Annette Haven: What’s a Classy Girl Like You Doing in a Movie Like This?
by Charles Taylor.
It’s a casually ladylike gesture: A stylish, impeccably groomed woman rests her chin on folded hands as she takes in the scene before her. That she’s watching her maid give head to a male visitor doesn’t alter the woman’s air of cool bemusement. She’s orchestrated this scenario, and although she’s turned on, she patiently waits her turn. In Annette Haven, good breeding meets the experienced sensualist who prolongs pleasure with a long simmer before reaching full boil.
“You’ve got more class than the other girls,” Kay Parker’s madam remarks to Haven in V: The Hot One. It’s still true. Almost two decades after her ’70s and ’80s heyday, Annette Haven remains the classiest actress ever to work in adult movies. She was certainly the most classically beautiful: tall (or perhaps it was her bearing that made her seem so), with long auburn hair, high cheekbones, porcelain skin, and a mouth more generous than her exquisitely modulated features would lead you to expect. She was ready to make her mainstream debut in Brian De Palma’s Body Double, but the studio, Columbia, would not cast a porn actress in the lead role. Cowards.
Haven was to porn what Grace Kelly was to Hollywood, a distinctly American beauty, but one who seemed to exist in a realm far removed from the one most Americans inhabit. You could believe Haven was the prettiest girl in town (or the prettiest teacher, as she is in High School Memories), or a sophisticate from some exotic, rarefied place. She was stunning enough to seem right at home as Scheherazade in A Thousand and One Erotic Nights. Even as a Southern madam in Memphis Cathouse Blues, coaching a novice on how to service a client, there was something regal about her, something untouchable. Haven was such an erotic presence because her classiness was exactly what you didn’t expect to find in skin flicks. She never condescended to the movies she was in, never felt she had to tart herself up to suit them. Her classiness didn’t come off with her clothes. Haven was God’s gift to the lingerie industry; all porn shows actresses stripping, but Haven’s movies made a virtual fetish of the moment she peels down to reveal a garter belt and, ever so briefly, panties.
Where Grace Kelly was the ice queen who eventually melted, Haven wore her sophistication like the supplest armor. She didn’t come down off the pedestal and, amazingly, almost never provoked the macho revenge that the mechanics of porn dictate awaits such a woman.
During sex, Haven was in effortless control. She keeps her eyes closed, a subtle smile telling you she’s shut out everything but sensation. Haven concentrates on the cock, a toy that exists for her alone, as if it were somehow separate from her partner. It was fine if the men got pleasure in the bargain, but they were there mainly to serve. In “Annette’s Interview,” one of the Swedish Erotica loops, when she instructs the young journalist she’s seduced to keep doing what he’s doing, she barely raises her voice. She knows she doesn’t have to; no one would defy such bearing and presence. For Annette Haven, it was good to be the queen.
Indecent Exposure
by Annette Haven, High Society, October 1979 (Vol 4, No. 5)
Hello, welcome to my column! My name is Annette Haven, and needless to say, I did not become the most sought after porn star fresh from an eastern prep school. I began my erotic career dancing at a friendly night club in Portland, Oregon, called Palm Gardens. There I gyrated and teased my way into the hearts of the club’s patrons, and while I was at it, into the heart of my ex-old lady, Bonnie Holiday.
Bonnie and I had a wonderful time playing with each other, playing with the customers and playing with our fellow dancers. Our dressing room was definitely the wildest and sexiest in town. Then circumstances at the club changed when the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which controls liquor licenses in Oregon, revoked the club’s license. This happened because the lead dancer—whose name shall remain locked in my heart—appeared on stage in revealing Band-Aid sheer strips Instead of pasties. Now, this was legal, and we’d all been dancing like this, but the rather nearsighted Portland police department thought she had nothing covering her nipples at all (HEAVENS TO BETSY!!!) and proceeded to arrest her for indecent exposure. When she neglected to show up for her trial, the Judge ruled against the club and revoked its right to serve liquor. This drastically reduced the audience—which soon consisted of pubescent-looking teenagers—and subsequently our tips. Since tips comprised most of our wages, Bonnie and I elected to head for greener pastures.
We went to San Francisco expecting great things. You know—money, men, sex, good times etc. Well, we found them, but not quite the way we thought they’d be.
I remember going down to Broadway, where all the dancing clubs were, and where we had a classic interview. When we inquired about jobs, a short, sleazy man led us into a dark back room and asked us to show him our breasts by the light of a flashlight. At the time I wondered what this could possibly have to do with how well we could dance but decided, what the hell, we all have our eccentricities! Obviously he had a breast fetish…
He wanted to hire me immediately and bury himself between my breasts. Holding himself in hand, he decided that Bonnie’s satin, exquisite delicacy was not to his taste. How crazy can you get? I set him straight by telling him we came only as a package. Being no fool, he immediately hired us. Once we got home, however, I carefully considered his attitude and the ambiance of the club and decided that it wasn’t fit for our talents. I called him and quit before I ever performed, which in the long run was a wise decision. But the short run was a different matter.
You started your erotic film career in 1973 in Alex de Renzi’s The Prowler. (The title was later changed to Lady Freaks. Ed.) Why did you decide to enter the business?
Because I refused to dance in San Francisco. My girl friend Bonnie Halliday and I had gone down to Broadway section and club owners had been very rude. I don’t tolerate rudeness. I won’t work around it, I won’t be a part of it. Why should I be around some jerk who thinks he can talk rudely to me?
