WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—Pansexual adult star Dale Savage passed away on June 19 following a stroke. The news was announced by Savage’s fiancé, partner in Ducati Studios and director Anthony Duran, in an X post.
Duran said, “It is with a heavy heart that I let all of his fans know that adult film star @TheDaleSavage passed away from a stroke on June 19th. I am still in shock and having a hard time finding the words to write this. As a handsome, pansexual muscle daddy, Dale started his career at 50 years old. He quickly rose to become a true superstar in the industry. He absolutely loved his work and collaborated with some of the top studios and actors. After a busy and successful career, he retired about three years ago to enjoy a quiet life in Vail, Colorado. Love never dies. Until we meet again.”
NakedSword director Ben Rush commented on the post, saying simply, “I’m so sorry to read this, Anthony,” with tearful and caring emojis. Performer Draven Navarro posted, “He was such a sweet man! Will be truly missed.” They were just two of many condolences.
A versatile performer, Savage came to the industry in 2018, following a career as a firefighter, according to AEBN.com. His grey hair and muscular build soon saw him featured in a wide spectrum of adult titles as a “muscle daddy,” who eventually performed in more than 200 scenes. Savage’s credits include work for Ducati, Carnal Media, Adult Time, Kink.com, ASGmax/Disruptive Films, HotHouse Media, Dogfart Network and Treasure Island Media, among several others.
Savage was described as “ a kind soul” by AVN Hall of Fame director Jim Powers, who directed him in several titles including 2023’s Gilligan’s Bi-land, for the BiPhoria line.
“Dale was one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met,” Powers told AVN. “He was always so much fun to have on set. I used him a lot in bi and trans scenes. With his gray hair he made the perfect silver-fox-older-sexy-man character. He absolutely killed it as Mr. Howell in BiPhoria’s Gilligan’s Bi-land.
“Dee Williams played opposite him as Mrs. Howell. They had such great chemistry. He entered porn at an older age as he was already retired and would work at a ski lodge in Colorado during ski season. He would fly out for adult work in California. I’m going to miss Dale. We kept in touch even after he left the biz as we used to text all the time about football. He was a good guy,” Powers remembered.
LeGrand Wolf, CEO of Carnal Media, sent AVN a statement saying: “Dale Savage brought a special energy to this industry. From the moment he reached out to us in 2018, you could feel his genuine excitement to be part of adult entertainment and specifically part of what Carnal was building. His initial message reached us right after we had restarted our company. He worked with us as often as our production schedule allowed. Like any studio, we only have so many shoots in a year, and we must balance new faces with familiar ones to keep our storylines and our audience engaged. That meant we couldn't cast him on everything he wanted. He'd go work with other studios in between and always come back joking that we ruined him by working with us first, making it hard for others to live up to that experience.
“What made Dale different was that he wanted a real relationship, not just a job. He stayed in close touch with me personally and with our social media team, sharing pictures of his dogs, checking in, and genuinely caring about the people he worked alongside,” Wolf continued.
“As someone who was bisexual himself, Dale understood something about the value of this work that not everyone does. When we shared our mission statement with him all those years ago, he became emotional. The way he saw things, most people are probably bisexual, and shame, more than anything, is what keeps people from being sexually liberated. He felt strongly that men seeing themselves reflected in fantasy and feeling okay about it was so important in changing the world. He said that was exactly why he wanted to be part of what we were doing.
“Dale threw his whole heart into this work and into the people around him. He will be deeply missed, and our thoughts are with everyone who knew and loved him,” Wolf added.
Information regarding survivors or final arrangements was not readily available as of post time.
(Photo courtesy of Jim Powers, l-to-r: Dale Savage, Michael DelRay, Dee Williams)
Ed. Note: This post was updated with LeGrand Wolf’s comments.
