Hi. Huge Desiree West fan here :)
There's very little biographical info available about her, but here's a few things I've found on the net.
Born August 25, 1954 (from IMDB)
Real name: Sylvia Reynolds (a couple of net sources including a "where is she now?" answer on
answer.com - or something like that).
Now living in Wilmington NC, married to an engineer from Corning Glass Works. She works as a hostess at the Cape Fear Country Club and at Puregold Wilmington (a strip club!). Same source.
Has clearly been a realtor in California in the fairly recent past (from the pic posted on this site. There is also a
www.desireewest.com realtor website).
During her porn heyday her bf was fellow performer Mick Jones (aka "Dashiell) - info from David Jenning's book Skinflicks.
The same book implies that the pair lived together in Oakland at the time: "The next models got lost, called for directions, and got lost again in the 10 miles from Oakland," referring to Desiree and Dashiell.
The same book states she "belonged" to the Black Panther Party, but gives no further info,
Didn't have a very good sense of direction. The shoot Des & Dashiell were travelling to in Skinflicks was in the house where "Sex World" (in which Des starred, of course).was filmed a few months earlier.
Still, the Sex World performers did travel there by coach, if the movie is to be believed, so I it's probably understandable.
Had no formal acting training. She could be very nice and sweet but could also quickly turn into a "first class bitch" - Cinematographer "Jon Fontana" who worked on many Golden Age movies including Behind the Green Door, Daddy's Little Girl, Sex World, Vista Valley PTA etc etc (private e-mail correspondence).
Peace.