When Bonnie and I went to interview for two dancing jobs in particular, the interviewer’s idea of dancing interview was to shine a flashlight in a little tiny dark room on our breasts. He didn’t like Bonnie’s, he liked mine. He hired me, wouldn’t hire her. I told him, “You don’t hire her, I don’t work.” So he hired both of us. When we got home, Bonnie was very upset, and I got really angry, the more perturbed she got. So I called up and quit.
It’s called, “I won’t work for people I don’t like and I don’t care what the consecuences are.” Which is kind of subborn, but I have my ideals and it’s going to be that way. So we didn’t have a job and we weren’t making any money. You do that to one club down there, and they’re pretty well connected, they’ll all blackball you. So that pretty well cut that out and dancing was about all we knew how to do. I mean, I worked as a nurse’s aid, but at $1.45 an hour, you can’t support yourself in San Francisco.
However Bonnie had done a film for Alex DeRenzy and she introduced me to him. He suggested that we make a film for him. It paid our rent and got us into a neat new place and it was great. Then I got approached with other film offers.
And I had no problems with it. I never had any problems with being nude. Sexuality is pretty clear cut. It’s a nice thing, you don’t abuse it, and it’s nice to portray it nicely on film.
ADAM, May 1983
Why then are you involved in the industry?
I felt that it would give me an excellent platform to talk about sexual matters. I’ve spoken a great deal about it, too. I’ve gotten the opportunity to discuss sexuality with the public. That to me is very, very important. I grew up watching most of my girlfriends get really ruined because of their lack of sexual education. I started in the business when I was 19. I left my home in Las Vegas at 16 when one of my girlfriends gave birth from an incestuous rape when she was only 13 or 14. That image has stayed fresh in my mind. Hopefully, I’ve been able to reach people with a message.
“I started in the business when I was 19. I left my home in Las Vegas at 16 when one of my girlfriends gave birth from an incestuous rape when she was only 13 or 14.”
That’s a novel reason for being involved in the adult film business.
Most people have either mercenary reasons or sexual reasons for entering the adult film industry. There are very few of us who are involved in it for idealistic or sociologic reasons. In fact, I think I’m one of the only maniacs like that (laughs).
AVN March 1987
Quitting left us in a fairly difficult situation. My idealism had been maintained, but it didn’t feed us. We were living in that delightfully picturesque, dirty section of San Francisco known as the Tenderloin (which resembles a meat market). It was a very low-budget sort of life that was not particularly to my taste. We had to get out.
A few years before, Bonnie had made a film for Alex de Renzy that had done very well. The film was called History of a Blue Movie, and it showed Bonnie talking directly to the camera about her first sexual experience as she masturbated. She was so hot and erotic looking that it was no wonder the movie was a hit. We were sitting around feeling depressed when Bonnie remembered Alex and called him.
The three of us got together, and Alex offered us starring roles in a new X-rated movie he was producing. He told me that my movie introduction would be easy because we’d only be making love to each other and that I wouldn’t have to deal with any new people. As it turned out, I found the dialogue and the acting far more difficult than the sex. Bonnie and I had to watch an orgy scene that I was definitely tempted to get into. There were several extremely good-looking men and women in it—I had my eye on a couple of the men. (Nudity and live sex never did amaze, offend, shock or trip me out. I’ve always considered them very natural.)
My first love scene was with Bonnie. We knew each other very well and could be very sensual together. We enacted a silky sex scene for Alex’s camera, and the contrast between us was pleasurable to the eye. Bonnie’s skin was a smooth, sunny brown and mine was a creamy Ivory. (Presently I have my first golden tan in twelve years.)
After that, the movie business skyrocketed for me. Producers and directors began offering me more parts. This was when I did my first big film, China Girl. It was an excellent film, particularly for 1974, but since I was so new to the sex industry, I didn’t realize how difficult some of it could be.
In one scene in China Girl, I kept three men’s cocks up and cumming for hours. The guys had no film experience, so I directed all the action in the scene. If you asked me to do it now, I would say it was impossible. They were three lovely men though—muscles, tans etc. It made the day easier on me, to say the least. I also did a scene with a group of four women. I had an orgasm during that scene that we actually got on camera. Bonnie Holiday, my lady at the time, was responsible for that. She gives the best head around.
Didn’t a renowned cinematographer say that your breasts belonged in the Louvre?
That has been said, yes.
Do you remember his name?
I have absolutely no idea. Somebody said it and everybody else picked it up and repeated it because it was cute. I think it’s funny (she cracks up) because it makes it sound as though, “Oh they just exist like the Mona Lisa.” That’s not true. This is called hard work, grit, bench-pressing, taking care of your body, eating right, getting plenty of sleep. I mean, my breasts are not static museum pieces. I am growing person and it takes a lot of work to keep my body together. You’d be surprised. (Adam, May 1983)
In the next few months I left the movie business and San Francisco. I moved to Oregon and went to college, majoring in video technology. I can state proudly that I maintained a 3.96 average. Bonnie and I were at the top of all our classes, which consisted of video, electronics, math and physics. I took pleasure in this even though we felt rather isolated. The classes were principally male, and the men never did adjust to the idea of tits. When we came into the school room in the morning, the guys’ jaws would hit the floor when we took off our coats. I couldn’t really blame them though.
Bonnie and I eventually dropped out of college and went back to the movie business in San Francisco. We broke up a short time after that but have remained good friends ever since.
