Porn Legend Harry Reems Dead At 65
The news was first reported by Don Schenk, a close friend of Reems, who was by his side yesterday afternoon when he succumbed to organ failure at the Salt Lake City VA Hospital. Gawker has since received confirmation of Reems' passing from a representative of the hospital. According to Schenk, Reems was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last summer, compounding his existing health problems, which included peripheral neuropathy and emphysema.Following the Deep Throat court case, Reems fell into alcoholism and drug abuse, but Gawker notes that he spent the last 25 years of his life as a sober and highly successful real estate broker.
TRIVIA: Reems was originally cast as the track coach in the film version of Grease, but was replaced by Sid Ceasar over fears that his porn past would hurt attendance.
RELATED: Deep Throat is widely considered the most financially successful porn movie of all time, with some accounts putting its worldwide gross at around $600M, placing the film in contention with other highest-grossing conventional titles. Film critic Roger Ebert has contested that figure, saying that mob-connected theaters probably inflated box office revenues in order to launder drug and prostitution-related money. The film's female lead, Linda Lovelace (real name Linda Boreman), died in 2002 after denouncing the porn industry and becoming a spokeswoman for the anti-pornography movement. Lovelace claimed that the bruises visible on her body in Deep Throat came from the gun barrel of her then-husband, whom she claimed beat her into making the movie. In 1986 she told a congressional committee, "Virtually every time someone watches that movie, they're watching me being raped." Others in the porn industry discounted Lovelace's claims, noting that she went on to make other films. Lovelace's story, however, was backed by the late porn actress and disco star, Andrea True.
