'TRACI LORDS' INFO!
desireeco...@yahoo.ca
On a Saturday afternoon in May, 1986, federal agents arrested porn star
Traci Lords for being under the 18-year old age of consent when she
made 77
X-rated flicks.
Video stores pulled all her movies within hours of the news and porn
distributors destroyed millions of dollars worth of tapes featuring
Traci.
Traci Lords was the queen of mid '80s porno. At her peak, she earned
over
$1000 a day and worked almost every day.
Traci says she'll never forget that May afternoon in 1986 when Feds
broke
into her apartment to find the 90-pound girl trembling from cocaine.
Traci
says her memory of her entire porn career is but a drug-induced haze.
But
she's sure that she made only a handful of films and that producers'
took
clips from those few to display her in 77 titles. Traci also claims to
have
made less than $50,000 in porn and to have spent most of it on drugs.
In short, Traci claims she was a victim of drugs, unhappiness and most
of
all, pornographers.
Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Ira Reiner had the same
attitude. "She may well be a hard professional now, but she was
15...when
the pornographic film industry got a hold of her. The thrust of our
investigation is directed towards the industry that exploited her."
Traci Lords was never charged with a crime. A couple of porographers
spent
about $100,000 together to legally defend themselves from charges of
sexually exploiting a minor.
Nora Louise Kuzma
Traci's real name is Nora Louise Kuzma, but she still keeps her porn
psuedonym. She complains about harassment from persons who hear her
name
and says that she was forced to move several times when neighbors
discovered her identity.
Born 5/7/68, Nora Louise Kuzma moved to Redondo Beach in Southern
California with her mother and sisters in 1980. She soon lost her
virginity, got pregnant, and despite her boyfriend's offer of marriage,
had
an abortion. In 1983, at age 15, Nora ran away from home to Los
Angeles.
She lived with a man in his 40s, who posed as her stepdad when they
visited
Jim South's World Modeling agency on Van Nuys Boulevard in Sherman
Oaks.
Nora showed Jim a California Driver's License and a birth certificate.
They
carried the name Kristie Nussam, born 11/17/63.
South told Traci, born 5/7/68, to strip in a separate for some
Polaroids,
the normal procedure at his office for newcomers. While she removed her
clothes, her "stepfather" regaled South with tales of porno stars he
knew.
Then he said to South: "This girl will do anything you want in porn
movies."
World Modeling first sent Traci to a modeling shoot simulating sex. But
the
photographer had to stop the shoot because Traci took it past
simulation.
In her first pornos, Traci earned $200 a day doing bit parts. In Joys
of
Erotica, Traci sits on a sofa with porn actress Raven and they talk
about
men.
"I'm sick of men in my life," says Raven.
The 15-year old Traci agrees. "They all have ego problems. Every one of
them thinks they have the golden jewel. The best cock around. You have
to
sit there and play with them, like little toys to make sure they feel
they're the best."
Traci and Raven then have sex.
"I thought I was gay," says Traci, "even though I never had sex with
women
outside movies."
Also while 15, Traci appeared in Penthouse. Jerry Butler says he beat
off
incessantly to her image. "I'd never seen a prettier pinup, but in real
life Traci was another cup of tea. When I met her, I wasn't impressed.
Traci was hyped so well because she had the innocent girl-next-door
quality
that porno companies loved. The girl most likely not to do it. Porky
and
lazy, her balloon tits didn't do much for me. Then she started to make
these orgasmic sounds - before I even pulled down my zipper. It was
like
fucking a voice-over." (Jerry Butler)
By contrast, Susie Bright offers this view: "The reason Traci Lords
made
such a splash in X-rated cinema is that she made great responsive sex
noises when was getting fucked."
Butler:
"Traci's a sexual billboard. Billboards look expensive and expansive.
They
demonstrate, but they never move or feel. Like Shauna Grant, Traci
mastered
that cliched sexy look for the camera."
Writer Pat Jordan:
"She was a baby-fat brunette child-woman whose eyes glanced sideways at
the
camera and whose hands shook as she performed her sex acts." (GQ 4/90)
"Traci Lords sat naked on the couch where that cat is now," Bill
Margold
told me. "It was 1985 and my wife Drea and I were going to do a movie
called Portrait of Lust.
