Gloria Leonard

Gloria Leonard (born August 28, 1940)^[1] is an American former pornographic actress who later became the publisher of High Society magazine.

Early life and career

Leonard was born and raised in The Bronx, New York.^[1] She worked on Wall Street as a representative of Schweickart and Company for three years.^[1] She also worked for several PR companies, was a copywriter for Electra Records, and worked for Johnny Carson's publicist.^[1]

Adult film career

She began appearing in hardcore pornography in 1976,^[1] in films including The Trouble With Young Stuff, All About Gloria Leonard (both of which were written and directed by Joseph W. Sarno), The Opening of Misty Beethoven (directed by Radley Metzger), Fortune Smiles^[2] and Taboo: American Style.^[2] She worked with actresses Constance Money, Leslie Bovee, Sharon Mitchell, Jennifer Welles, and Samantha Fox before retiring from the screen in the 1984.^[1] She also directed several porn films, and was formerly married to Bobby Hollander.^[1] After moving to Hawaii in 1993, she returned to Los Angeles in 1997 to work for Private Media Group.^[1]

High Society

After her adult film career, for 14 years Leonard served as "publisher" of High Society magazine, which pioneered such novelties as nude celebrity photos and phone sex lines.^[1] She was hired by the magazine's publisher Carl Ruderman, who wanted a female publisher of a mens' magazine.^[1] Margot Kidder, Ann-Margret and Barbra Streisand all attempted to sue the magazine after it published nude photos of them.^[2] Leonard established the first phone-sex lines in 1983, and the magazine fought a legal case over them in the Supreme Court.^[1] She was in charge of High Society from 1977 to 1991.^[1] In the early 80's, Leonard almost clinched a deal for Norman Mailer to write a porn film; however, the plan never came to fruition.^[1]

Organizations

She served as administrative director of the Adult Film Association, the adult film industry trade association, from 1989 to 1992, until that organization merged with the Free Speech Coalition.^[1] In 1998, she was elected president of the F.S.C.^[1] She was also president of the American Film and Video Association.

Feminism

Leonard is a feminist and First Amendment advocate, and has debated on the issues of pornography and censorship and their impact on the women's movement at several colleges and universities.^[2]

Awards

She won the Best Actress award for Taboo, American Style from the AFVA .Leonard is a member of the X-Rated Critics Organization (XRCO) and (AVN) Halls of Fame.

TV appearances

She had a role as a salesperson on Simon & Simon in 1984, in the episode "Manna from Heaven." Gloria has also been a guest on several talk-shows, including Oprah, Geraldo, Maury, Larry King and Howard Stern.^[2] She has also hosted her own television shows - "The Leonard Report: For Adults Only" and later, "Gloria Leonard's Hot Shopper Hour."^[2]

References

External links

• Fan club biography