In the following months, I did more movies and became better known. The publicity from China Girl had been very good. I did a number of films at that time including one of my favorites, Desires Within Young Girls. In one scene in the film I fell off a dock into the St. Francis Yacht Harbor in San Francisco. The water was extremely cold, and I wasn’t terribly thrilled about doing the stunt. I requested that the producers have a pint of Southern Comfort ready for me when I got out of the water. I drank the entire pint in half-an-hour.
Even though I know that alcohol lowers the body’s temperature, it certainly made me warmer. I got so drunk that I want only seduced my leading man, Paul Thomas. I have always liked him, and when I get good and loaded I go nuts. I dragged him into the head of the yacht we were filming on and made wild, passionate love to him in as many ways as my imagination and the size of the head would allow. We had a great time, and it wasn’t until an hour later that someone on the set pointed out along, bloody scratch on my forearm. I took a look—sure enough. I’d punched a hole in my arm on a rusty nail while fucking Paul. I didn’t even feel it. When I’m into sex, I’m definitely into it!
That was in 1976. Since then I’ve been working steadily in the erotic film Industry, I’ve starred in quite a few big films: Barbara Broadcast, by Henry Paris [Radley Metzger]; A Coming of Angels (for which I received Best Supporting Actress from the Adult Film Association of America); V, The Hot One; and Love You, by John Derek, which Is still awaiting release. I also wrote, starred in and directed my own picture called Once Upon A Time She Was, which also starred Abigail Clayton.
As for my personal life, in the past four years since Bonnie and I broke up I’ve had a few relationships. All were with lovely men who I truly enjoyed; unfortunately, though, none of them worked out. One of my sweet men was murdered, and my last relationship breathed its dying gasp about four months ago. Since then, I have been having one hell of a good time with several new men in my life. Which brings me to this column.
I’m going to keep you informed of all the joyful, fun, sexy events that are happening on the West Coast and any other place I find of interest. Don’t miss my next column, which will give you the sexy lowdown on the San Francisco b&d scene. If any of you reading this would like to contribute information, commentary, criticism or anything you think appropriate, please send it to Annette Haven, c/o High Society Magazine.
Believe it or not, I haven’t seen too many of my films.
a mixture of delicacy and aggressiveness
How I Give Head
Annette Haven On Oral Sex
What’s important in giving head?
Attitude. If your man isn’t convinced that you love what you’re doing he isn’t going to get anywhere near as much out of it. Make certain that it is apparent that you enjoy it. I find a mixture of delicacy and aggressiveness is most effective. The feeling that you know if you can handle it, but are driven to attemp and succeed.
How do you begin a blowjob?
Kissing and holding is a good place to start. I begin by caressing a man all over eventually working my way down to his crotch. I touch him there very quickly and lightly and then touch his legs on the inside portion of the thigh. From there I work my way back to his cock and balls, which I play with. I begin to work my way down his body when I feel the time is appropriate by kissing his shoulders and nipples. Sucking on his nipples. I press my hand down hard on his stomach and follow it down with my mouth to his crotch. Holding on to his balls with my hand, tickling them, I flicker my tongue lightly over the nerve at the head of his cock. Look up at him and kiss him there too! While sucking on the nerve I run my mouth up and down the column of his cock until I put it wholly in my mouth. I’m very careful to keep my teeth out of the way so as not to hurt – although it can be a turn on to give it a slight nip. While sucking on his cock I keep my mouth taught and flexible and move it back and forth slowly and rapidly over the head of his prick. Tease him, play with him, use varying speeds, do what turns you on and it will turn him on.
Do you use much tongue?
I use the tongue all the time I am involved in actual sucking. Against the nerve and around the head. Eventually work your way down to his balls and while holding them lightly, lick them gently over. Then place one and then the other and suck on them. I put both in my mouth finally and suck on them. I look at him while I am doing all of this so he can see me and I can see him.
What’s your view on “deep throat”?
Giving “deep throat” can be a terrific turn on. I learned to do it by lots of practice. You overcome the gag reflex and take his cock down into your throat where it narrows. He experiences a tight feeling around the head of his cock. From going so far down the saliva begins to flow and you find yourself well lubricated. I do it slowly and deliberately feeling my lips over every square inch of his cock, looking at my man.
Do you use your hands too?
Using your hand while you suck the head of his cock is an extreme turn on as well and is a good way to get him off. The strength and rapidity you can use then becomes overpowering to the man. If you’ve worked him and yourself into enough of a frenzy this is when he will come. When I feel his cock get a particular kind of extreme hardness and his movements become almost reflexive I know that it is time and I keep his cock deep in my mouth fully surrounded by warmth and movement.
What do you do when he comes?
I maintain a steady sucking motion while he comes, swallowing it as he squirts out the end of his cock. Then I stay with him until the end of the orgasm and then gently kiss him all over his cock, balls and face. End with lots of cuddling and love.
Parents Religion Politics
Do your parents know what you’re doing and how do they feel about it?
My mother raised me and indeed she does know about the business and everything I do in it. I’m quite certain that she would prefer that I were going to some very straight religious college somewhere, however, she has always had this most marvelous capacity for understanding me and allowing me to live my life as I see fit. I feel very lucky to have her as my mother. I kept the business from her for about three years because she’s so straight that I was afraid to shock her. I finally got it up to tell her on Christmas Eve of 1976. I sat her down carefully (I didn’t want her to faint and fall on the floor) and explained what it was I was doing. Starring in X-rated movies!!! She looked at me calmly and said, «Yes, I know.» I lost all my cookies at that point and asked how she could know. She simply told me that always knew what I was up to, always had always would. So it pays to be honest. (Cinema-X Magazine)
You seem to be a woman of very strong political views.