"I said to Drea that there's something wrong with this girl. She sat
there
looking like a lump, a wet looking, unformed lump.
"She wasn't formed properly. She had these conical tits, baby fat and
the
dullest look I have ever seen on a female. And I couldn't put together
that
this was an underage female.
"If I had caught her, think of the misery that I could've prevented.
"I keep reliving that day. Obviously, something stopped me from asking
her
if she was under 18.
"Maybe the hell-bent rush to disaster mentality of the industry, maybe
its
deathwish, exists within me as well."
Traci Transformed
Traci soon transformed herself into a slim, tough, platinum blonde who
acted as if in combat with male actors.
Margold remembers the time Traci was screwing Jamie Gillis. "When the
camera went off, Traci was still fucking Jamie, while screaming "Come
on,
mama wants it hotter!" She had the sexual precociousness of a 40-year
old.
Still, she was exceptionally mechanical. Like a cash register. She
never
gave too much on screen."
Paul Thomas is nicknamed PT or The Postman, because he always delivers.
"She was one of the few actresses who wouldn't stop having sex after
the
camera was off. She wanted to show she could fuck just as good as porn
stars like me.
"I met her on the set of Sex Fifth Avenue in 1986," says Paul, who was
35
to her 16. "She was as cute as can be. A nasty little girl who enjoyed
being bad. I just wanted to fuck her."
By 16, Traci Lords was a savvy professional known for "giving the best
orgasm in the business," according to a video distributor. In Beverly
Hills
Copulator, she writhed and screamed and moaned on a sofa as an actor
fucked
her. She glared up at him and said through snarling lips, "Come on
baby! Is
that all you've got?"
A female executive in porn owns Traci memorabilia including a flier for
the
video Those Young Girls that Traci Lords signed. She Xed out Harry
Reems
photo and wrote over it "Asshole". On John Holmes she wrote "Dick" and
on
Ginger Lynn "Bitch No Tits". Traci signed the flier "Traci Lords #1
Star.
On a Ginger Lynn poster, Traci wrote over Ginger's photo "I don't do
Neggers or anal." Traci did both. Peter North penetrated her bottom and
Traci had sex with light-skinned black man Billy Dee.
Porn consumers around the world adored Traci. She got mobbed in Tokyo
and
Paris. At domestic adult video conventions, male fans waited hours in
line
to get her autograph. Traci Lords was the number one porn actress of
her
time and made about a million dollars in the business.
She was a one person porn industry which she controlled herself. She
raised
her own money, produced her own films, wrote her own scripts, starred
in
her own projects and marketed the resulting product. She formed Traci
Lords
Productions with her "manager" and boyfriend, a man in his late 30s
that
South describes as a "snake." They got video companies to pay Traci
$10,000
a month and furnish her with an apartment and a Mercedes. Shortly after
she
turned 18, Traci raised between $25,000 to $50,000 from a video
distributor
to make an adult film in Paris. Though she went to Paris, she told the
distributor she never made the movie. (GQ)
Arriving back in California, she was arrested but never charged with a
crime. Instead, prosecutors went after Jim South and Rubin Gottesman,
owner
of X-citement Video Inc., and charged them with violating federal child
pornography laws. The maximum sentence was ten years in prison anda
$100,000 fine. Both South and Gottesman claimed they had been unaware
that
Traci was underage. Former LA County District Attorney Ira Reiner was
unimpressed. "We're all familiar with their high standards."
Federal law makes it illegal to hire someone under age for pornography,
even if one doesn't know that they're underage. But California state
court
went easy, and South got off without going to jail. Gottesman spent a
year
in jail. They spent about $100,000 to defend themselves. Traci claims
she
had to spend thousands of dollars on legal fees but for what is not
clear
as she was never charged with anything.
Three years after running away from home, Traci returned to tell her
mother, "I fucked up."
"I was never angry with Traci," says her mother, a fledgling Buddhist.
"Her
sisters were angry for a while. They'd walk to school and kids would
call
out, "You sister's a slut."
Traci frequently returned to her old high school and most everyone
there
knew she was performing porn, but the students kept the news from their
parents and other adults. Traci did make a porno in Paris just before
returning to California and getting arrested. She sold Traci I Love You
to
a distributor for $100,000. It's the only legal porno available
featuring
Traci Lords.
