1974, The Score, directed by Radley Metzger, and then directed Both Ways and Back Row under the name Doug Richards.

 

"I stopped using the pseudonym and began using my real name because I've always been proud of my work in the adult industry," Douglas said.

 

In fact, he directed and wrote plays for Broadway and off-Broadway, including one that starred Sylvester Stallone, and in 2009 directed a play written by David Bertolino called The Deep Throat Sex Scandal that opened in Los Angeles and New York. That focused on the making of the film Deep Throat with Harry Reems and Linda Lovelace, and how Reems became the first actor in history found guilty on obscenity charges for appearing in the film.

 

After a decade-long break where he concentrated on his journalism, Douglas returned to making adult films and used superstars of the day like Rick Donovan, Mike Henson and Joey Stefano in More of a Man about a gay man's struggle with the Catholic prohibition of gay sex. Sharon Kane and LaRue both have non-sexual roles in that.

 

Never afraid to deal with controversial issues, such as gays in the military (Honorable Discharge), a father's secret coming out (Family Values), sex between brothers (Fratrimony), an homage to James Bond and Alfred Hitchcock films (Top Secret), a closeted celebrity (The Diamond Stud), and sex among basketball players (The Dream Team). 

 

In Flesh & Blood, Douglas cast Kurt Young (at the time the most award-winning performer in the gay industry for decades) as twins and he had sex with himself in a cleverly shot scene. 

 

 

"I loved how he paid tribute to the stars who have died on the back of the Manshots magazine in a column called 'Final Shot,' it was always nice to see," said Greg Lenzman, aka Mocha, who shot photos for the industry since 1979 and worked on the two BuckleRoos movies that Douglas wrote and co-directed with John Rutherford for Colt.

 

"I never expected my closest friendship in the porn industry to be with one of they industry's best directors, Jerry Douglas," said award-winning star Steve O'Donnell, who appeared in many of Douglas's movies. "Jerry opened his heart and door to me many times over the years. Visits to New York City will never be the same, and 25 years after meeting him I still love him like my father. We will miss you Jerry."

 

Director Kevin Clarke said, "He was my closest friend in the business. It would be easy to say with the loss of Jerry Douglas we lost a giant. The truth is we lost THE giant.”

 

Clarke said, "Jerry was the gold standard for the gay industry, everything was judged against him. With Jerry gone, the history is gone too. He used to say people were in the business for the boys or the art, and he was in it for the art."

 

Bob East of Odyssey Men Videos said, "This guy form the Midwest went to New York City to make a statement and to be who he knew himself to be. His work and personalty showed he accomplished both in Spades. Have a smoke, my friend — those cigarettes can't hut you now."

 

Jeremy Spencer, the Gay Editor of AVN from 1999 to 2003 said, "Jerry Douglas was a master at storytelling. I can remember talking with him for hours, about life and plays and our favorite models, but often debating whether storyline-driven material could make money, as opposed to the usual wham-bam stuff, and Jerry would always tell me—usually through the inhalation and exhalation of cigarette smoke—that everything has its place in this industry. He was right. I am grateful to have had him in my life."

 

Lucas Kazan from Italy wrote, "A peerless director, mentor, film historian... We're all dwarves on the shoulders of giants like Jerry."

 

Douglas's archives are going to New York University that wanted to have a ceremony and celebration last year for him, but it was scuttled because of the pandemic.

 

J.C. Adams, of XBIZ was not only a longtime friend of Douglas, but has been working on a biography of the director, and said he still plans to get the book out.

 

Personally, Jerry was a longtime friend and I dedicated one of my Bad Boys on Video books to him as: "To the master, the historian, my mentor, Jerry Douglas. You taught me how to be fair, stand firm and stay above the fray."

 

Two summers ago, I saw Jerry during the Stonewall 50th anniversary and walked with him a few days from his Riverside Drive apartment to his kidney dialysis, where he insisted on stopping for a smoke along the way. I also talked to him this past November on his 85th birthday, and he gave me a copy of his unpublished novel about a closeted famous star in 1950s Hollywood.

 

I asked Jerry if he had any regrets, and he paused as he let out a slight puff of his cigarette, and said with a wry smile: "Maybe one. I never really got a good double penetration scene."

 

RIP, Jerry.