LAS VEGAS—The adult industry has lost a true icon with the recently-revealed passing of Raymond Pistol in Las Vegas on March 8, 2025. Occuring a week after he suffered a stroke, Pistol died as he had always envisioned: in the loving arms of his wife, Treasure Brown. He was 77. Along with his wife, he left two sons.
An only child and from mixed German and Italian descent, Pistol loved the business and his influence stretched from owning video stores, a strip club, lingerie shop and an energy drink line, to legendary movie company Arrow Film & Video, whose library includes classic titles like Deep Throat, The Devil In Miss Jones and hundreds of others. He also hosted an adult industry award show for 12 years called Legends of Erotica.
Originally from Gunter, Texas, Pistol was born June 15, 1947. He joined the Marines and dropped the last vowel in his birth name (it was originally Pistole) because he thought Pistol sounded more American and much cooler. He did boot camp at Parris Island, then found himself smack dab in the middle of the Vietnam War, where he was shot and earned a Purple Heart. His military career lasted two years—from 1967 to 1969.
He always thought that the name Ray sounded like a redneck or someone playing a psycho or axe murderer in a movie (his words). He therefore insisted that everyone call him Raymond—or simply Pistol.
He used to say that in the movie Full Metal Jacket, he could easily be the character of Joker.
“Once out of the service and away from Vietnam, he wanted to fuck anyone with round eyes," longtime partner Brown told AVN. "He had the biggest dick I ever saw—picture two cans of pop end to end. He did the flower child thing but didn’t like to smoke weed. He played the hippy part but when people caught on that he was an ex-marine, he became a pacifist.”
She added, “He used the GI Bill to attend five different colleges because he like to be around college girls with big boobs, but never graduated.”
Pistol loved porn and started watching it when VHS was a new technology. He built a video booth adult store at the corner of Victory and Sepulveda in Los Angeles “so everyone important could see it,” then moved it to Van Nuys and renamed it Brand X and expanded it to several locations. He often said that Quentin Tarantino, whose early job was clerking at some of these stores, may have worked at one of his.
Eventually, Pistol moved to Las Vegas. At the time, Reuben Sturman’s organization operated a “really raunchy” peep show on Fremont Street. A Canadian couple bought it, renamed it Talk of the Town, moved it to Las Vegas Blvd., and sold it along with the few acres it was on, including a few other businesses, to Pistol. Grandfathered in, he was able to make it a fully nude strip club, with X-rated movie booths, provided that no alcohol be served.
He researched the law in Las Vegas and discovered that virtually anything can be built on the site of a former gas station (it had something to do with the underground tanks)—so in 1987, he bought one a few blocks from his strip club, tore it down, and built a huge entertainment complex called Showgirl Video that included live peep shows, quarter booths, a stage, and thousands of VHS tapes for sale and rental.
At this location, he was one of only two such businesses that featured cutting edge technology: liquid crystal screens that were opaque until electrified when fed money—upon which they became clear. He retained this until the patent holder sold the rights to NASA, who made him stop using it.
Showgirl Video was also the site of the annual Legends of Erotica show (1990-2011) that the late Bill Margold put on for many years. This always happened during the CES or AVN conventions. To a very packed house, famous porn stars were immortalized, much like at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, into cement on stage. Some put their hands in, some more recognizable body parts, and all signed and dated each square. When they dried, they became another part of the wall.
Nina Hartley and Marilyn Chambers at Legends of Erotica
Some of the noted adult stars who worked at Showgirl Video included Kimberly Chambers, Danyel Cheeks, Davia Ardell, Caroline Pierce, Alexandra Quinn and Samantha York.
Christy Canyon was there a few times—once to be inducted into the Legends of Erotica. Upon hearing of Pistol’s passing, she said, “Raymond Pistol had a vision like no other. He was a brilliant man and made the adult business that much better. Thank you for everything you did for us and our freedom.”
In 1995 Brown, then Pistol’s fiancé, was working in Las Vegas at Longhorn Steakhouse as a waitress. As she remembers, almost verbatim, “…Louis 'Butchie' Peraino came in to eat and I swear, when he entered the building, the restaurant music started playing soft mafia-style music from TV shows and movies. He was a scary guy! He did leave me a big $300 tip. One of the other waitresses told him I was engaged to Raymond Pistol who owned Showgirl Video. He asked me about it and I said it was true.”
He said, “No shit, Toots (he called me Toots), I’m a pornographer too.” Peraino, a very well known gangster, was part of the Colombo Family that made a massive fortune with the famous movie Deep Throat. He then jammed another $200 in her cleavage and told her he wanted to meet Pistol. Brown was very nervous but set it up.
At the meeting, Peraino told Pistol that he was diagnosed with cancer and wanted to sell him all of his master videos—including classics like Deep Throat, The Devil In Miss Jones, Candy Stripers and over a hundred others. He said to us, “You know what, Raymond Pistol, you are a good man—you might have dropped the 'e' off your name and that is a good thing, 'cause anyone who has a vowel on the end of his name is a marked man. Not necessarily a made man, but a marked man. You buy this fucking movie from me you make me have peace with the feds. At my age and disposition, all I want is peace.”
Pistol was only interested in Deep Throat, but he somehow bought them all for an undisclosed sum. They shook hands and it was scary, Brown remembers. And they sent her to buy amarettos to seal the deal.
Pistol also had other business ties. He owned a lingerie shop that catered to dancers, also a few blocks away, called Slightly Sinful. He also parlayed his newly-acquired product name Deep Throat into an energy drink which started as a promo for his shops but became a full national operation that lasted a few years until the “Red Bullies,” as he called them, made it difficult to get shelf space.
Raymond Pistol, Christy Canyon and Kim Chambers
Pistol was loyal to his friends and trusting. When this writer asked to buy a case of the new energy drink 20 years ago, Pistol took it a step further and sent a full pallet on the honor system, saying, “Try to sell these as my Ohio distributor. If it works, great. If not, return what is left over.”
According to former porn performer Samantha York’s ex-husband, Pistol was also a pilot who flew his four-seater Cessna from Vegas to Van Nuys every month filled with product for the stores. He crashed twice—once in the desert, where he was forced to belly land, and once at an airport near Vegas when his landing gear did not lower. He was not seriously injured.
On a lighter note, Brown discovered that the FBI had a file on them both—possibly because of his brief association with Peraino. She was able to access the files and discovered that they had surveillance names for each of them—she was Uzi, and Pistol was Ruger.
When Pistol closed Showgirl Video a few years back, it was torn down and, in its place, the new owner built a dispensary—proving that he was right, and you can build any business, and already be pre-approved, above the tanks of a former gas station in Las Vegas.
Despite being quiet and unassuming, Raymond Pistol leaves an indelible mark as one of the genuine giants of the adult industry.
Raymond Pistol, John Leslie and Treasure Brown at Legends of Erotica
Christy Canyon at Legends of Erotica
Treasure Brown and Raymond Pistol
(Photos by Dirty Bob)
