Joey Stefano: The Most Glamorous Gay Porn Star

In this day and age of nameless, faceless, revolving door display of amateur gay porn *performers* (I use the word performer because no one on the scene today is a true star), Joey Stefano's legendary life and career looms overhead. Stefano lived one of the most decadent, hedonistic, darkly glamorous and ultimately fatal lives of anyone in his genre. His exceptional beauty mixed with his obvious penchant for self destruction was a marvel to behold and he even eventually broke into the mainstream when Madonna took notice of him and incorporated him into her infamous SEX Book. Stefano was also ahead of his time in understanding the idea of image and how to craft one's own image. He was notorious for putting out publicity stories about himself. Often relating to gossipy stories of his "dates" with wealthy closeted celebs. One of his *true* stories even outed David Geffen and forced the billionaire to come out to the public at an AIDS event. Although Joey was HIV positive at the end of his life, he died of a speedball (heroin and cocaine mixture) at the La Brea Motel in Hollywood.

http%3A//www.kinopoisk.ru/im/kadr/8/1/3/kinopoisk.ru-Joey-Stefano-813451.jpg



• Don't hit the link. Virus. Why did you post that. Jackass.

• What was glamorous, darkly or otherwise, about his life, OP?

• Yeah, you can tell by the ".ru" domain. Never a good thing.

• Sorry, there was no virus message on my end with that original link. Here's another one. There's hundreds of images of him on the net.

  http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/30500000/Joey-Stefano-January-1-1968-November-26-1994-celebrities-who-died-young-30544450-396-230.jpg

  OP

• Most Glamorous? what am I? Chopped liver?

  http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FaNpilE8y8/SRox4U2MwcI/AAAAAAAAAFk/5-PMBwYkVLE/s400/20081112_4988a.jpg

  Erik%20Rhodes%2C%20gone%20but%20not%20forgotten

• [quote]What was glamorous, darkly or otherwise, about his life, OP? Because he went from a street hustler in the gritty streets of New York to the highest heights of the velvet mafia. He lived live full throttle, even if it was a detriment to himself. I find something beautifully poetic about self destruction.

  OP

• I don't think any porn star's life is glamorous. Sad and pathetic, yes.

• Joey Stefano was my first gay crush. He was absolutely beautiful but there was something so sad and destructive about him. There was also an aloofness; you can see it in a few of his movies, where he glances at the camera, just for a second, as if to say "I know what you want". Christopher Isherwood's book, Wonder Bread & Ecstacy, is a must read, even if you aren't a Joey Stefano fan. It's quite insightful into the world of '90s gay porn.

• Read the book about him and Jon Vincent's book. Vincent's was really interesting.

• Calling porn performers glamorous is a real stretch. Hot? Yes. Interesting? Maybe. But glamorous? No. That seedy world is filled with emotionally handicapped misfits who make terrible decisions in a constant search for fulfillment. And only a tiny few, probably even fewer than in legit show biz, make a living at it for very long or turn it into a real career.

• r7, sometimes things that can be "sad and pathetic" can be glamorous. Often, the most glamorous people lived lives that weren't all happiness and sunshine. A lot of people would have said Marilyn Monroe, James Dean or River Phoenix lived self destructive lives but no one would deny them of their innate glamour appeal.

  http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/i/partypictures/09_21_11/musto/Musto-with-chip%2C-robin%2C-Joey-Stefano.jpg

• r10, I never said that being a porn star was glamorous. I said that Joey Stefano was the most glamorous of them. Get the distinction? In fact, I agree that the vast majority of porn stars are decidedly unglamorous. That's why a true star like Stefano really stood out.

• He was extremely handsome. Sexually, very adept. (Check out his films.) Supposedly, a sweet guy, to boot. Dead at 26, in the first wave of AIDS victims. Those first guys didn't know what hit them. One day your life is all ahead of you, suddenly you're sick, then, you're dead. :-(

  Sad

• He has an amazing ass, like Kevin Williams, sad gay porn is such shit now I don't watch any newly made porn.

• OMG R11 !! Was that Robyn Byrd in that photo?? Yeah, really glamorous! Whatever happened to her??? .. She used to be on late nite blue tv. She'd flex her pussy and say: "Read my lips!" .. The epitome of glamour!!

  Anonymous

• Yes r12, I get that you probably meant intriguing. But your language leads one in the other direction. I don't find anything 'darkly glamorous' about someone with a 'penchant for destruction', nor do I find it 'a marvel to behold'. To me it's like looking at a car wreck.

• [quote]Dead at 26, in the first wave of AIDS victims. I thought he died of an overdose?

