Veteran adult performer and AVN Hall of Famer, Herschel Savage, is going back to his theatrical roots, starring in Neil Simon’s “The Prisoner of 2nd Avenue” at the Morgan-Wixson Theater, 2627 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica.
“For me it’s not that difficult to get on stage and act. It’s what I was trained to do before I got into porn,” said Savage, whose credits total more than 1,000 adult films.
In the play, Savage plays the lead character, Mel Edison, a man who gets fired from his job after working there half his life and is then forced to struggle to make ends meet.
“It’s a very challenging dramatic part, but it’s Neil Simon so it’s also very funny,” said Savage, who goes by the stage name Max Cohen when he does mainstream work.
“It’s about a man who is distressed and is literally looking for a way out – which I can relate to."
It was just nine years ago that Savage returned to adult performing after working in sales and video distribution following a long and successful career in adult films.
But working in the theater has been a constant passion for Savage, who is known his roles as heavies or mobsters in adult films.
“I just love being onstage, playing these complex characters,” he said.
Born in New York City to Russian Jewish parents, Savage studied theater under the late Broadway actress Uta Hagen, and famed acting teacher Stella Adler in preparation for a career in the theater. But the life of a struggling actor was taking its toll on Savage who was becoming discouraged by the constant auditioning and competition for roles.
But when he was introduced to an adult film producer R. Bolla in the late 1970s, Savage soon found his way into an adult film set.
“It wasn’t what I had planned, but here I was with these naked girls and I just got into it,” he said.
After working in small shoots, Savage landed a part in the 1978 original hardcore classic Debbie Does Dallas, starring Bambi Woods. Savage went on to work in Expose Me Now, Bodies in Heat, Rambone Does Hollywood and scores of other titles.
“At first I used a bunch of names. In fact, I was the first Jack Black. I should have kept that name,” he said with a laugh.
“But I settled on Herschel Savage since I knew I was going to be doing this for a while.”
In 1987, he won the AVN Award for Best Couples Sex sScene for his work in Amanda’s Diary with Nina Hartley. A year later, the now married performer left the business for good, it seemed.
He worked in sales and distribution and tried his hand at mainstream acting, landing a few roles in local theater productions. But by 1997, Savage was single again and needing steady income.
“I had friends in the business telling me that I could still work and I knew I had to get back into porn,” he said.
Although returning to the theater was also in the back of his mind, Savage again dove head first into performing and into directing a new generation of performers.
“I didn’t know him when he first got started, but when I met him, I knew he always had a little bit of Hollywood in him and that he wanted mainstream acceptance,” said Seymore Butts, who worked with Savage during his '90s comeback.
“I’ve seen him perform in mainstream theater and so it doesn’t surprise me he could take on a lead role in a Neil Simon play and be successful.”
Today, Savage continues to perform in adult films and audition for mainstream roles. And even as he prepares to direct his next gonzo project, thoughts of the theater aren’t too far behind.
“I love a challenge and that’s what the theater is for me,” he said.
The play runs through Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $18. Parking is available at 2509 Pico Blvd. For more information, call (310) 828-7519.
Savage is represented by Exotic Star Models.
