by Hyapatia Lee
We had never heard of the name on the suitcase tag. We started thinking. What if this person doesn’t have his belongings anymore because he’s dead? What if the Mafia really does own this whole business and this guy crossed someone and they had him snuffed? Whose house were we really in? Were we in a safe position or dancing with the devil?
Later that night Harry came home with a friend. After dinner, as they played chess, we heard them talking about another man, the same one whose name was on the luggage in the closet. We listened as they talked about his trip.
“Why didn’t he take his suitcase?” Bud asked to my horror.
“What do you mean?” Harry questioned.
“In the closet of the room you told us to take is his suitcase with his name on it. Didn’t he need it?”
“He always keeps his stuff here because he comes down here every other weekend.”
“Are you sure he’s not dead?” My bold, brave, stupid husband asked.
“What are you talking about?” A very confused Harry asked.
“Well, we thought that if this business really is owned by the Mafia, that maybe this guy got in your way and you had to snuff him.”
Harry looked at his friend for a minute, dumbfounded, and then they both broke out in uproarious laughter.
“No, no, no,” he said, tears of laugher creeping out of the corners of his eyes, “He just comes down here to play golf twice a month and leaves his stuff here. We’re not the Mafia.” They couldn’t stop laughing and we felt relieved.
After waiting a few more weeks for a shoot date, our funds were low again and Harry had run out of clubs for us to dance in temporarily. He contacted a friend of his, Jerry Stonem of Essex. Jerry was shooting a movie next week and Harry thought he could get me a part in it. That would give me a decent amount of money to tide me over until his production started.
Bud called and talked to Jerry and we were invited out to his office, but we had no car and it was an $80 taxi fare from where we were! When we explained all of this to Jerry, he sent someone to come and get us. Tim knocked on the door about an hour later and politely introduced himself as Jerry’s brother-in-law and away we went.
The Essex building was majestic. To our surprise, Jerry was younger than Bud and seemed nice enough. We sat and talked at length and he bought us lunch from the chuck wagon. We talked about what we wanted, our requirements, and our position with Harry. Jerry called Harry on the phone while we were there to let him know he was taking good care of us. Jerry then told us that he thought he could get me a part in a film that was to be shot next week. I would have to meet the director and read for the part.
Everything was moving so fast. Tim took us to meet the director, a husband and wife team named Ed and Spring Black. Eddy directed under the name of Stephen Lucas and his wife was the production manager. We sat down with them and discussed our relationship first.
Harry was very protective of us. I was to be signed to work exclusively for Caribbean Films, just like in the old Hollywood Studio days when stars worked for only one studio. He did not want to let me be used by every company in the valley, but he thought he could trust Jerry. His offer was to let me shoot this movie provided they would not release it until after “The Young Like it Hot” came out. He also stipulated that they were to handle me with kid gloves and that it was imperative that I leave his set with a good taste in my mouth about the adult movie industry.
Ed was worried that Bud would be jealous watching me with another man in front of the camera. Bud explained to him how we had worked to prepare ourselves for the business. He even lied and told him we were swingers and that he had seen me with other men before. That satisfied Ed. Then Ed asked me how I felt about blowjobs. I told him that I was not a prude. I’d seen X-rated movies before and I knew that blowjobs and facial cumshots were prerequisites and I plainly told him I had anticipated doing them. He seemed happy and I finally read for the part.
Later that night after Tim took us back to our hotel, Jerry called to say I was a good actress according to Ed, and I was cast as Jane in “Marina Del Rey”, as it was being called then. It was later released under the title of “Naughty Girls Need Love Too” and was a million dollar seller! Jerry also said he was impressed with me and wanted to star me in another film after this one! I was ecstatic! I couldn’t believe he really wanted to star me after having just started. I hadn’t even made my first film yet! I did not understand then that the business thrives on new meat.