Traci's standard line is that she doesn't remember acting in pornos
because
she was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. "I never saw any of
my
movies," Traci lies. "I don't even remember making them. I was drinking
and
addicted to drugs."
This assertion is laughed at by those in porn who knew her. "Is that
what
she's claiming now?" asks Jim South. "That's an absolute lie. I never
saw
the girl take drugs. I would've had complaints. She was always a
responsible businesswoman."
In an interview on TV's A Current Affair, in 1988, Traci claimed she
left
porn on her own. "One day after a shoot, I came home and showered to
get
the dirt off. But no matter how hard I scrubbed, I couldn't get rid of
that
dirty feeling. And so I quit."
Theories on who tipped off the FBI about Traci are legion but nothing
has
yet been established. Fellow porn actress Stacey Donovan has
disappeared
since that time. She may've taken advantage of the witness protection
program to start a new life.
Margold thinks Traci informed on hersel. Why? So she could make Traci I
Love You the only accepted adult film of herself.
After disappearing from public sight for a few years, Traci reemerged
in
1988 as a B-film bimbo and nudie poster girl. Traci says that during
the
silent years she got her life straightened out by joining Alcoholics
Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
By 1989, Traci had an agent - Don Geller. And she decided to quit doing
nude scenes. For the past seven years, she's lived up to her word,
turning
down numerous movie offers.
"Someday," said Bill Margold when the Traci Lords scandal broke in
1986,
"Traci will wind up as the cornerstone of a bank building.
"I will not be unhappy when Traci gets knocked off. When you create a
sea
of lies, you drown in your own lies. I think Traci's going to get hit
bya
wave that she can't ride out. "The X-rated industry was overwhelmed by
Traci and caught off-guard because all it did was give to Traci and
take
nothing back.
"When people begin to forget about Traci, she's going to disappear
because
the people she's hurt, do not forget.
"Traci has gotten along in this world by lying convincingly to enough
people. Somebody is going to retaliate and she will get exactly what
she
deserves.
"In June of 1988, I got a phone call at 4:30 in the morning. A girl on
the
other end of the line said she lived in Redondo Beach and that she knew
Traci. She wanted to know why I hated Traci Lords. For two hours we
spoke.
I believe it was Traci. She called to find out why I hated her.
"After two hours of explaining, she said that she understood. She said
that
she'd gone to school with Traci Lords and that Traci would come back to
school and tell all the kids what she was doing. Why didn't the kids
tell
their parents? "We hate our parents. Why should we tell our parents?"
"They were putting one over the adults.
"I sat there watching the sun come up, listening to a person bare their
soul to me.
"I got back into bed with Viper and said that was Traci Lords. She
phoned
up wanting to be punished for two hours. At any time she could've hung
up
because I kept reiterating that Traci will be punished in ways she
doesn't
dare dream.
"There are many ways to handle evil but sometimes evil has to be
eradicated."
Jim South says someone once offered him $1000 to give out Traci's
whereabouts but Jim refused. "Sometimes ethics matter in this
business,"
says the self-proclaimed conservative Republican.
Traci Lords gets recognized everywhere she goes. Men tend to stare, and
women frequently hiss "slut."
In early 1990, GQ writer Pat Jordan took her to the Four Seasons Hotel
in
Beverly Hills. Looking around the swanky restaurant, Traci says, "These
people are too fucking cool to notice me. I oughta stand up on the
table
and shout, 'Here I am, fuckers!'... My agent doesn't like me to say
'fuck.'
But why not? It's a good fucking word."
The new Traci Lords says she won't sleep with someone to get a
mainstream
part.
"Just because I'm young and pretty doesn't mean I'm bait. I'm not for
sale.
I don't believe in fucking fat stupid Jewish producers to get a role."
Traci starred in a straight-to-video mainstream movie for Columbia
director
Ivan Nagy who helped Heidi Fleiss run her call girl service.
>From 1990-95 Traci was married to bit actor Brook Yeaton. They lived
quietly in a San Fernando home, hoping that their neighbors didn't find
out
that Traci Lords lived next door.
Lords divorced Yeaton in 1995 and the next year became engaged to a
more
succesful actor - John Enos who features in the 1996 film Bullet.
