Linda Lovelace

The starlet of the most infamous porno flicks of all time, actress Linda Lovelace was a key player in the film that made XXX chic in the 1970s, Deep Throat (1972). Though future revelations would paint a dark picture for her involvement in the production (Lovelace was once quoted as stating, "Each time someone watches that movie, they're seeing me being raped"), Deep Throat not only brought porn to the mainstream, but also established the actress a sordid reputation that she would never live down. Born Linda Boreman in the Bronx in 1949, Lovelace would later make frequent allegations of abuse to her then-husband Charles Traynor, whom she claimed forced her at gunpoint to commit numerous sex acts. Appearing in numerous hardcore 8 mm reels before her Deep Throat breakthrough (including a shocking act of bestiality, which Traynor attempted but failed to re-create for Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner), Lovelace disappeared from the public eye shortly after her initial stardom, later remarrying and becoming a staunch anti-porn advocate and an outspoken critic of silicone implants as a means of breast enhancement. Though she was no longer involved in the industry that made her famous and frequently derided the film that was her sole starring vehicle, Deep Throat continued its influence into the new decade when it was released uncut in the U.K. for the first time in September of 2000. In her later years the former starlet had worked numerous clerical jobs and gave birth to two children with second husband Larry Marchiano before the couple divorced in 1996. Penning Ordeal in 1980, the shocking autobiography found the actress coming to terms with her past and beginning an active crusade against the adult film industry that would last until her untimely death in 2002. Held on life support in the weeks following a devastating car crash, Lovelace sustained massive trauma and internal injuries resulting in her disconnection shortly thereafter. She was 53.

~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide