Harry Reems, nee Herbert Stricher, was born Aug. 27, 1947, in the Bronx, N.Y. He was thrust into the public spotlight after his 1972 role alongside Linda Lovelace in Deep Throat, and his following turn the next year opposite Georgina Spelvin in the equally classic The Devil in Miss Jones, both directed by Gerard Damiano.

His appearance in Deep Throat led to his arrest by the FBI in July 1974 and indictment in June 1975 on charges of conspiracy to distribute obscenity across state lines. Many mainstream celebrities who were outraged by the charges and arrest—among them Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Shirley MacLaine, Richard Dreyfuss and Gregory Peck—came to Reems’ defense.

He was convicted in April 1976, but the conviction was overturned the following year after the courts ruled his involvement in the movie took place before the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Miller v. California ruling on obscenity. He was granted a new trial, but the charges were dropped in August 1977.

Reems struggled with alcoholism and drug abuse for years, and eventually left the adult industry. He started working on his sobriety in 1989, started a new career as a real estate broker, got married and converted to Christianity.

Before his entry into adult films, Reems served briefly in the U.S. Marine Corps and received an honorable discharge. He had worked on an acting career, appearing mostly in off-Broadway theater, before he began appearing in stag films to support himself. He eventually went on to appear in 140 feature-length adult films between 1971 and 1989.