As the self-described “most downloaded person on the Internet,” porn star Jenna Jameson has emerged from college dorm room stardom to become a household name. Contrary to popular belief, Jameson never used her profession as a stepping stone to mainstream acting or as a substitute for a career in entertainment gone bad. With the determination to become the most popular star in the industry, Jameson accomplished just that, becoming so famous that she wound up atop her own merchandising company with carte blanche to appear in any movie of her choosing—or none at all. Despite typifying the porn star cliché—she has been abused and was a drug addict—Jameson’s unabashed biography, How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale, has only complicated rather than simplified the argument that porn either exploits or empowers women. Born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jameson lost her showgirl mother to skin cancer when she was 3 years-old. Left to her own designs by her well-meaning, but constantly working dad, Jameson and her brother, Tony, were free to roam and explore new things, like sex and drugs. While a young teen, she lost her virginity to a boy she liked while passed out drunk at a party. She was later gang-raped by several boys from another high school at a time when her family had moved to Montana—an experience Jameson was convinced she was not meant to survive. At 16, she feel in love with a tattoo artist who gave Jameson her trademark double-heart on her bum. After moving in together, she was encouraged to find work as a stripper. Her boyfriend took nude photos while Jameson shopped herself around Vegas for dancing jobs. One club told her to reapply after she had her braces removed—which she did that night with the help of her brother and a pair of needle-nose pliers. The next day she got the job.
Stripping at clubs like Crazy Horse Too led to posing for various magazines, including Penthouse and Hustler. Meanwhile, Jameson had developed an addiction to crystal meth—so crippling was her problem that she moved back in with her dad, who had moved to California, to cleanse her system. Then in 1993, Jameson began making softcore pornography, which soon segued into hardcore—surprisingly, with her father’s blessing. Her first video, “Up and Cummers 11,” was made in 1994. At first she only performed girl-on-girl scenes, but soon made her first film with a man, “Cherry Pie” (1994), in which she played a character called Betty Blueballs. After doing several films with Vivid Video, she signed an exclusive contract with Wicked Pictures, telling founder Steve Ornstein that “the most important thing…[was] to become the biggest star the industry has ever seen.”
Jameson quickly made good on her promise. At 21, she won Best New American Starlet at the Hot D’Or Awards in Cannes—the industry’s version of the Academy Awards. Meanwhile, she sent photos to radio Shock Jock Howard Stern and soon appeared regularly on his morning program. Stern was instrumental in boosting Jameson’s career, casting her—albeit for a brief nude scene—in his autobiography, “Private Parts” (1997). In 1999, Jameson was honored with two lifetime achievement awards: one from Adult Video News, the other from the Hot D’Or Awards. Meanwhile, her personal life began to brighten. After marrying and quickly separating from coworker Rodney Hopkins (a.k.a. Brad Armstrong), she met porn producer Jay Grdina, who proposed to Jameson while she was still technically married. Before the ink had dried on the divorce, Jameson and Grdina married and eventually bought a home in Scottsdale, AZ, where the two formed Club Jenna, a merchandising company that featured movies for download and a variety of products, including bobble head dolls, Got Jenna? T-shirts and a mold of her pelvic region—complete with lubricant and talcum powder.
As her popularity at video stores and online grew, she started crossing over to mainstream entertainment. She hosted episodes of E! Entertainment Television’s “Wild On” and provided household tips on “The Man Show” (Comedy Central, 1994-2004), while making appearances on “Entertainment Tonight” (Syndicated, 1981- ) and “Extra” (Syndicated, 1994- ). She also provided her voice on an episode of “Family Guy” (Fox, 1998- ) and had a recurring role as herself on the short-lived political drama, “Mister Sterling” (NBC, 2003). In 2003, E! Entertainment aired a two-hour “True Hollywood Story” in which she talked about overcoming her inner demons and her rise as the industry’s most powerful porn actress. Meanwhile, she appeared with other industry stars in the documentary, “Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy” (2001), then made her first mainstream feature film as a fictional character in the straight-to-video comedy about a slow-witted gumshoe (Danny Masterson), “Dirt Merchant” (2002). Jameson also crossed-over to the video game realm, providing the voice of the prostitute Candy Suxx in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. She even made a cameo appearance—again as herself—in the Robert DeNiro-Billy Crystal comedy, “Analyze That” (2002).
Throughout her career, Jameson made upwards of fifty films, some of which were big sellers, including her most popular, “Brianna Loves Jenna” (2001), which sold 100,000 copies on video and DVD. Though warning prospective actresses about the perils of the industry, she has debated the merits of porn on society, most notably at the Oxford Union in London and on “The O’Reilly Factor (Fox News, 1996- ) with host Bill O’Reilly. Meanwhile, her popularity soared and her acceptance into the mainstream continued unabated. Her autobiography—ghost written by former New York Times music writer Neil Strauss—was well-reviewed and quickly became a best seller, debuting on the Times’ list at No. 9. Then in 2003, she inked an exclusive deal with Vivid Entertainment: a seven year contract that allowed her to direct and star in 15 videos—an unprecedented amount of control for a porn star. In 2006 Jameson lent her voice to "Samurai Love God," an animated series from Comedy Central delivered directly to mobile-phone users.
