Columnist Jimmy Breslin writes this about Marylin Star: " From what you could see, she had everything going for her in the life it seemed she wanted to live. She was in a big apartment in Miami Beach and was starring in what are known as adult films in Los Angeles. She was 4-foot-11 and 30 and weighed about 100 pounds. She had blonde hair and green-blue eyes and was all energy. Her show name was Marylin Star and she danced in those midwest motel lounges and roadhouses where adult film stars pack them in. She got $5,000 a night and sold T-shirts and pictures, too.
"She couldn't do that in clubs in New York, where porn stars are so common they can't draw as they do in Danville, Pa. What she could do in New York is meet a man. And she did. He was James J. McDermott, a big name in banking stocks. He was a lot older. But that was all right. He had a lot more money. She came to New York to see him. Friends from Miami who called her reached her at one of the top hotels.
Breslin writes that Star had a six picture deal with Fleshtone's Danny Carelli and had done three -"Web of Deception," and "Shooting Star" and "Rich Wives Club" which he says are now showing on the Playboy Channel. Breslin quotes Carelli as saying that Star called him one night telling him that she was lonely
"How can you be lonely, you've got everything," Carelli told her. "I want a man," Star allegedly told Carelli. "You've got Jim," Carelli said. "He won't get a divorce. I want a husband. I want a baby. I want a life," Star replied.
Breslin: "Jim, who wouldn't get a divorce, was the chairman and chief executive officer of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods with offices in the World Trade Center. McDermott was a man interviewed at length by financial publications such as the American Banker. He expounded brilliantly on television financial news shows. His company was preparing to sell stock. Its initial public offering, which was supposed to bring in $60 million, would give James McDermott $16 million....He was a bit infatuated with Marylin Star...He was not so taken with her that he would leave his wife. But he also could not leave Marylin."
When the SEC investigation went down, Star, according to Breslin called Carelli. "And he [Carelli] remembers her saying, 'I can't do it anymore. It's making me depressed. I want a man. I want a baby. That's all I think of. I got three pictures to do with you. I can't. I want to go home and find a man.' "A successful porno star went home to Canada in search of another life, one that she now knew was real. "
According to Breslin, Jim McDermott's company was planning an IPO, but once the insider trader information became known, the IPO was cancelled and McDermoot indicted.
Breslin: "Oh, Marylin was indicted, too. Government papers say she was in on a scheme that not only was an alien thing to her, but one that never would have happened if this big guy doesn't fall for her and try to make her happy with a score. He lost $16 million and has the horror of a trial in front of him and he can spend Christmas week looking his family in the eye.
"I hope Marylin can stay up in Canada," Carelli is to have told Breslin "I heard that she met some big rich guy in Canada and she was going to marry him. I hope so. I'm sitting here on Christmas week blocking out scenes for my next porno movie. And she's up in Canada where I hope it snows and she marries the boyfriend and has a baby. She deserves it. That's what she left this business for."
