NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Veteran actor/director Buck Adams died Tuesday afternoon at Northridge Hospital of complications from heart failure. He was 52.
Born Charles Stephen Allen on November 11, 1955, Adams was the brother of adult superstar Amber Lynn. A former boxer and bouncer, he entered the industry shortly after his sister began her own adult video career in the early 1980s.
A three-time winner of AVN's Best Actor award and a member of the AVN Hall of Fame, Adams performed in hundreds of adult movies and directed 80 of them himself. Among his many credits are Paul Thomas' original Bad Wives (1989), Raw Talent 2, Sin City's Babewatch series, Buck Adams' Frankenstein, Beach Patrol, and Uncle Buck (2005). His first directorial effot was Squirt for Arrow Films in 1988.
As director, Adams garnered a Best Film nomination from AVN for his big-budget 35mm Antigua Pictures feature Uninhibited, starring Rocco Siffredi. Originally shot in 1993 at a reported cost of $1.2 million, the movie was rated R by the MPAA and picked up by HBO and USA Network. Hardcore sex scenes were put back into the movie for its release to the adult video market in 2006.
Adams was well-liked in the industry and respected for overcoming his battles with drugs and alcohol. He survived several near-fatal heart attacks in the 1990s, and toward the end of his life had just finished building a studio where he planned to produce Internet content.
"Buck was a great guy," said longtime friend Todd Blatt, who worked with Adams on Uninhibited and other Antigua Pictures releases. "He was a guy with a really big heart - he would do anything for anybody if you asked him, and that's a rare quality. I should also mention that Uninhibited was really the first R-rated feature to come out of the adult industry. Buck was really proud of that, and I think he would want to be remembered for it. He lived a hard life, and he put a lot of hard miles on his body, but he was a good guy. He will be greatly missed."
Adams passed away with his daughter Christa, his sister Amber Lynn, and his close friend and business associate Harold Jenkins at his side.
"My brother was a great man and a hero to many," Amber told AVN. "He will be missed by all."
Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced at post time.