Traci sings in such albums as Little Baby Nothing by the Manic Street
Preachers and Somebody To Love by the Ramones, acts in B movies such as
Nowhere, Blood Money and Skinner, and turns up occasionally on TV
programs
such as Melrose Place.
Back in 1994, performer Asia Carrera dated Hollywood's most powerful
casting director, Tony Shepherd, of Spelling Entertainment. He'd
arranged
acting lessons for Asia and hoped to mainstream her. But Traci's
appearance
on Melrose Place triggered thousands of angry letters protesting the
use of
the porn star. Saddened, Tony Shephed told Asia he wouldn't be able to
place her on a network TV show. Saddened, Carrera stopped dating the
casting director.
Traci lost a leading role on Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula film to
Sadie
Frost.
"If you're sexy, everybody will love you," Traci said in 1995. "That's
what
I wanted - for everybody to love me." In 1996, Lords appeared as Sean
Collins in an episode of Nash Bridge.
Traci Lords says she wants to be a mother before she's 30. She plans to
tell her children early on about sex, drugs, AIDS, condoms and the
like.
Traci Lords Filmography
Adult 45 [1985]
Adventures of Tracy Dick [1985]
Another roll in the hay [1985]
Aroused [1985]
Bad girls 3 [1984]
Battle of the stars [1985]
Best of Diamond collection 1 [1986]
Beverly Hills copulator [1986]
Black throat [1985]
Breaking it [1984]
Country girl [1985]
Deep inside Traci [1986]
Diamond collection 69 [1985]
Diamond collection 73 [1986]
Diamond collection 75 [1986]
Diamond collection 76 [1986]
Diamond collection 89 [1986]
Dirty pictures [1985]
Double penetration 2 [1987]
Dream lover [1986]
Educating Mandy [1985]
Erotic gold [1985]
Erotic zones #1 [1985]
First annual XRCO adult film awards [1985]
Future voyeur [1985]
Gourmet quickies 723 [1985]
Grafenberg spot [1985]
Harlequin affair [1985]
Holly does Hollywood [1985]
Hollywood heartbreakers [1985]
Hot pink [1985]
Hot shorts: Raven [1986]
Huge bras 3 [1983]
Inside Danielle [1985]
It's my body [1985]
Jean Genie [1985]
Jeannie's magic box [1985]
Joys of erotica 110 [1985]
Joys of erotica 114 [1985]
Jubilee of erotism [1985]
Just another pretty face [1985]
Keyhole productions 102: Cum shots [1985]
Keyhole productions 104 [1985]
Kinky business [1984]
Ladies in lace [1985]
Love bites [1984]
Lust in the fast lane [1984]
Lust on Main street [1984]
Marilyn Chambers' private fantasies 5 [1985]
Marilyn Chambers' private fantasies 6 [1986]
Miss passion [1984]
More than a handful [1985]
New wave hookers [1985]
Night of loving dangerously [1984]
Nympherotica [1984]
One hot night of passion [1985]
Open up Traci [1985]
P.S. I love you [1989]
Passion pit [1985]
Peek-a-boo gang [1985]
Perfect fit [1985]
Physical 2 [1985]
Pleasure party [1985]
Pleasure productions 9 [1984]
Pleasure productions 10 [1984]
Pony girls 1 [1985]
Pony girls 2 [1985]
Porn in the USA [1985]
Portrait of lust [1985]
Reincarnation of Don Juan [1986]
Screaming desire [1985]
Sex Fifth avenue [1985]
Sex goddess [1985]
Sex shoot [1985]
Sex waves [1985]
Sister dearest [1984]
Sizzling suburbia [1986]
Suzie superstar 2 [1985]
Swedish erotica 56 [1984]
Swedish erotica 57 [1984]
Swedish erotica 60 [1984]
Sweet little things [1985]
Tailhouse rock [1985]
Talk dirty to me 3 [1984]
Taste of Traci Lords [1989]
The [1985]
Those young girls [1984]
Traci I love you [1987]
Traci Lords [1985]
Traci Lords quickie [1986]
Traci takes Tokyo [1986]
Traci's fantasies [1986]
Tracy in heaven [1985]
Two timing Traci [1984]
We love to tease [1985]
What gets me hot [1984]
Whore of the worlds [1985]
Wild things 1 [1985]
Young and restless 2 [1985]