• [quote]Dead at 26, in the first wave of AIDS victims. Except that he died of an overdose in the 90's. So nether AIDS nor "first wave", had it been AIDS.

• His IMAGE was that of glamour and sexual freedom. His reality was harshly different, a life of drug addiction, insanity, reckless choices, HIV and sex with people for $$$ that most of us wouldn't have lunch with. I've known many porn stars when I lived in the fast lane, and believe me, most are extremely unhappy and have major issues that most of us can't overcome.

• Apparently someone is producing a feature film about his life that's set to come out next year. I'd love to see it if it's actually well made. If Hollywood could do for him what they did for John Holmes, that would be great.

• I don't understand the thread title. He was attractive, but not very handsome.

• Even though Joey did obviously continue to escort even at the height of his "career", at least his clientele was the rich and powerful Velvet Mafia set. It was a big step up from where he started, trolling the Christopher St. Pier and the Adonis sex theater. Geffen begged Joey to stop using drugs when they were together. He said there was a deep sadness in Joey that haunts him till this day. One of Joey's attributes was his expressive eyes. Most porn stars have the "dead eyes, dead soul" look but even when Joey was beyond fucked up he still was able to penetrate you with his eyes. He was a true performer in that regard.

• [quote]His exceptional beauty mixed with his obvious penchant for self destruction was a marvel to behold Mary! [quote]and he even eventually broke into the mainstream when Madonna took notice of him and incorporated him into her infamous SEX Book. Honey, he was basically a porn model who was hired for a porn book. What's so fucking original about that? [quote]Stefano was also ahead of his time in understanding the idea of image and how to craft one's own image. He wasn't "ahead of his time" in that regard by any means. People have been pulling stunts like that since the 20s. I think you'd better take a cold shower and calm yourself down. You sound like you've got a bad case of the vapors.

• [quote]Because he went from a street hustler in the gritty streets of New York to the highest heights of the velvet mafia. You sound like you're about to break out into a rendition of "I've Never Been to Me."

• Is Miss Isherwood taking time off from the Times to direct AND play Chi Chi Larue?

• The venom in this thread is withering... It always galls me how so many gay men can have such searingly loathsome feelings for porn stars even though 99% of "enjoyed" their performances. You don't see straight men demonizing their female porn idols like gay men do to ours. Jenna Jameson is practically lionized in straight men's minds.

• He wasn't at all glamorous. He would never have made it as the eye candy paramour of a rich and powerful man. He was hot as fuck but not terribly sexual-his sexual performances on-camera were rudimentary and lacked true passion. He was highly overrated.

• Joey and Ryan Idol.

  http://www.xvideos.com/video500420/joey_stefano_and_ryan_idol

• Like most of them he was just a lost little boy finding his way. You can see this in the video that may be still on YouTube of an interview with him in a restaurant. Typical short Italian pistol. But he was certainly more handsome than Tammy to whom he bares a passing resemblence.

• I always thought he was quite pretty, but I felt most of his "performances" were rather lacking in any real lust. He did a lot of laying there, not making much noise or doing my moving around. He was no Jon King, that's for sure.

• Joey Stefano was a bore. He had tinymezt,which he couldn't keep erect most of the time. He has zero presence.

• he was a whore, darlin'

• Venom? I don't think anyone is demonizing them here. Porn is and is intended to be a totally contrived fantasy. In other words, completely fake. The reality is that it has a seedy underside, and gobbles up young people and spits them out. At least in my case, I have pity and compassion for those who fall into this obviously shitty lifestyle of drugs, promiscuity and downwardly spiraling self-worth.

• He looked awful and so drugged out in the last few years of his life. But that is why people do porn for the drugs.

• Typical bland white guy. Overrated as usual on DL.

• "Glamorous... porn star" is an oxymoron. Nothing wrong with porn, or porn stars, but nothing glamorous.

• I agree that nowadays, gay porn is oversaturated with a bunch of 'actors' that are not at all appealing. There were certainly a lot of non 'stars' even in the gay porn heyday ..... but there were also a handful of genuine 'star' types that the studios of the day did try to 'build up' and not overexpose (so to speak) I liked Stefano and thought he was enthusiastic about his career, but it didn't really translate over to all of his performances. He was definitely a great looking guy. I think the movie about Joey and his clique of porn buddies is called 'The Gay Porn Brat Pack'

• "Christopher Isherwood's book, Wonder Bread & Ecstacy" Uh, that would be CHARLES Isherwood.

• Apparently it's now called 'X-Rated' and one of the stars is Willam as Karen Dior.

