The most disturbing was reading the cause of death. In conversation, most people referring to stars who disappeared from the scene would simply say that they “got out of the business.” When I took the time to look further and troll through the devastating number of dead porn star videos I found on YouTube, I came across more and more familiar faces, finding myself at a greater loss. In my years in the industry, it was common for talent to come and go, with no form of further communication once they left the industry. Sadly, these scenarios are considered low-priority cases, with little interest from anyone in law enforcement in defending the rights of the victim. Murder is a crime, no matter what you do for a living and no matter who you are. The authorities are not looking for the agents who are illegally booking jobs for porn stars, or finding answers to any crimes that may result as a consequence. These murders are often considered a “trick gone bad,” and no one puts any interest or time into looking deeper. The hardest thing for me to accept is the unknown and the uninvestigated. But the murder of porn stars is often overlooked – I feel most people just assume the worst and think absolutely nothing of another porn star’s life ending too soon. In the past, we were mainly focused on the toll of the destructive lifestyle prevalent in the industry, filled with drugs and alcohol, which led to the tragic car accidents, suicides, or accidental overdoses. The new generation of porn star faces an unspoken risk to their lives. When I look back at the trips we took, the fun we had on set, it is hard to accept they are gone. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that a majority of the performers I shot most of my movies with in the 1990s are no longer with us. As is the case with mostly anything, however, I’ve learned to expect the unexpected. Overdoses and suicides are what you might expect, but maybe murders are what you least expect. There is a mix of common causes of death among porn stars, but some that may surprise you. Now that I am on the outside looking in, I can clearly see the dark cloud looming over the industry in which I not only managed to survive, but thrive. This a cold hard fact, yet probably one of the least talked-about and least looked-into fact in the world we live in today. Have you ever heard of another career where the people involved have a life expectancy less than half the national average? I doubt it. The average life expectancy of a porn star is only 37 years.
The average life expectancy in America is 78 years.