- Georgina Spelvin
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Georgina Spelvin Born Texas, U.S. Alias(es) Shelley Abels, Claudia Clitoris, Tia Von Davis, Dorothy May, Merle Miller, Ruth Raymond, Georgette Spelvin, Ona Tural Height 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) Weight 118 lb (54 kg; 8.4 st) Eye colour Brown Hair colour Black Ethnicity Caucasian Official website Georgina Spelvin (born on March 1, 1936) is the stage name of Michelle Graham,[1] a former American pornographic actress who is best known for her appearance in the classic film The Devil in Miss Jones.
Contents
Early life
As a child, Spelvin fell victim to an attack of polio, but she recovered enough of her mobility to become a dancer. She began her professional career as a chorus girl in New York and was featured in the Broadway productions of Guys and Dolls, Sweet Charity, and The Pajama Game.[2] She made her first movie, The Twilight Girls, a softcore lesbian film, in 1957.[2]
Pornography career
When her friend, actor Harry Reems, introduced her to adult film director Gerard Damiano, Graham moved away from the mainstream into porn.[citation needed] The stage name she adopted is a variation on George Spelvin, a name traditionally used as a pseudonym by stage actors.
Though Spelvin is known to have appeared in a few sexploitation features during the late-1960s, she became one of the best-known figures in hardcore pornography for her starring role in The Devil in Miss Jones in 1973. Spelvin went on to appear in over 70 adult films, before retiring from them in 1979.[citation needed] In addition, she appeared in the low-budget exploitation film Girls For Rent (aka I Spit on Your Corpse)--for which she also served as costume designer—and made cameos in Police Academy and Police Academy 3: Back in Training. These were "straight," mainstream films, but she was cast as a hooker; the audience was expected to recognize the well-known porn star. The practice of fellatio was also implied in the films. She also had straight film roles in Bad Blood, in which she was credited as "Ruth Raymond," and Next Year in Jerusalem as well as guest starring roles on the television shows Dream On and The Lost World.
Georgina Spelvin epitomized the era of porn chic. In 1973, Robert Berkvist, writing in The New York Times, commented that "'Miss Jones' is as familiar in [the respectable and well-to-do New York suburb of] Scarsdale as she is on Broadway."
After Devil
In 2004, she made a cameo appearance in Vivid Video's remake of The Devil in Miss Jones, which it titled The New Devil in Miss Jones.[2][3]
In 2005, she was interviewed for the documentary film Inside Deep Throat. As of the third week of February 2008, she resided in the Los Angeles area with her husband, actor John Welsh.
In 2009, she appeared as herself in the video for Massive Attack's song, Paradise Circus.[4]
She was the initial inspiration for underground cartoonist John Linton Roberson's character Vladrushka.
Autobiography
In May 2008, she published her autobiography, The Devil Made Me Do It, and appeared on camera in a short web clip announcing its release to her fans on the internet. A self-published work, the book is available through her official website, Georgiespelvin.com.[5]
Awards
Wins
- 1977 AFAA Best Actress for Desires Within Young Girls[6]
- 1978 AFAA Best Supporting Actress for Take Off[6]
- 1979 AFAA Best Supporting Actress for Esctacy Girls[6]
- 1980 AFAA Best Supporting Actress for Urban Cowgirls[6]
- 1981 AFAA Best Actress for Dancers[6]
- AVN Hall of Fame[7]
- Legends of Erotica[8]
Nominations
- 2006 AVN Best Non-Sex Performance for The Devil in Miss Jones[10]
References
- ^ Simpson, Paul (2010). The Rough Guide to Cult Movies. Penguin. pp. 271. ISBN 1405383224, 9781405383226. http://books.google.com/books?id=eT0gRBtY4PcC&pg=PA271&dq=%22georgina+spelvin%22+graham&hl=en&ei=Ar1iTuuRNKOCsALTyrT9Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22georgina%20spelvin%22%20graham&f=false.
- ^ a b c "Georgina Spelvin interview with Mr. Skin". http://www.mrskin.com/Skinterviews/102/Georgina_Spelvin.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
- ^ "Georgie Rocks The House". http://www.xcitement.com/blog/?p=121. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
- ^ "Massive Attack - Paradise Circus". http://special.the-raft.com/massiveattackdvd/paradisecircus_full.swf. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
- ^ "The Devil Made Her Do It". http://newtextureblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/georgina-spelvins-devil-made-me-do-it.html. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
- ^ a b c d e f "rame awards list". http://www.rame.net/library/lists/best.html. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
- ^ "AVN Hall of Fame". http://www.avnawards.com/index.php?content=halloffame. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
- ^ "On My Way to AVN Awards Show". The Los Angeles Times. 2006-01-07. http://vegasblog.latimes.com/vegas/2006/01/on_my_way_to_av.html. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
- ^ "XRCO Hall of Fame". http://www.bwdl.net/XRCO-2/hall.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
- ^ "AVN 2006 Nominations" (PDF). http://web.archive.org/web/20051129014904/www.avn.com/imagearchive/24/82/23/248223AVN_Awards_Nominations.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
External links
Categories:- 1936 births
- Living people
- Pornographic film actors from Texas
- Female pornographic film actors
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