I’m conservative in some things and liberal in others. I think sex should be legal, and I think guns should be legal. My people have been in the U.S. since about 1660, right? My people are Mormon. All of those years, we’ve been carrying guns. And to have the government try to strip me of my right to bear arms is like. “Hey, have you read the Constitution lately?” I have a 44 Magnum, and anybody who walks through my door and tries to molest me will be one dead son of a bitch. And that’s the way it should be. I’ll be damned if I’ll be one of those people who gets tied up and raped and killed in her own home.
Isn’t the Mormon church quite opposed to sex?
Not more than any other church. Judeo-Christian religions ore down on sex; that’s why I’m a Buddhist, a neo-pagan Buddhist. People should be kind and good and lovely to one another. I really am a very moral person. I just don’t want anyone telling me how I should have sex. If I want to do it on screen, that’s my choice. If people want to watch me, that’s their choice. Nobody gets harmed—contrary to the statistics put out by the “Women Against Everything on Earth.” A lot of so called feminists are man-haters and sex-haters. Susan Brownmiller went on TV with me. I was the pro-sex side, and she and two other people were the antisex side. But one of me matches three of them any day. We were all asked to make a concise statement of our stand, and I just sat there and waved the flag. “Look, this is America, and we’re guaranteed the pursuit of happiness. And if that happens to mean watching an X-med video, you have the right to do so.” Susan Brownmiller’s concise opinion was that sex is the same thing as violence.
She said that?
Tbat’s what she said. After the show. I asked her to elaborate. I said, “You’re not referring co consensual heterosexual activity, are you?” So she said, “Yes, absolutely.” The stupid bitch!
Those were her actual words?
Well, let’s face it, it was after being on a half-hour show with me, and she was probably battered to the point where she actually said what she thought, rather than couching it in language that would make sense to the audience.
Don’t women who oppose pornography ever question how they could ally themselves with the Christian Right?
That’s a real good question, isn’t it? This Fundamentalist wave that we’re having is scary. They remind me of the crazy Moslems in the Middle East who put a contract out on Salman Rushdie. Screw freedom of speech, right? But the Christian Fundamentalists in the United States are willing to do jihad, to go out and kill people if you don’t believe the way they think one should believe. Maybe not kill, but remove your civil liberties and your right to determine what to do with your own body, like have an abortion, have sex, watch sex or smoke a joint. (Hustler, July 1990)
You’ve talked about political issues in the erotic film business. Could you elaborate on some of that?
Sure. I think the basic one is that people have been controlled by power structures using sexuality for centuries. (She laughs!) And I’m tired of it and I don’t want it to go on any longer. And I think we should disconnect our sexual stuff from our legal structure except in terms of protecting minor children, in which case I feel that all of our laws should stand on the books.
However, having anybody try to legislate our sexuality is so insane that I can’t even comment. What you do in the privacy of your own bedroom between two consenting adults or three consenting adults, whatever your particular bag is, is not relevant to anything except the people who are participating. If they are consenting adults then it’s not relevant at all.
As I said, minors need legal protection and in many ways more than just on the basis of sexuality. A lot of them could be protected from their parents. I heard statistics that stated that most children who die before the age of two are the results of child abuse. Children need protection from their elders because someone who doesn’t know anything about something can’t consent to it and that makes it non-consensual.
Non-consensual sex acts are rape. Rape is not a crime of sensuality, rape is a crime of violence. It has very little to do with sex. I think that rape dealt with poorly in this country. I think that all of our judges tend to look the other way. “Oh, it’s all right, boys will be boys.” That really plugs me in, that’s the ultimate insanity.
These are the political things: the ways we run our society in terms of our sexuality. “Oh, it’s oaky to rape women, they’re just there for sex anyway. They’re only baby machines, let’em run around barefoot and pregnant. That’s where it’s at isn’t it?”
I’m sick of it. I’m really sick of it. We are human beings. We can’t even pass the Equal Rights Amendment. We can’t even ratify a 24-word amendment to the Constitution. What? That there will be no discrimination on account of sex. I mean, it works for men as well as women. We can’t even pass that.
And you want to know about the political issues of sexuality. Oh I’ll climb walls for days on that one. As far as history goes back, as far as I can read I see the subjugation and I do not understand why men feel it necessary to control women. Actually, I see a reason for the power structures controlling people with sexuality. I mean, money, gain, power, directed aggression. But I don’t understand the other part of it, males controlling females— unless they feels at odds with female for some reason.
How do you react to something reading this and labeling you a feminist?
Well, the feminist will throw stones at them for calling me, a feminist. (She laughs.) Everyone’s got different views and your classic feminist in the United States and I differ basically on sex, as well as X-rated films. A lot of the ones that I’ve talked to are members of the “Women Against Pornography” and stuff like that.
I don’t know what to think of these women. I’m telling you, you can’t even talk to some of them. One example is a woman author whom I’ve talked to. She stated unequivocably on television that sex is the same thing as violence. I mean, we’re on TV and she’s asked to make a comment and I’m not taking it out of context. She said that sex is the same thing as violence. And I’m sitting there looking at her going, “huh, wait a minute.”
The issues are so emotional. Everybody gets upset behind them. Listen to me. I go up walls when you start talking about the politics of it. I get upset because I just don’t understand. I really don’t. People are very confused. That female author saying sex is the same thing as violence, this is the product of people repressing women for centuries and centuries and centuries to the point where relating with men has become a problem.
