Since the subject of STEPHEN GEOFFREYS has been brought up, I thought I'd talk about my experiences working with this Hollywood actor-turned-pornstar.



I had been in the business just a few months when SAM ADBUL of Forum Studios asked me to direct a leather movie for Leather Entertainment, one of his B lines. I was thrilled. He told me to make sure it had four scenes and eight models. The only models he asked me to use were EDUARDO and ERIC YORK, whom he wanted to do a scene together, and BLADE THOMPSON and JOHN MARCUS, who would be on the cover. Sam told me to shoot it at the Zone, a popular sex club in Hollywood, but other than those requirements (along with a budget of $10,000), I could do whatever I wanted.

I called the movie VIRGIN LEATHER and cast the very dreamy DREW ANDREWS, who I thought was really sexy, and TANNER REEVES, who I thought was a man in the lead roles. Wanting to impress Sam, I wanted to do a scene with a 3-way that Drew, the virgin to the leather scene, would watch. I knew it would have Tanner in it, and I cast hunk CUTTER WEST to be one of the other guys. But I didn't know who the third guy would be. He'd have to be smaller than the two giants in the scene and a bottom, since they would both fuck him. He also had to do the scene for a set price, as I only had a certain amount of money left for the last cast member. Sam gave me some pictures of guys he said would do the scene for the amount involved. I looked through them: CASEY O'BRIAN...PAUL CARRIGAN...and then, there he was...under the name SAM RITTER. I grabbed the phone and left a message on his machine.

Now, let me explain. I first saw Stephen in FRIGHT NIGHT back in 1985. I loved that movie. Funny, scary, good effects and with one of my favorite actors, RODDY MCDOWELL. Stephen played Evil Ed, a geeky, spikey-haired high school outsider who becomes a vampire. Toward the end of the film, he transforms from a wolf back into a young man and is completely naked. I thought he had a great body. I saw the movie 8 or 9 times, dragging people with me to see it when I could find them, and going alone when I couldn't. This was something I did frequently in those days. Every time Stephen's naked body came on screen, it was definitely a highlight, and I became interested in him enough to track down his other works: FRATERNITY VACATION, 976-EVIL, THE CHAIR, MOON 44 and even the atrocious WILD BLADE, where he plays a deaf mute escort.

Now, by the time I got into the industry, I knew Stephen had done some porns. I'd even seen a few of them, and that was my introduction to seeing a Hollywood film actor sexually erect and engaging in sex. While the scenes weren't shot particularly well, it was still exciting to see Stephen getting fucked. His body was thicker, bulkier and more buffed. Oddly, he wore a handkerchief over his head in one video and a baseball cap in another. I thought perhaps he was trying to disquise himself somewhat, in case someone recognized him later. So I was particularly revved that he might do a movie in a film for me.

A day or two later, Stephen called me back. To hear that recognizable voice on the telephone made my heart race. I introduced myself and told him about the movie. It was a leather film but he wouldn't be wearing any. He would bottom for two tops and this was what I could pay. He agreed, and I almost jumped into the air. I told him there would be some lines, and he asked me to fax over the script. The number of lines he had were so few that I'd never do this today, but I wanted to show him that I respected him, even though it was a small part.



As it was my first film, I did not do camera work on VIRGIN LEATHER, but flew in a friend from Chicago to handle that chore so I could concentrate on directing. We were finishing up the previous scene when I saw Stephen walk onto the set. He disappeared toward the back of the Zone to set up his stuff and prepare, and after we got the cum shots, I grabbed a blank model release form and headed back to see Stephen. He was in the tunnel, folding his clothes and putting them into a duffel bag as I entered, thinking "Be cool, be cool" to myself. He looked up at me nonchalantly as I said hi and handed him the form. I told him that I wanted the scene to be kind of rough, but if things got too rough for him, to just say "Time out" and we'd stop. His eyes got big. He blinked and said, "They're not going to hurt me, are they?" "No," I said. "Of course not."

The scene went very well, with only one incident. Stephen did not wear his hat or the handkerchief as he had in other movies, but at one point, he was sucking Cutter, who reached down and clamped a big hand on the top of his head. Stephen immediately jumped up and ran into the bathroom. Cutter stood there, blinking in confusion. I immediately understood the cap and the kerchief. Stephen wore a hairpiece.

"What'd I do wrong?" Cutter asked. I very quietly told him that Stephen wore a rug and was probably very sensitive about it. Grabbing the top of his head must have dislodged it. Stephen returned from the bathroom, and Cutter apologized. "It's okay," he said, acceptingly. "Just don't grab my head." Stephen (or Sam, as I called him during the shoot) was very professional (although he did hit on the cameraman, lol) basically showing up, doing his scene, then leaving. Not much chat. Not much lounging. In and out. Literally. Later, the title was changed to LEATHER VIRGIN by Video 10 (a decision that made little sense to me at the time, and not much more, now), and Sam Abdul was pleased by the outcome.



