A PACKED IRISH WAKE FOR BRUCE SEVEN

Bruce Seven, file photo \nLOS ANGELES - Bruce Seven flipped his bird in public long before Stone Cold Steve Austin was ever heard of - and with the lowest interest rates in town, to boot. Indeed, a blow-up of Bruce flipping one for God and country was the centerpiece of a Jan. 31 Irish wake in his memory, at the Sportsman Lodge in North Hollywood.

Those attending included a huge phalanx from the adult film industry in which Seven made his reputation as a director. They included Seven's former business partner John Stagliano accompanied by Trish Devereaux; Victor and Jeff Marton from Evil Angel; Patrick Collins, Ed Powers, Michael Cates, Henri Pachard, Loretta Sterling, Linda Corso, Felecia, Misty Rain, Chad Thomas, Jim Holliday, Joey Silvera, Randy West, Ruby Gottesman, Larry Ross, Tommy Sinopoli, Steve Hirsch, Luc Wylder, Alexandra Silk, Fred Lincoln, Shawn Ricks, Jerome Tanner, Jay Ashley, Bobby Hollander, Raven Touchstone, Sharon Mitchell, Jake Jacobs, Rebecca Bardoux, Shane Tyler, Christi Lake, Gigi Appleton, Valentino, Paul Thomas, Glen Barren, Lisa Barren, Mickey G., Missy, Kenny from Art Attack, Dave Cummings, Melissa Monet, Brockton O'Toole; and AVN's Paul Fishbein, Gene Ross, Mark Kernes and Ellen Thompson.

"This is Bruce's final 'fuck you'," said Mitchell, an adult film legend and director of the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, of the evening's tribute, calling Seven's Aerobisex Girls "the dawning of the era of gonzo porn."

With Seven's widow, Bionca, greeting guests, anyone who wanted could speak and give personal remembrances. Referring to Seven as "my dirty old father," Patrick Collins would tell of the times how, when Seven would be off in a corner drinking his scotch, Collins would whip out his dick and prompt Seven into fits of cursing by laying it on Seven's shoulders. "Bruce would give you the shirt off his back," Collins added. "He gave me guidance and would always tell me I was too emotional."

Pachard reminisced about the time he and Seven did a video together called Conflict. "Women adored him," Pachard remembered. "He could get them to do the most amazing things and later they'd brag about how they were in a Bruce Seven movie."

"There was no ego around Bruce," Ed Powers recalled. Powers also offered his take on Seven's celebrated wedding to Bionca at the Sahara during the CES show many moons ago and how anal lube was tossed instead of rice.

Like Collins, Loretta Sterling also said that Seven was like a father to him, and, in what can only be described as a touching tribute, offered a nearly spent bottle of scotch for the informal Bruce Seven time capsule. According to Sterling, Seven drank from the bottle nearly 18 years ago and Sterling kept the bottle memorialized on his bar ever since.

Bobby Hollander, who was also at Seven's wedding, called Seven one of the originals. "He was the best girl-girl shooter, and nobody did it like Bruce did it," Hollander said. "God, he had those devices. The man was a genius, and I only hope we can follow in his footsteps. Noting Seven's shoot-from-the-hip style, Hollander added, "But if he didn't like you, he'd let you know."

Tracing his Bruce Seven history to their early years at Warner Brothers in the prop department, Michael Cates recalled the scene in Bottom Dwellers 2, which, ironically, depicted Seven in a casket. "But I thought he'd never leave us," said Cates. "He was too stubborn to do that. Bruce was a mentor, a boss and a friend."

Kenny from Art Attack observed how difficult it was to watch Seven slowly deteriorate in his late years after being victimized from a stroke. "Bruce was a true friend," said Kenny. "If you could get beyond that cantankerous exterior, he was the sweetest, warmest person. His product will go on forever."

John Stagliano recapped the beginnings of his partnership with Seven in the early 1980's. "Bruce was a pornographer," said Stagliano admiringly. "He gave me strength to be a pornographer. Bruce was the man; he had courage, we followed." Stagliano relayed a humorous anecdote involving Seven and Michael Cates that had Cates and Seven first shooting a scene from opposite ends of a room, then, in one of those slap happy moments that come from shooting porn all day, began training the cameras on each other. "You could see that these guys were so happy to be shooting porn," Stagliano said.

"He's still my mentor and his legacy lives on," said Felecia who tributes Seven to laying the foundations for her career. "He told me always use two fingers." Misty Rain said she experienced her very first orgasm on a Bruce Seven shoot.

"Bruce never ceased to amaze me," added Luc Wylder who traces his Seven history to the bondage days in New York. "When I came out to California Bruce took me and Ariana to the finest restaurants and never let me pay for a meal. He was truly a mentor, and, for me, a philanthropist. He made some of the best videos that we'll ever see in our lives."

"I didn't know Bruce that well," said Paul Thomas. "I took over for him at Vivid and I wondered who this guy was who shot up cracks of peoples' asses. I never had the respect for him that I probably should have, but I'm going to study his movies...again."

"He always talked about hanging women upside down, but the key to his success was that he loved women so much," Raven Touchstone added. "He had a lot of wisdom and never stopped loving Bionca for one minute."

"I had so many wonderful memories of Bruce that I hold dear," said Bionca who recalled getting married in the wedding dress that she wore in The Rocky Porno Picture Show. "It was so wonderful, but I was so scared at that moment that when I walked down the aisle, I bumped into the minister." She said she'll remember Seven, especially, for two things. "He loved short-shorts and nasty sex."