This sort of insanity has got to stop. It’s part of sexual politics. The whole double standard fits into it. It’s like it’s okay for guys but it’s not okay for women. Well, it’s okay for women too. (Adam, May 1983)
Why do you dislike the word “porno”?
Because it’s a totally inaccurate term meaning things like vile and filthy, if you research it. I did a paper on the semantics of the word for the Popular Culture Association’s meeting last year and that is what I found. Besides that, it means so many different things to so many different people that it is practically useless for puposes of communication.
Hollywood
I actually cast myself in 10 because I was involved in casting the party scene. I couldn’t find enough females who were right, so I cast myself. It was fun. Jamie Gillis and Constance Money were also in it. Julie Andrews and Blake Edwards were wonderful. Dudley Moore was a really nice guy and genuine man. He took off his clothes with everybody else in the scene. There was no problem. He was absolutely cool. (AVN, March 1987)
Annette, you’re as beautiful as any woman in “Hollywood” films. Why didn’t you ever try “legit” films?
Well, I think being a star in the Adult Film Industry is a lot different than being a star anywhere else. It’s kind of like being a very large frog in a very small puddle, certainly not anything to get a big head over. As far as the attention from the fans goes, I love it. My fans are invariably polite and sweet and truly a pleasure to be approached by. (Source)
In other words, the entire film industry could use a little more sense?
I would just like people to be a little bit more informed about what’s going on. And I want to specify right now that this is not specific to the X-rated film industry. This happens from Hollywood. You know I’ve had people in Hollywood propose things that were just unreal, on the same levels. Stupid long hours. I don’t mind long hours if I’m taken care of. In fact I prefer them. But to do it on a level where there’s absolutely no facilities, where you can’t get any food to eat, it’s impossible. You can’t function. And Hollywood low-budg (low budget filmmakers) runs the same way. So let us not throw stones at the erotic film industry in specific but at irresponsible filmmakers.
You wouldn’t believe some of the crap that Hollywood puts out. I had some guy call me a few years ago saying, “Let me take you out of this business, let me make you a star.” I was trying to be polite but the guy was saying such inflammatory things, what are you supposed to do? So I said, “Well, I don’t know if you know it, but in my industry, I already am a star.” It was so funny. I listened anyway and he said “I made this other girl into a star and she was just a waitress…” I said, “That’s nice.” The upshot of the story is, he was going to offer me a film that was going to make me a star. And as an example of what wonderful work he did, he told me about his previous film called Tanya’s Island. God forbid we should give it any publicity, but it turns out that the movie basically is about a menage-a-trois between a man, a woman and a gorilla. And the gorilla apparently wins out. This is supposed to be an example of his sterling character and quality. And I just told him, “Look, I can’t deal with that. Perhaps you should call me when you have something else in mind that I would be more imerested in.” I really didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, but this is patent garbage I mean, come on!
So you don’t think that certain so-called legitimate filmmakers take you and your erotic film colleagues seriously?
Definitely not. It’s amazing. People from Hollywood think that you come up with insane crap like this and that we’re just going to jump because we want to be like them. Quote: “I don’t want to be them at all”—because Hollywood has some of the tackiest people I have ever met in my life. Some of the tackiest deals I’ve ever been offered in my life. It’s called, “Here, I’ll give you $300,000 to produce a film if you’ll have an affair with me.”
I got this offer from a major—and I mean major—head of a major studio in Hollywood. “And no I won’t mention any names (She points her head toward L.A. and speaks.) So I keep my promise to you.” I told him that I wouldn’t broadcast it to the National Enquirer. When he got turned down, he was a little bit dismayed. (She laughs.) “Is it going to get out?” Oh, no I assured him. So he needn’t worry about me putting it in magazines and stuff.
But it was just amazing and just a very tackily handled affair. I flew down there to talk business, and then you get this raving impolite pas and you say, “Don’t you have anything better to do with your time? You want a hooker, go hire one. They’re all over L.A., for God’s sake. Go party it up, have five of them. But don’t waste my time. Don’t fly me around under false pretenses. I mean, this is disgusting behavior.” And that’s exactly what I think of those people. They’re disgusting. That’s exactly what I think of a lot of those people in Hollywood. It’s like you can’t even get a woman on your own. That’s sad. Tragically sad.
And most everything that I’ve come in contact with out of Hollywood is like that. Blake Edwards on (the motion picture) “10” was a massive exception. He was extraordinarily polite and nice. You can tell when somebody’s leering around you and he didn’t do any of that.
I actually didn’t think that the casting couch existed in Hollywood I actually for a few naive years thought that people got their roles by acting ability. And now I find that no, no, actually it is the casting couch, all over the place. And this is from inside Hollywood information too, because I know people down there who are very, very inside of it. And the scuttlebutt that comes around—oh, I love it! I have a lot more respect for my industry because at least we’re upfront with it.
We’re not covertly running around and saying, “Oh yeah, that jiggling tits and ass you just saw is actually humor and comedy. Not sex, no, no, not sex at all. “That’s comedy see, ha ha ha.” And it’s just insane. Charlie’s Angels is sex anyway you cut it. It’s sexy entertainment and they’re jiggling all over the place on purpose. And there’d be nothing wrong with that if they’d admit it. (Adam, May 1983)
You said that a head of Paramount tried to rape you?
I was pimped out by this piece-of-garbage publicist in L.A. She set up this appointment for me to go down and see the people at Paramount. She had done this to a number of females. Juliet Anderson told me about her experience. There were a few girls after me.
