Eric Edwards has earned just about every conceivable honor a performer can win in adult, honoring a career that dates back to a 1969 loop he performed with the woman who went on to become Linda Lovelace.
As a performer, Edwards -- who had been awarded an acting scholarship by ABC and was represent by William Morris landing commercials and bit roles -- was part of the off-Broadway group of thespians that turned to porn for extra cash that included Paul Thomas and Gloria Leonard. His thespian experience showed in his work, as he won three AVN Awards for acting.
“It was fun. I was young. I was being paid to have fun and travel all over the world and I could perform in front camera,” Edwards told AVN.com
Now 57-years-old, Edwards hasn’t had a sex role for over a decade, though his career in front of the camera still lives on, as he appears from time to time in non-sex roles.
When not busy with the demands of raising two teenage sons as a single parent, Edwards tries to land as much freelance work as he can as a cinematographer, director, producer and editor – and is capable of performing all of those tasks for a single production, making him a one man studio.
Edwards has plenty of experience. He’s directed approximately 65 features, including work for VCA, Sin City, and Legend, and spent the majority of the last 15 years as a cameraman and editor. Recently he has been working for Hollywood Video as an editor.
His personal favorites from his work as a director include Mirage and Mirage 2, The Visualizer and Airotica.
Acknowledging that freelancing is tougher than ever now, with the people he came up with in the industry moving on for one reason or another, and the industry having a rather limited knowledge of it’s own history, Edwards was glad to have recently discovered a new source of revenue – commentary for DVDs. With over a 1,000 titles to his credit, including classics such as Debbie Does Dallas and the Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann, he’s a good candidate for such work.
Edwards has been inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame, the XCRO Hall of Fame, and bringing his career full circle – in 2003 he was inducted into the Legends of Erotica in a Las Vegas ceremony that also posthumously inducted Linda Lovelace, the woman he performed his first scene with.
In recognition of his induction into the Legends of Erotica, Edwards was presented with a golden sword – that he placed in his suitcase for the flight home, forgetting about the heightened security at airports. He was pulled aside after an x-ray machine spotted the sword and when asked why he was carrying the sword, Edwards told them that it was an award, not volunteering what the award was for – not that he needed to.
“I think the guy recognized me. He smiled and winked congratulations. I guess it helps to have following,” he said, as he was allowed to carry the blunted sword on the plane.
Edwards isn’t looking to rest on his laurels – he’s always interested more freelance opportunities in any capacity. The swordsman days, however, are over. “I prefer to age gracefully off camera,” Edwards said.
Edwards is available for looking for freelance work directing, producing, editing, writing scripts, non-sex roles, screenwriting, or virtually any other aspect of production and can be contacted at (661) 286-2128.