  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1719035/fullcredits#cast

• yes, depending on Chi Chi La Rue is the height of glamour & sophistication.

• Few porn stars had the type of success and name recognition as Joey Stefano enjoyed during his heyday. The tragic nature of his demise added to the overall allure of his life.

• Pining after dead porn stars is like being in your 60s and running a fan site for some 1950s rock and roller. Just....sad.

• Not so much a pining for the dead porn star but the times in which the dead porn star lived and which will probably never come back. Only in the late 80s/early 90s could a gay porn star because famous. That would never happen today.

• Fuck you, R43!

  Dawson

• What the fuck is R13 talking about?

• [quote]It always galls me how so many gay men can have such searingly loathsome feelings for porn stars even though 99% of "enjoyed" their performances. It's kinda like how the acting profession was looked down upon, even compared to prostitution. Sure, respectable Victorians loved going to the theater, but they would never associate with an actor/actress. Then starting in the mid-20th Century, the pendulum began to swing the other way. Now stage/film actors are lauded and even knighted. Makes me wonder if 100 years from now, porn stars will be in the mainstream.

• Say what you will about Michael Lucas, but his life is not without glamour.

• Nor is it without ducklips.

• "A lot of people would have said Marilyn Monroe, James Dean or River Phoenix lived self destructive lives but no one would deny them of their innate glamour appeal." But none of them were immortalized on film swallowing cum or getting their assholes pounded by a big fat cock.

• r49 = Sex negative prisspot.

• I really don't get this thread. He was cute, but hardly a world-class beauty. His life was a mess, hardly glamorous. And I doubt more than one (if that) out of a random sampling of a thousand people would have any idea who he was.

• Wow...this picture is pretty provocative, especially given that it was made 20 years ago. I can't imagine any pop star making this kind of photograph these days. Rihanna, Britney, Katy? Please.... We've grown more conservative as a culture in a lot of ways. The pic is of Madonna eating Joey Stefano's ass, so it's a tad NSFW.

  http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/c90/0cb/c900cb44-fb69-41da-aea9-2ab9b6239cd0

• There was something smoldering about Joey Stefano. That great plump ass (still the best in porn history, IMO), the naturally toned body, great hair, and haunting eyes. But ITA he could be a totally mediocre performer... I guess because he was so tweaked so much of the time.

• I don't get what people don't get about flying around the world in First Class, hobnobbing with rich and famous people like Madonna and David Geffen and being a bonafide star to most gay men at the time could be anything OTHER than GLAMOUR. Yes, he was a porn star. So what? Big deal! He got famous by having sex on film. He was still famous. Yes, he was a drug addict and it eventually cost him is life. So what? A lot of fabulous people have drug and alcohol issues. No one discredits them. Once again, can someone intelligently give an argument that this man did not live an exciting and glamorous life that most people could not live? Socialite women like Jackie O and Babe Paley basically sold their bodies to their husbands for money and recognition. Joey was just more honest about it. It really bothers me how prissy some gay men can be about this topic. I just don't understand how any gay man could ever look down their noses at anyone given how much ridicule and derision we've faced.

• He was like the gay male version of "Rollergirl" from Boogie Nights. Fabulous, drug addled and bit deranged.

• OP, you're so over-the-top in your admiration of/adoration of Joey Stefano that you're saying ridiculous things. He was a porn "star." He was boring at his job. Pretty to look at, but boring. As his drug addiction got worse, what little personality he was able to project disappeared completely. You and Charles Isherwood must be the only two gays in the world over the moon about this guy. At the time, he was not all that interesting.

• r56, yet his name lives on while dozens, if not hundreds of other porn performers have come and gone without any fanfare. I don't see too many others of his genre with books and films being made about them.

• Please. Bland at his best, with a hole so loose and calloused you could use a metal spoon the clap in it from side to side to call the film crew to supper.

• Jesus Christ r54 you're tragic.

• The porn world and the mainstream entertainment world are not unlike in that there are those fleeting instances of glamor, but then the reality of the business takes it's place very quickly. And face it, the mainstream movie/TV industry is jam packed with lowlife sleazeballs, on both sides of the camera. And frankly, major league movie and TV stars are no less the whores that porn stars are.

• R50, R52, R54, R55, R57 is the same retarded, deranged troll who keeps insisting that poor, drug-addicted Joey Stefano led a life a glamour and excitement that most mere mortals can only dream of. Ignore the moronic asshole.

• [quote]yet his name lives on Charles Manson's name lives on, too, r57. Does that make him glamorous? Do you admire him for being famous?