The premise was that the producer wanted a movie based on a book by Anais Nin. Delta of Venus. So we had this big meeting in his offices, all very impressive. He and his confederate wanted a girl to work with who “loved having fun, who loved to party.” After about six hours of badgering, I got them to define what that meant: screwing them. At that point, I terminated the interview. “I screw on screen, but I don’t screw producers.” Then he starts backpedaling. “Well, okay, that’s all right. I still want to work with you. Would you stay overnight, and we’ll discuss this tomorrow?” So he put me up at the Beverly Hills Hotel. We were supposed to go out on a double date— his associate had this female. The two men tried to get the girl and me to have sex in front of them, which I wasn’t going for and neither was she. Then the confederate and his date left me and the Paramount person alone in the hotel room.
At dinner I had eaten three Quaaludes and drunk a whole bunch of alcohol. So when we got back to the Beverly Hills Hotel, I was really loaded. l know what my tolerance levels are, and I was about at my peak.
I was okay, except that he attacked me, and I wasn’t in any shape co fight him off. He was coked up. Normally I’m a real feisty person, but if I take a bunch of Quaaludes. I’m just like a big pile of Jell-O. So this guy stripped me and proceeded to do various things: that were rather extraordinary. He’s got his tongue stuck up my ass, and he’s asking me to shit on him. He thrust his impotent little dick in my face, and it was just about the ugliest thing I had ever seen, I started vomiting. I have colitis, which causes me to vomit and have real bad diarrhea. So I hit the toilet.
This started at around midnight, and they got a doctor in there at about 8 a.m. He was a hireling of the studio. He shoots me up with Demerol. So I nodded out, and I was out until that afternoon, when I flew out.
It’s hard to rape somebody who’s barfing. The diarrhea would have turned him on, but barf wasn’t his cup of tea.
Hollywood hates my guts. I was supposed to star in Brian dePalma’s Body Double, right? Brian and I had evolved the characterization, and I was slated for the female lead. And then Coca-Cola found out. Coca-Cola, of course, owns Columbia. And because Coke execs thought that it wouldn’t be “appropriate” to have me as the star, I was gotten rid of.
I ended up being a consultant on the project, und working with Melanie (Griffith) was awful I mean, she’s basically playing me, right? A sex star. But she’s not willing to do any of the stuff that Brian and I rehearsed. I was supposed to teach her how to dance and do all this other stuff. She couldn’t do a back bend and a lot of body things. She didn’t want to. I think the term is sexually uptight.
At lease I managed to get some things out of the script, like the woman who’s gonna interview actresses to fuck the big dog, I told Brian: “Look, nobody does it with dogs. You just don’t find it in the U.S.” (Hustler, July 1990)
Partners
To put people in. These are; heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual. I would have to place myself as a bisexual with heavy leanings toward heterosexuality. Men are really where it’s at for me although if one of my male friends surprises me by bringing over a lovely woman I’m certainly not going to complain. I have had this actually hapen, to have a man bring me a woman, and I’ll tell you it’s one hell of a good time. A man is like the entree in a meal and a woman is like the dessert. Cinema-X Magazine
Do you enjoy the sex scenes?
Since I always have approval over the people I work with in an explicit manner, yes I do. Of course the most important thing in the scene is that the audience should enjoy the sex scene. However, I do my best to have a good time and see to it that my partner has a good time. I find it much easier to work with a girl than I do a boy because you don’t have to worry about the erection dying. The thing is, though, that it is a lot more exciting work with a male. There’s nothing like a cock to really get a person going me at any rate! There have been times when I didn’t have much control over my partners, particularly when I work overseas. There aren’t many experienced male actors in Europe or in Orient, so you end up working with people who may be nice but have no idea what they’re doing. I’ve been lucky though to have always had someone who could get it up! (Source)
Who are your favorite leading men? Also, what are these guys like off the set?
There’s a small circle of men who have been the core of the industry for many, many years. All of them I love dearly and they are very, very good friends of mine. They include John Leslie, Richard Pacheco, Joey Silvera and Paul Thomas.
What about Eric Edwards?
I’ve worked with Eric Edwards a few times and I enjoyed it. However, I haven’t worked with him as frequent ly as the other four men I just mentioned.
You also didn’t mention Herschel Savage.
Oh, he’s a marvelous man. I really enjoyed working with him. He is a dream.
Have you ever been romantically involved with any of these guys off-screen?
Oh yeah sure, with a few of them. Actually I was involved with some men even before I worked with them. Paul Thomas in particular. (AVN, March 1987)
Who is your favorite man to work with?
Without doubt that would have to be Richard Pacheco. He is so aware that the first time we worked together I was giving him head to get him up (I don’t use a fluff girl) and, wonder of wonders, he actually thought to touch and manipulate my clitoris. Now you would think that that would be common, but it’s not. Most of the men are very busy just trying to get their cock hard. They really don’t have time to think of anything else. Running a close second is my old friend Paul Thomas. He’s been a friend and a lover, so we have a close relationship and a lot of trust. We can actually fuck and sing two part harmony at the same time. I know because we have done it to entertain and amaze the crew between takes. You have to do something while you’re having sex on camera. If you take it too seriously it can get very boring. Let us not forget that both of these men are also very good actors and professionals and that makes a big difference too.
Who is your favorite woman to work with?
