Jamie Gillis

Jamie Gillis studied at Columbia University. The recorded working language is English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are pornographic film. Distinctions recorded are AVN Hall of Fame, XRCO Hall of Fame, AVN Award for Best Actor and AVN Award for Best Supporting Actor.

• Name — Jamie Gillis • Birth Name — Jamey Ira Gurman • Born — 20 April 1943 • Birthplace — New York City, U.S. • Died — 19 February 2010 • Place of death — New York City, U.S. • Partner — Serena, Zarela Martinez, Juliet Graham • Other Names — Al Cianelli, Jamie Kantor, Jamier Kantor, Jaime Gillis, Jaimie Gillis, Jaimi Gillis, Jamey Gillis, Jamie Grill, Buster Hymen, Jamey, James Kleeman, Cotton Mathers, Ronny Morgan, Barry Gillis, Sir Jamie Gillis, James Rugman (gay)

Gillis was born Jamey Ira Gurman in New York City. He was named after the Tyrone Power character in the film The Black Swan (1942), and he took the name Gillis from the girlfriend he was living with when he made his first films. Gillis later attended Columbia University and graduated magna cum laude. While supporting himself driving a cab, he answered an ad in The Village Voice.

He appeared in more than 470 movies as an actor. He also directed several adult movies. While appearing mostly in heterosexual pornography, Gillis was bisexual and occasionally performed in gay porn, including a sex scene with Zebedy Colt in the 1975 Gerard Damiano BDSM-themed film The Story of Joanna. Gillis appeared in the mainstream Hollywood film Nighthawks (1981) as the boss of Lindsay Wagner's character (he's credited as 'Designer'). He also made his name in two Radley Metzger films, The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1976) and Barbara Broadcast (1977); the former is considered, by award-winning author Toni Bentley, the "crown jewel" of the Golden Age of Porn. According to Al Goldstein, Gillis was always described as "sexually the wildest, most decadent, off-the-wall guy in the business." He was a pioneer in the pornographic style known as Gonzo. In addition to starring in the first Buttman film, he also created the influential On the Prowl series. Featuring a porn star who rides in a limo looking for regular guys to have sex with, the video series was very popular and inspired a scene in the movie Boogie Nights. He also co-produced the popular Dirty Debutante series with fellow director and performer Ed Powers. In the early 1990s, he directed a series of low-budget videos called Jamie Gillis: The Private Tapes, meant for a niche market and sometimes for private customers, which focused on fetish themes such as BDSM but also on some occasions golden showers and coprophilia.

Gillis died on February 19, 2010, in New York City from melanoma, which was diagnosed four to five months earlier. In an audio interview given to The Rialto Report shortly before his death, Gillis stated that in the 1970s he had wanted his ashes to be scattered in Times Square, but years later he changed his mind, stating that the cleaned up Times Square that emerged in the 1990s would contaminate his ashes.

• Die You Zombie Bastards! (2005) • Potty Mouth (2004) • Luv Generation (2004) • Sunset Stripped (2002) • New Wave Hookers 5 (1997) • Bobby Sox (1996) • Taboo XI (1993) • Taboo IX (1991) • Play My Flute (1991) • Uncle Jamie's Double Trouble (1991) • Playin' Dirty (1990) • Jamie Gillis and Africa (1990) • Taboo VII (1989) • Alien Space Avenger (1989) • Adventures of Buttman (1989) • Pretty Peaches (1989) • Head Lock (1989) • Pretty Peaches 2 (1987) • Babyface 2 (1986) • Taboo V (1986) • Taboo IV (1985) • Ten Little Maidens (1985) • Love Mexican Style (1985) • Too Naughty to Say No (1985) • New Wave Hookers (1984) • Trinity Brown (1984) • A Little Bit of Hanky Panky (1984) • Corruption (1983) • Night of the Zombies (1981) • Roommates (1981) • Neon Nights (1981) • Amanda by Night (1981) • Wanda Whips Wall Street (1981) • Nighthawks (1981) • Blonde Ambition (1981) • Dracula Exotica (1980) • The Seduction of Cindy (1980) • 800 Fantasy Lane (1979) • The Ecstasy Girls (1979) • Sensual Fire (1979) • Heavenly Desire (1979) • Hot Honey (1978) • Dracula Sucks (aka Lust At First Bite) (1978) • A Coming of Angels (1977) • Barbara Broadcast (1977) • Lustful Feelings (1977) • Obsessed (1977) • Captain Lust and the Pirate Women (1977) • Through the Looking Glass (1976) • Winter Heat (1976) • Water Power (1976) • The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1976) • Oriental Blue (1976) • Saturday Night Special (1976) • Boy Napped (1975) • Sometime Sweet Susan (1975) • Abigail Lesley is Back in Town(1975) • The Seduction of Lyn Carter (1974) • Fantasy Girls (1974) • Deep Throat Part II (1974)

• Devious Old Gillis (1998) • Back on the Prowl 2 (1998) • Back on the Prowl (1998) • Punished Sex Offenders (1990) • Takeout Torture (1990) • On the Prowl (1989)

Jamie Gillis is recorded as actor, screenwriter, model and director.