So when he gave me another video to direct, I decided to use Stephen again and cast him as the lead in LEATHER AFTER MIDNIGHT, a take off on the title LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT, a classic but "lost" silent movie. This would be my first foray into horror porn with Stephen playing the part of a guy interested in buying an old abandoned leather sex club and turning it into a coffee house. But the joint is haunted, and at midnight, the ghosts of guys having sex appear. Again, Sam wanted me to use BLADE THOMPSON and this time, SWEET WILLIAMS, as well, and put them on the box cover. On the set, Stephen seemed more interested in this project, as he had more lines to do. Stephen's scene was a threeway with Sweet Wiliams (another favorite of mine) and Paul Carrigan. I remember Paul was a last-minute replacement for another model who was a no-show, and was disgruntled to discover upon arrival that it was a 3-way. It was close to Christmas, and Paul had been shopping with his family when I called him. "They're in the car outside, watiing on me," he said. My mouth hit the floor, but I quickly assured him that the scene would go fast, so we began. And it did. Paul fucked both Sweet and Stephen.



The next film I did for Leather Entertainment was LEATHER INTRUSION CASE 2: THE SPIDER'S KISS, the second chapter of a four-part serial that I had pitched to Sam. Drew Andrews and Tanner Reeves would play undercover detectives trying to find the source of a street drug called Rawhide. Each installment would end in a cliff hanger, and you had to get the next film to find out how they'd get out of their predicament. Again, I hired Stephen and put him in the scene with Drew.

Now, up to this point, I had not let on that I knew of Stephen's mainstream film career. I didn't know if he would be embarrassed or if he didn't want people to know who he was, so I just kept my mouth shut. But not so for Mr. Andrews, oh no. When Stephen came on the set, Drew saw him and immediately said, "I know you! Aren't you the guy from that vampire movie?" I instantly froze, expecting Stephen to grab his stuff and bolt, but instead, he smiled and said, "Yeah, I was also in 976-EVIL." At that point, I couldn't hold back and said, "Yes, as well as..." and ran off his entire mainstream filmography. He looked at me and said, "Oh, my." I immediately checked myself and said, "I'm a fan." He relaxed, and we did the scene where Drew pounded him hard on a ladder. Stephen later told me that it was the best fuck he'd had in a long time.



I used him again two videos later in the series, in LEATHER INTRUSION CASE 4: DOWN TO THE WIRE. Stephen reprised his role of the snitch and did a scene with (I think) CHRIS DANO. I honestly don't remember much about shooting him in that movie, other than inviting him over to my house sometime. He agreed, and we set a date. When the appointed time came, he called me fifteen minutes late, his voice in a near panic: "I'm on my bicycle and I can't find your house!" I told him to relax, that he was nearby, and he found his way. We sat on my couch and chatted about his career. He told me that FRIGHT NIGHT had been lots of fun, and that at the wrap party, he brought a girl who was a friend of his to pretend to be his girlfriend, since he wasn't out. He said he thought director TOM HOLLAND might be gay, too, as at the party he had squeezed Stephen's bicep and said to his beard, "Your boyfriend really has a nice body!"

He said he had been invited to a horror movie convention, but wasn't sure if he should go, since he was concerned that someone might recognize him from porn. I told him that horror fans weren't concerned about stuff like that, and he should go (he did and told me later that it was a blast...and NO ONE had mentioned Sam Ritter). He said he'd like to get back into doing horror films but thought his mainstream career was now over. I told him again that he should try. If TRACY LORDS can go mainstream, then he should be able to go back to horror. True, STEVEN SPIELBERG wouldn't be hiring him, but a horror filmmaker would.

I went into the kitchen to get him another glass of diet soda, and when I turned around, he was right behind me. "Talking about this stuff makes me horny," he said, squeezing his crotch through his jeans. "Like right now." Man, was I tempted. But I was in a monogamous relationship with CVK, and I wasn't about to cheat. I sidestepped him by talking more about his movies, and we returned to the couch. About an hour later, he left.

We talked on the phone once or twice more after that, then when I called him to cast him in another video, I'd discovered that his phone was disconnected. He had moved to San Francisco and was out of the business.

I heard he was battling some inner demons, both psychological and chemical, and though I haven't heard from him or of him in many a year, I hope that he has found the peace and contentment he wanted in life.

JBK