My favorite woman was always my ex-old-lady. Bonnie Holiday. Unfortunately she is no longer in the business. The only women I have made love to lately have been disappointments. Jessie St. James isn’t into women at all so that wasn’t much fun even though she’s a good actress, and Desiree Cousteau was a joke on all levels. She told me not to “touch her there.” Meaning her pussy. I told her that was the title of a Tubes song and asked her what she was doing on the set anyway. Lisa de Leeuw is a terrific actress and a good lover but she has semi dropped out of the business. If anyone knows of a good woman, let me know, I’m looking for one. (Source)
Who’s the sexiest woman you’ve made love in the films?
The hottest woman I’ve made love to in films was a woman I had a relationship with before I ever acted with her. Several years ago a group of my girlfriends and I went to L.A. to do a test shoot for Penthouse magazine. While we were there Monique and I got to know each other considerably better. Her name is Monique Cardin and if you’ve kept your eyes open you’ve seen her starring in a number of features. While we were in L.A. she and I ended up at the house of a mutual friend, a really nice guy we know. We all ended up in bed together which was no surprise considering who we are, but what was great was the passions that became aroused. We got so turned on that while I was eating her and she was approaching her orgasm she started to fall off the bed. Neither she not I were willing to stop what we were doing and so our male friend ended up catching her in mid air while she had an orgasm and I kept my head buried between her legs. It was trmendous. We were all ecstatic. The last time she and I worked together was on The Cat Burglar, starring Jaimie Gillis and myself. We had a secene where I has giving her head (I love it!), and I got so worked up and hanging right on the edge that when it was time for the camera to come in on her face, she was coming on camera. It was perfect. She is definetely the hottest woman I know. (Cinema-X Magazine)
You have a very strict and disciplined manner about you. On the set you are said by producers and directors to be a consummate professional. Why do some actress in the business say you are difficult to work with?
Wow! I’d like to know who said that. I have had a couple of bad experiences, but it it’s other than these two, I’d like to know about it. I once had a rather awkward session about doing a menage-a-trois with Desiree Cousteau. We were supposed to eat each other and fondle each other’s pussies, you know. The director was giving us instructions and Desiree would not let me touch her body! It was awful! I don’t really… would not want to… work with her again. The other actress I have no real love for is Seka. I was finishing a shoot, an explicit scene, and came into my own dressing room. I am very precise about my make-up and usually do it all myself. Seka had come in earlier and pushed all my stuff off my table and starts setting up her make-up. She wasn’t even in my film, but was shooting a small bit for the same producer who was finishing another film. I saw that she had done and she said something ugly and very rude to me for no reason at all. I was calm, but seething under the surface. I do not believe in create scenes on the set. It’s unprofessional. Now if that’s what you mean, I can understand it. What other people may construe a “prima donna” attitude is only what I expect of them. (Video-X, February 1983)
The best time with Annette was off the set. It was during the filming of Coming of Angels. I took her back to my hotel room, and we had one fantastic fuck. Annette can be dominant or submissive —she’s an all-around type. In front of the cameras is an entirely different story though. She becomes too aware of the camera angles and the technical requirements. That may make it better for the audience, but it’s a lot less interesting for me. “Are Pornstars Really Good in Bed?” by Jamie Gillis. Hustler, July 1983 Vol.10 No.1.
You’ve done so many films and so many of them have been masterpieces, what fllms are you most fond of?
Love You is a masterpiece. That’s the one I did with John Derek, and it’s very difficult to obtain, although I guess it is in video now. So you can get it. You can show that one to your mother and it is erotic too. After seeing my own film, Cavewomen, I’d recommend it, even though it’s an absolute piece of fluff. If you want to look at pretty people and make love to your girl friend, I think it’s a good film to do that by. There’s no heavy duty plot you have to follow. You don’t have to watch it every minute to know what’s going on.
I recommend Cavewomen for home watching. it’s really clean-cut. No violence involved and it’s funny too. Let’s see, now, the other ones that I really like… Take-Off is just a wonderful film. Just excellent quality down the line in every way. The other two I mentioned have their drawbacks. The sound in Love You isn’t the best, although I haven’t heard the tape version, maybe they improved it. My film was very low-budget, just a cute piece of fluff, although the women in it were superb looking.
Sexworld was an excellent film. I like Anna Obsessed too. Although it has some violence and I thought that might give insight into people who are into that. But it has violence, so if you don’t like violence don’t buy that one.
What are your long range plans for your film career and your life in general?
Oh, I’ ll do more directing, for sure, and writing. I don’t know if I’ll produce again, because Cavewomen gave me colitis. However. I’m definitely going to direct again and I have several scrips in the making. I think everybody does (she laughs). But I have my quota too. And of course, I have other interests as well. This isn’t the only interest. I think everybody in their life should have at least three separate successful careers. I mean, we’re here long enough for it. So I’m very interested in it because it’s the coming wave. I might as well be up on it.
When video was the coming wave, I went and majored in video technology. You go and learn about these things as they’re happening. lt’s wise to conduct yourself that way in life. So I’ll learn about computers and probably get one to keep my office records. I’m sure it would make things a lot easier.
What can you tell us about a rather obscure little film you did for John and Bo Derek called Love You?
Bo produced it and John wrote and directed the movie. We made it in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and did a lot of location shooting in Hawaii. It was an interesting experience. They’re good people. I love them dearly. They’re really nice folks as far as I’m concerned, contrary to what you might read in the press. That’s a bunch of garbage. Don’t believe everything you read. (AVN, March 1987)
Psychology Studies
Do you have a career goal in mind?
