It's a name that is mentioned in either impolite company or in the context of exploitation of women. Either way, Linda Lovelace is someone that many people won't forget. Despite having only appeared in a few short, sex films in the 1960s and 1970s, it was the 1972 cult, hardcore porn film, Deep Throat - her first and last feature film - which made her name one of the most known throughout the subterranean world. Her oral exploits generated instant cult status and revenues (not for her, needless to say) of over $600 million, making Deep Throat one of the most profitable movies of all time. Yet behind the cameras was a woman who says she was led into a life of effective prostitution by her first husband, Chuck Traynor. Lovelace also said, in retrospect, that the movie was both a low point and a salvation - the fame created by its popularity eventually proved to be her avenue of escape from her relationship with Traynor. Inevitably, after the initial notoriety of Deep Throat died down, Lovelace dropped from a life of celebrity into one of regret.
In 1976, she married construction worker Larry Marchiano and by the late 1970s, had written her autobiography, Ordeal (which wasn't published until she had passed a number of lie detector tests), in which she described, in detail, her abusive childhood and previous marriage. Continually beset by accountants, lawyers, creditors and prosecutors, she disappeared for a time in the 1980s, re-emerging as an outspoken opponent of the adult film industry. By the late 1980s, she was in the news again when doctors thought she needed a double mastectomy because her breasts had been damaged by silicone injections she received during her time with Traynor. Tests showed there was actually a problem with her liver, and she received a transplant. In the early 1990s, she moved to Colorado, where she continued to raise her two children. When time allowed, she began to travel on the lecture circuit, crossing the US several times a year on a crusade against pornography, telling her story to college students, religious groups and community gatherings. She has also testified before several commissions on the effects of pornography on women and children. In 1996, Variety reported that film director Ron Howard was in the process of preparing a movie about Lovelace (to be directed by Pat O'Connor, no less) but plans for it were eventually shelved. While Deep Throat is now out on DVD (thereby ensuring its continued viewing and revenue), 51-year-old Linda Lovelace lives a relatively anonymous life of comfort and quiet. "I prostituted myself so I could have my kids," she told Rocky Mountain News in 1997. "They were the most important thing to me. They were all I ever wanted."