Essex flew us up to San Francisco and put us up in a hotel. The Oasis hotel was “the porn hotel” as everyone always stayedthere whenever there was a shoot. I had a fairly small part and was only to work for two days. Bud’s mom also lived in the city and she came down to say hello. She was a very understanding mother who knew exactly what was going on.
The soundstage was like a land of enchantment in a warehouse. Its large doors gave way to a small area where a red light above a door was the center of attention. If the light was on, they were in the middle of shooting a scene and you could not go in. If the light was off, all was clear. A bell sounded before the cameras started to roll so everyone would know to be quiet and two bells were our signal that we could resume activity. Through the door was an area for set construction and the smell of paint and sawdust was heavy in the air. Every sound was magnified by the tall ceilings and cement floors that housed a collage of sets and props. A thirty-five millimeter movie camera sat on a dolly with a slate board on its seat looking mysteriously lonely. I could hear the actors and actresses in the distance. The vast space was cold in the winter and hot in the summer. When a set was lit, the heat from the lights was intense. There were three private dressing rooms for bigger stars and one large “greenroom” as they are always called, for the rest of the cast. Adjacent to the dressing area were the wardrobe and make-up rooms where bits and pieces of sponges, cloth, safety pins and Abilene make-up remover sat waiting to be needed. There was a production office and restrooms equipped with showers. The place was kind of spooky, as if every character ever created in this building actually lived and still lived in the form of a ghost whose presence could be felt long after the work was done.
Ed and Spring agreed to anything we needed to make us more comfortable, which really wasn’t much. We wanted to be sure Bud was allowed to stay within my eyesight on the set once the sex scene started.
They had given me a list of five guys they were considering for the part opposite me. I had seen them all in action in movies with Seka and Lee Carroll. I chose Randy West. The first day I was on the set, we shot dialogue only and I got to get to know Randy. We ate lunch together and talked off set when we weren’t needed. It gave me a chance to feel comfortable with him. He knew how nervous I was and he did everything possible to make me more comfortable. I felt like he really cared about me as a person and was polite and respectful. He asked me what kind of sexual acts he should be sure not to do to offend me and what he might do to actually turn me on.
The movie itself was written by Ed and was shot in 5 days for $75,000 on film. This was before the video boom and this was an average budget. There were others that were bigger shoots, some that were not as elaborate, but this was normal for the fall of 1983. The soundstage we shot on was huge. I kept getting lost in it. I was told commercials and movies made for T.V. were also shot here. Production companies rent the stage, along with the lights and sets in it, on a daily basis. Apparently, the owners of the stage looked at Essex as having just as legitimate a paycheck as Tide and Dynasty. When there were outside shots to be done, that did not involve sex, of course, it was fine to go out on the streets of San Francisco and set the camera and sound equipment up and shoot the shot. Everything was shot in San Francisco back then because L.A. had a law against shooting explicit sex in the county, but explicit violence was legally sanctioned. The law was changed in the mid to late 80’s and all adult movies were shot in L.A. after that.
It was strange to be on a professional movie set meeting st
ars I’d seen in the many adult theaters I’d danced in. The animated sounds of sex permeated the tall set walls and filled the air, as did the pungent smell of days’ worth of sex scenes.
On the set Ed was very busy and never had time to coach the actors very much except right before the sex scene. My sex scene was my last scene to do on my last day of work. The dialogue that preceded it was shot early in the day and everything was going smoothly. I was worried about the sex scene now only because of Bud. I was afraid he’d flip and get angry or jealous. I was concerned that even if he didn’t, he would lose it on me when we got to the hotel after work. Remembering our deal with “the powers that be” to have Bud in eyesight, I went to double check with Spring that everything was OK. She assured me that it was, and we started in on the scene.
Ed took Bud and me into the wardrobe room and blocked out, or choreographed, the scene. When he was finished, Bud and I looked at each other. Ed never mentioned me giving Randy a blowjob! Now we knew what the audience was coming to see and I spoke up.
“Don’t you want me to, you know, go down on him sometime?”
