Georgina Spelvin

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Georgina Spelvin, born Michelle Graham on March 1, 1936, is a former American pornographic actress who is best known for her appearance in the classic film The Devil in Miss Jones.

Before Devil

As a child, Michelle Graham fell victim to an attack of polio, but she recovered enough of her mobility to become a dancer. She began her professional career as a chorus girl in New York and was featured in the Broadway productions of Guys and Dolls, Sweet Charity, and The Pajama Game.^{[1] [2]}She made her first movie, The Twilight Girls, a softcore lesbian film, in 1957.^[2]

Michelle becomes Georgina

When her friend, actor Harry Reems, introduced her to adult film director Gerard Damiano, Graham moved away from the mainstream into porn.^[1] The stage name she adopted is a variation on George Spelvin, a name traditionally used as a pseudonym by stage actors.

Though Spelvin is known to have appeared in a few sexploitation features during the late-1960s, she became one of the best-known figures in hardcore pornography for her starring role in The Devil in Miss Jones in 1973. Spelvin went on to appear in over 70 adult films, before retiring from them in 1982.^[1]In addition, she appeared in the low-budget exploitation film Girls For Rent (aka I Spit on Your Corpse)--for which she also served as costume designer--and made cameos in Police Academy and Police Academy 3: Back in Training. These were "straight," mainstream films, but she was cast as a hooker; the audience was expected to recognize the well-known porn star. The practice of fellatio was also implied in the films. She also had straight film roles in Bad Blood, in which she was credited as "Ruth Raymond," and Next Year in Jerusalem as well as guest starring roles on the television shows Dream On and The Lost World.

Georgina Spelvin epitomized the era of porn chic. In 1973, Robert Berkvist, writing in The New York Times, commented that "'Miss Jones' is as familiar in [the respectable and well-to-do New York suburb of] Scarsdale as she is on Broadway."

Known personal life

During the 1970s, she was in a long-term lesbian relationship with one of her fellow porn stars and former castmates in The Devil in Miss Jones, Clair Lumaire aka Judith Hamilton.^[3]

After Devil

After her retirement from adult films, she became a computer graphic designer until retiring from that at age 65, in 2001.^[1][2]

In 2004, she made a cameo appearance in Vivid Video's remake of The Devil in Miss Jones, which it titled The New Devil in Miss Jones.^[2][4]

In 2005, she was interviewed for the documentary film Inside Deep Throat. As of the third week of February 2008, she resided in the Los Angeles area with her husband actor John Welsh and was working on her autobiography, titled The Devil Made Me Do It.^[4]

Autobiography

In May 2008, she published her autobiography, The Devil Made Me Do It, and appeared on camera in a short web clip announcing its release to her fans on the internet. A self-published work, the book is available through her official website, GeorginasWorld.com.^[5]

Awards

Wins

• 1976 AFAA Best Supporting Actress for Ping Pong ^[6]

• 1977 AFAA Best Actress for Desires Within Young Girls^[6]

• 1978 AFAA Best Supporting Actress for Take Off^[6]

• 1979 AFAA Best Supporting Actress for Esctacy Girls^[6]

• 1980 AFAA Best Supporting Actress for Urban Cowgirls^[6]

• 1981 AFAA Best Actress for Dancers^[6]

• AVN Hall of Fame^[7]

• Legends of Erotica^[8]

• XRCO Hall of Fame^[9]

Nominations

• 2006 AVN Best Non-Sex Performance for The Devil in Miss Jones^[10]

References

External links

• Georgina's World: Georgina Spelvin's official web site
• Luke Ford's information on Georgina Spelvin