• And then, of course,was Chi Chi LaRue's tragic influence on Stefano, killing him with all the drugs.

• I am waiting for the news reports of Chi Chi's spontaneous combustion or her being knifed by some rough trade. Evil, evil queen.

• Stefano and LaRue's macabre relationship is fascinating. Let's just say this queen is lucky she never "groomed" Bryan Kocis or else she'd have a second smile located on her throat.

• r54, I think Laura Wingfield had a better grasp on reality than you do.

  The%20Gentlemen%20Caller

• Whoever mentioned Jon Vincent upthread...now THAT was a porn star.

• I've heard sories about Chi Chi being evil for years,what are some of the things he/she has supposedly done to earn such a reputation?

• Stefano wasn't glamorous. He did a lot of supporting work for non-prestigious porn companies. I don't believe he was ever an exclusive.

• "I don't believe he was ever an exclusive." Well, being an exclusive wasn't as big a deal when Stefano was a porn star--that's something that became a bigger deal later. I don't think Ryan Idol was an exclusive either, was he?

• Mmmmmmmmmmm

  http://www.alsgaypornstars.com/images/joeystefano10.jpg

  NSFW

• I heard Lucy was originally offered the lead role in The Dildo Kings. But Gary wouldn't let her do it.

• Stefano was gorgeous. Smoldering bedroom eyes, hot body, perfect butt just begging to get fucked. He just exuded sex appeal. He could have been a mainstream model or actor. I seem to remember reading (maybe in the Isherwood book) that he wasn't willing or able to fake interest if he wasn't attracted to his scene partner. Maybe that's why so many find his scenes boring. Lukas Ridgeston is another stunningly gorgeous porn model who never generates much heat in his sex scenes. Also, I thought it was Chi Chi Larue who shaped his image. She said he was a scrawny rocker kid with long hair before she helped transform him into the sexy boy next door. I may be remembering her version inaccurately but I never got the impression Stefano had much interest or control over his image.

• LaRue might have been the one to initially create the "Joey Stefano" public persona, but Joey loved all the attention and went along for the ride. Nicholas, his real name, fell into the role so much that "Joey" really became who he was.

• glamorous is definitely the wrong word for Stefano's life. Rare and presented with some opportunity that most of us do not get (and most probably do not want), but bottom line ...he was a prostitute on and off film. I don't think even Joey would describe his own life as glamorous.

• WEHT Kurt Stefano?

• Yo, Joey was a South Philly boy. Having lived in South Philly for a while, I can tell you that there is a Joey on every friggin' corner. Hotter than hell with their cocks stuffed into their tight jeans and pants, hangin' on da *pa'ment, smokin', yellin': "What, are you fuckin' kiddin' me? Fuggedaboudit!" Whew. * pa'ment is the way they pronounce pavement.

• How big was his cock?

• Joey might not have always been the most enthusiastic bottom but he always gave inspired blowjobs! Pic at the link obviously NSFW:

  http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1j1rn9AQc1qlftofo1_500.jpg

• [quote] LaRue might have been the one to initially create the "Joey Stefano" public persona, but Joey loved all the attention and went along for the ride. Nicholas, his real name, fell into the role so much that "Joey" really became who he was. Is "bored hooker getting plowed" really a persona? Did he adopt his signature position in real life situations liking waiting in line at the grocery shop?

• That picture looks like it's from an old TV Guide.

• [quote]That picture looks like it's from an old TV Guide. LOL what TV Guide were you subscribed to???

• Only read the last few reponses. Don't want to repeat, but this is clearly an eldergay thread. Porn is never glamorous, nor are the actors. Isn't there a Judy Garland thread calling you OP?

  Bored%20with%20DL%20queens%20living%20in%20their%20glory%20days

• Oh yeah, R83? Wait until YOU turn 35!

• R83, if you don't get to bed earlier your mommy and daddy are NOT going to let you see "Twilight" again this weekend!

• Oh just you wait r83. Before you know it you'll be using reading glasses, and developing nasal labial folds, and you'll be shocked that it all went so fast. I don't know how old you are now, but 50, 60 and beyond are just around the corner. Dumbass.

• Despite the pic, Stefano's blowjobs were as boring as everything else he did. I think he simply did not enjoy sex. It was a job that he did half-heartedly.

• [quote]but this is clearly an eldergay thread. You're writing this on every thread recently. Don't you have anything more interesting to say? Are you jammed on autopilot?

• Stefano died young and we didn't see his illness wasting him away...so his life is glamorized.

• I still have not seen his cock. Why does he hide it?

• I dunno if he was all that "glamorous", but he sure had an indefinable sexiness.