Ed said, “No, no, that won’t be necessary, your character is real innocent anyway.”
Bud and I just shrugged our shoulders and went to the set.
I played a librarian and it was in this scene that I was to let my hair down. It started out with a slow, seductive strip while Randy lay eagerly in bed. Things were going very smoothly. I looked over at Bud who smiled and nodded approvingly. Then it came time for the actual sex.
I followed Ed’s directions as Randy spread my legs and began to go down on me. I looked over for Bud, but he was nowhere to be seen. I started to get a little nervous. No one was doing anything I objected to, but where was Bud?
I started to get worried and lost focus on the matters at hand. Everyone kept going. They kept on shooting and I didn’t feel like I was in a position to yell “cut”! No one acted like anything out of the ordinary was happening. All the crew was quite used to filming explicit scenes. It was nothing for them to be holding an inky light within inches of someone’s spread legs. Randy was the only one who noticed I was upset. He asked what was bothering me. When I told him he brushed it off, saying something about how lots of girl’s boyfriends and husbands think they can handle it only to freak out in the middle of the scene. He thought we would easily work it out back at the hotel after we wrapped.
I was riding on top of Randy now, trying to hurry the scene along so I could find out why Bud wasn’t on the set like he was supposed to be.
Ed said, “OK, we’ve got enough coverage of this. We’re ready for the cum shot, Randy. Now Hyapatia, when Randy is ready to cum, he’ll tell you and I want you to hop off of him and get down there and give him head.”
I looked at Ed in amazement. What about all that crap he said upstairs about my character supposedly being innocent? There wasn’t much time to discuss it. Randy was quickly approaching his orgasm and I did what Ed wanted. The camera has to see the orgasm, so it was more of just getting my face in the frame than anything else. I had no ill feelings about doing it; I had told Ed that the first time we talked, so why did he feel as though he had to manipulate us?
When the scene was over, I searched for Bud and found him looking for me. It seems he was forcefully taken aside by two house apes that explained that it would be better if he stepped off set as a precaution. They said the director thought he would loose it and ruin the scene. We were livid.
Bud said we should not get upset just yet. We should get paid first. Spring did all the paperwork and not a negative word was said. On the way out, I went to say good-by to the make-up artist, David Clark, who had been a very good friend to me on the set. As we were talking, Ed came in for some coffee because he was so tired. Bud brought Ed a cup. Ed’s reply was “Well it’s nice to see you’re good for something.” I thought Bud was going to hit him, but he didn’t.
I couldn’t believe this five foot five inch Napoleon actually had the guts to say that to my over six foot, two hundred pound husband. Surely the man was suicidal. If I had been Bud, I would not have been able to restrain myself.
We immediately left the set. We called Jerry Stonem at home since it was after hours and raised hell. He apologized profusely. We called Harry and complained. He said he’d have Jerry make it up to us. The next day we got an apology from Spring Black, the producer, but not her husband Ed. She said that Ed was afraid Bud would break the camera or stand in front of it and demand more money like Seka’s husband was known to do. I told Jerry I was not interested in starring in this other movie he wanted me in. Over the years, he never did apologize and Bud and I never forgot. I do believe Spring was embarrassed about her husband’s behavior.
A few days after that experience, I found myself back in front of Clint’s camera, posing for Gentlemen’s Companion with
Julia Parton and in a pool by myself for Hustler again. Then it was finally time to shoot “The Young Like it Hot” and “Sweet Young Foxes”, the first movies in my contract with Caribbean Films. Harry had his work cut out for him. To convince Bud and me that everything was on the level and that we could trust him he would have to bend over backwards, and he did. It was quite a different kind of experience.
