George McDonald, a California native who appeared in a minimum of 14 adult films between 1970 and 1975, and likely many more sound and silent loops, has died near his home in Sausalito, just north of San Francisco—and just a few blocks from where some outdoor scenes in Behind the Green Door were shot. He died on Saturday, December 14, though the cause of death was not revealed. He was 70 years old.
According to an obituary on The Rialto Report, McDonald was a "porn star" in the days when porn was still very much an under-the-table commodity at adult bookstores, sold as reels of film since videocassettes were a techie's dream for the future. In fact, there were so few identifiable males working in porn in those days, and so few full-length productions being made, that at one point, nine theaters in San Francisco were showing McDonald movies at the same time.
"This was an era of shame and secrecy when no one used their real name, and most people didn’t use any name," recalled The Rialto Report's Ashley West, but McDonald was one of the few who not only used a name but his actual name in the credits of such features as Behind the Green Door (1972), Sodom and Gomorrah: The Last Seven Days (1974), and Inside Marilyn Chambers (1975), McDonald's final film, all released by The Mitchell Brothers. In fact, of the 14 productions listed on McDonald's IAFD.com page, half of them were Mitchell Brothers productions—and except for Marilyn Chambers, none of them featured female performers who are remembered today.
West reports that McDonald was considered an "all-American boy," having participated in several athletic events in high school even while maintaining good grades.
"He signed up to the Air Force when the Vietnam war was going on," West wrote. "And he had political aspirations too. He was sure he’d be mayor one day."
But it was not to be, since somewhere along his career path, McDonald wound up "headlining a live sex show in Hawaii where he competed with John Holmes," which led to his six-year career in XXX, from 1970 to 1975.
As was the case with many classic male porn stars, McDonald had at least one Hollywood fan.
"A few years ago, Robert De Niro heard about George and his story and flew out to Sausalito to meet him," West reported. "They spent the afternoon together discussing George’s life and film career."
By then, McDonald had penned an autobiography, Dirty Movies, which De Niro reportedly was interested in making into a film. However, McDonald's death likely means that will not happen—but Dirty Movies can be read in full on The Rialto Report website.
McDonald also once ran into fellow actor Richard Pacheco (who has publicly revealed his real name, Howie Gordon) at the Institute For the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco during an industry gathering.
"I told him I was a fan before I got into the business," Gordon noted, "and I was surprised to discover that I was a year older than him!"
The early porn "industry" if it can be called that, was a wild-and-wooly place to work—according to West, in about 1973, he joined the late famous filmmaker Alex deRenzy and a crew of "eight guys, six hippie girls" on a trip to the Far East aboard a 185-foot World War II PCER—sort of a larger knockoff of a Coast Guard cutter—that deRenzy had bought in San Diego and named "The Marysville," to purchase hashish in Nepal and other "contraband," at the behest of a Canadian smuggling operation. McDonald's main job on the voyage was to quell the various mutinies that arose during the voyage, most of them started by the Canadians.
"One of the Canadians took a .38 and put it next to my head and fired off a round," McDonald told West in a podcast. "I said, 'Okay, I guess that was your best shot,' and as I was walking across the deck, I wondered if they were going to shoot me in the back, but they didn't."
It was during the voyage that McDonald saw the issue of Time magazine with the story about how Marilyn Chambers, the "Ivory Snow girl," had become a porn star.
In any case, the voyage was successful, the participants were never caught, and none of the smugglers survive to this day.
But McDonald had long since "retired" from such adventures, and according to West, "opted for the quiet life" at his home.
Pictured: George McDonald, a news clipping of one of his movies, and McDonald with fellow actor Richard Pacheco
