NEW YORK CITY—A consortium of longtime adult movie fans, including The Rialto Report's Ashley West, underground comix publisher/XXX movie critic Robin Bougie, and Film Fanaddict publishers Mark and Miranda Murray, have created the Golden Age Appreciation Fund, and the intended recipient of their latest fundraising effort is legendary adult actress Jeanne Silver, perhaps most famous because of her left leg—or, rather, the lack of it below mid-calf, the rest having been amputated when she was a child.
A former Air Force brat, Jeanne started in the adult industry in 1976, becoming the first amputee to become a centerfold in Cheri magazine. Her first film was Water Power, supposedly based on a true story about an "enema bandit," and sure enough, Jeanne got one in the movie. But she's most famous for Alex deRenzy's Long Jeanne Silver, where, the actress told a Mensa gathering last year, " I took my stump and I used it as a penis on both men and women." (She also once got busted in Rhode Island for publishing a magazine which had a photo of her penetrating Annie Sprinkle with her stump.)
But recently, Jeanne's fallen on hard times.
"Jeanne has struggled financially for a time," the fundraiser's home page states. "Jeanne requires major dental work and faces spinal surgery in the coming months, all without sufficient health insurance. She’s in significant pain but refuses to take drugs even though she feels she may be on the cusp of depression. In addition to her health issues, Jeanne’s car is no longer operational. Because she lives in a location without adequate public transportation, this means Jeanne is struggling to work. And did we mention what that work is? Jeanne has dedicated her later life to assisting the elderly, helping them with tasks like shopping and doctors’ appointments and house cleaning. And perhaps just as important, Jeanne spends time in conversation with those she helps and listens to their stories, offering them companionship many no longer get. This work includes helping her own mother, who Jeanne supplies with groceries from the limited money she earns. To top this all off, Jeanne is being evicted from her home right as the holidays roll around. With little time and few resources, Jeanne needs to find a new place to live for herself and the adopted pets she cares for and loves dearly."
The Golden Age Appreciation Fund holds at most three to four fundraisers per year, all to help retired adult performers, and its most recent beneficiaries have been Kay Parker, Sharon Mitchell, Tom Byron and George Payne, for whom the fund has raised, collectively, about $20,000.
Donations can be made to the Jeanne Silver fundraiser here, and those who donate $40 or more will receive a signed photo of Jeanne as an acknowledgment of support—and the donor who gives the most by the end of the fundraiser will receive a signed prosthetic leg previously worn by Jeanne!
"I hate asking but I’m in a pit and can’t dig myself out on my own this time," Jeanne told the Rialto Report. "I want to be that happy person that I know is buried under this mess. I miss me."
The fundraiser closes on Friday, December 1, so there's not much time for fans to make their appreciation known. Once again, donations are being accepted here.
Pictured, l-r: Lori Blue, Jeanne Silver and Sandy Pinney on the set of Long Jeanne Silver.