BECOMING A PORN STAR
Bob Chin was to direct both “The Young Like it Hot” and “Sweet Young Foxes”. His wife had written the later of the two screenplays and we were to shoot it first. The two movies were shot back to back, with no down time between them. They were done in San Francisco, just like Essex did with “Naughty Girls Need Love Too”. The movie had many established stars I’d admired and wanted to meet, and also some very beautiful and talented newcomers. Kay Parker, Eric Edwards, Joey Silvera and Pat Manning were talented and respected stars who were easy to work with and down to earth. Kay Parker, especially, took me under her wing and gave me some advice about how I should not be afraid to stand up for myself and let no one push me beyond my boundaries. It was quite different from the “eating shit” lecture I had gotten from Lee Carroll.
In “Sweet Young Foxes” I was to play a college freshman that missed her boyfriend, ‘Alex’, back home and eventually found another. My first scene was a masturbation to a memory of a lovemaking session Alex and I had in front of a fireplace. Harry asked me if I had anyone in mind that I would like to work with to play Alex. Naturally I said Bud and so it was.
It was beautiful, so romantic with a bear skin rug, candlelight, and wine. We were both excited about the prospect of actually getting to work together in front of the camera. Being the stage performer I was raised to be, the lights turned me on. I could completely relax with Bud. No one would take him off the set now! We did a great job, to be modest.
At the end of the movie, when my character found her new boyfriend, things were not as easy. Bud was afraid now that he wasn’t actually in the scene, someone would usher him aside again, and he was beginning to get jealous. To make matters worse, we were filming on location and the scene was to be shot in a small wine tasting room. There was hardly enough room for the performers and a cameraman. Harry took Bud aside and talked to him.
“You know, this is just sex.” Harry said out of the blue.
“What do you mean?”
“Your wife isn’t making love to these men, it’s only sex. It’s just a physical act.” Bud still wasn’t convinced. “Just because this guy’s going to stick his peter in her doesn’t mean she loves him. She’s just doing a job.”
“But what if she actually comes?”
“Do you mean to tell me that every woman that’s ever made you come, you’ve been in love with?” Harry had a good point. Bud could not hold back a small chuckle. “Then what makes you think she’s any different?”
“She just looks like she’s enjoying it so much with them.”
“How do you know? Do you ever watch her when you’re making love to her?”
“Yes.”
“Bullshit! You’re too busy fucking her to
watch. And if you stop fucking and start watching, of course she isn’t going to enjoy it as much. Who does she go home with every night? Who is she married to? No guy is going to change all that with his dick!”
“That’s what she keeps telling me.”
“Then maybe you’d better listen to her. Do you remember when you came up to my office in LA to get the final copy of the script? Everyone in that room swore you’d be divorced or out of the business in six months or less. I told them they were wrong.”
“You’re damn right they’re wrong, we will quit this business before we get divorced!” Bud declared boldly.
“I know, but you don’t have to do either. You can stay in this business and be happily married. Many people have.” Bud looked at Harry in disbelief.
Their conversation was interrupted by the fact it was time to return to work.
It was a hot day and the scene was moving rather slowly. The crew was starting to become impatient. The director, Bob, suggested we use a stand-in, a “stunt cock”. I started to get worried. Bob turned around and said “Harry, is there anybody here that looks the same from the waist down that can get a hard on?”
Harry turned to Bud, who didn’t hesitate a second before he said “I’m hard as a rock, are you kidding me? It’s turning me on to watch her suck him like that.”
I was overjoyed for two reasons; first, I’d get to make love to only my husband for the entire film and secondly, for such a switch in his attitude. Bud walked on the set and in a matter of minutes we were wrapped.
So far I had done 3 sex scenes. These took about 45 minutes each to shoot, including dialogue and changes in lighting and camera angles. I was learning the secrets of the sex film business. If a director wants a man to cum on your lips and you don’t want to, all you have to do is turn your face at the last minute and disregard his directions. The actor will demand another day’s pay for a second cum shot and they will never take the time and money to shoot it again. If you’re tired of the sex and you’re starting to get sore, tell the director and they will simulate the sex as soon as they get all the hard-core angles. There were more people in the business that were married or with a significant other than were not. A very large portion of the women were gay in their private lives.