I’m going to get my Masters and practice psychology. College is basically a breeze! I’m maintaining a 4.0 right now. As far as they’re concerned, that’s perfect… actually, it means a 90 to 94 percentile and above. I’m running approximately a 98 percentile.
That’s great.
For me, the level of performance that l think is necessary to do a good job is turning out (scholastically anyway) to be one that puts me in a very, ‘very top percentage of people. As a result, I don’t think I’m going to have any problem getting my graduate degree at all. As a matter of fact, I’m having a good time.
Do you share with the students your career as Annette Haven?
I share it with some of the students, but not the class as a whole. I’ve found that when I’ve done that in arenas of life outside the business, I end up spending all my time discussing sex and the business. This is very interesting to me. I enjoy doing it. But my primary purpose in being in school is to study psychology, and not to teach others about sexuality.
That’ll come later, after I’ve taken my degrees. Actually, it’s kind of a pity in a way, too. Some of my teachers know, some of my classmates know. But I haven’t made a general announcement. I think sometimes that maybe I should because it’s a really excellent way to educate people, to speak with them about the subject and have yourself there as an example. That works out very well. I’ve been very successful doing that. But I still wonder and my husband wonders and my friends wonder if I should really open myself up to that. There’s a certain degree of flak that you’re going to take. Not much actually. But the real problem is that you get crazy people on your phone. I had death threats at the beginning of last semester.
Oh, God!
So. I took my number off the records. I just don’t want that little teeny percentile that is nuts. I don’t quite know what to do with it. I want to share with everyone, I find it constructive to do so. But not only are there personal risks involved with doing that. It does tend to divert all the attention of the class (whatever class you’re in) away from the subject matter at hand and on to the subject of sex. Not only do the students want to hear about it, but the instructor is interested and they want to hear about it. I think the class time is better spent on whatever it is that I’m going there for.
I decided to go through the school system as my real persona rather than as my stage persona. As a civilian. To people who recognize me, I explain what’s going on. Also, with people that I get close to so that they will have a better understanding of me. I’m just finishing up my first year as a full-time student. All of my other college credits don’t apply really, because they’re in electronics and physics. They don’t have too much to do with psychology. (Is there life after ‘X’? Where are the porn stars of yesteryear, by Richard Pacheco. Erotic x-Film Guide. November 1988, Vol. 6, Iss. 11)
A Thousand and One Erotic Nights
A Thousand and One Erotic Nights is the tale of Scheherazade (Annette Haven), a tantalizingly beautiful woman who lived in the Middle East centuries ago and was enslaved by a powerful Sultan (John Leslie).
As the myth goes, the sultry slave was sentenced to death by the ruler, but she managed to escape that fate by telling him intriguing yarns about adventurers and their ladies. In this porn production, which is touted as the first million-dollar X-rated extravaganza, the roles of Scheherazade and the Sultan are skillfully portrayed by two of the most sensuous performers working in the field today.
Because most of the action supposedly takes place in the Arabian desert, for a change, some of the fuck-and-suck scenes occur in tents, on the sand and in other exotic locales. In addition, the movie provides colorful atmosphere, such as belly dancers, fire eaters, and enchanting harem girls in the Sultan’s chambers. Small yet interesting touches like these add to the flavor, and viewers get a sense they’re actually back in ancient times. Jeffrey Ressner. Hustler. July 1983.
A Statement
Are you just in it for the money?
Unlike most of the people I know I am not in the film industry to make money, or to become a star or to have a good time sexually, or even to act (although I do try my best with what I am offered.) I remain in an industry where one gets very little respect from sooety and even from the people you work with because I believe that by placing myself on the firing line, so to speak, that I can change peoples’ opinions about women and sex. In other words, you can be a well adjusted, intelligent, feeling human being, a lady even, and still have sex even on the screen in front of people. This runs totally counter to society’s teaching that tells you if you have sex that you’re a bad girl. (The whole attitude applies mainly to women, the classic double standard). (Source: p. 1, p. 2)
In the time that this AIDS-related sabbatical has given you, how have your thoughts changed about your career?
No, they haven’t. I enjoyed the business, and I did it for a reason. I was there to make a statement about sexuality in our nation, that you can have sex—even on screen, as a female, and still be a decent human being. You can be a marvelous human being, a human being with intelligence and all of the things that human beings are supposed to have.
There’s this terrible feeling in our culture that women who have sex are sluts or something. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I wanted to hold myself up as an example of that, and I think I was successful in doing so. As a matter of fact. I know! Was successful in doing so.
I found it extremely rewarding. I think the public found it rewarding, too. I’m telling you, I’m so proud of what I did. It’s really quite marvelous to have participated in it. That’s why I wouldn’t give it up. It is such a contribution to society as a whole. Most people don’t see the sex business, the adult film business, as those things. But when approached in the correct manner; that is in effect what you’re doing.
I feel that I’ve chosen characterizations and movies that represented women well, that represented me as well. They represented women as people who have choice in their life, not as people who didn’t have any options. I played strong aggressive women who knew what they were doing. Because that’s what I am, basically. I think that’s what most women potentially are. I thought it was marvelous, and I got terrific feedback from men, from women. There’s nothing that makes you feel better in the whole world than to have people come up to you and tell you how you’ve changed their life, and made their marriage work again. I never really realized that it would do that. But for some, it happened that way. (Is there life after ‘X’? Where are the porn stars of yesteryear, by Richard Pacheco. Erotic x-Film Guide. November 1988, Vol. 6, Iss. 11)
The Forbidden Book of Beauty 