The Most Famous

PORNOGRAPHIC ACTORS from United States

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This page contains a list of the greatest American Pornographic Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 221 Pornographic Actors, 138 of which were born in United States. This makes United States the birth place of the most number of Pornographic Actors.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary American Pornographic Actors of all time. This list of famous American Pornographic Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of American Pornographic Actors.

Photo of Linda Lovelace

1. Linda Lovelace (1949 - 2002)

With an HPI of 65.89, Linda Lovelace is the most famous American Pornographic Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 51 different languages on wikipedia.

Linda Lovelace (born Linda Susan Boreman; January 10, 1949 – April 22, 2002) was an American pornographic actress who became famous for her performance in the 1972 hardcore film Deep Throat, which was an enormous success. She later alleged that her abusive husband, Chuck Traynor, had threatened and coerced her into participation. In her autobiography Ordeal, she described what went on behind the scenes. She later became a born-again Christian and a spokeswoman for the anti-pornography movement.

Photo of Ron Jeremy

2. Ron Jeremy (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 60.62, Ron Jeremy is the 2nd most famous American Pornographic Actor.  His biography has been translated into 44 different languages.

Ronald Jeremy Hyatt (born March 12, 1953) is an American former pornographic actor. Nicknamed "The Hedgehog", Jeremy was ranked by AVN at No. 1 in their "50 Top Porn Stars of All Time" list. Jeremy has also made a number of non-pornographic media appearances, and director Scott J. Gill filmed a documentary about him and his legacy, Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy, released in 2001. Jeremy was accused of sexual assault more than a dozen times between 2017 and 2020, for incidents stretching back to 2004. In June 2020, Jeremy was charged with four counts of rape and sexual assault involving four women, and in August 2020, he was charged with another 20 counts of either rape or sexual assault over a span of 16 years from 2004 to 2020 that involved 12 women and a 15-year-old girl. Upon further investigation he was indicted on 30 sexual-assault counts involving 21 victims. He was initially jailed awaiting trial, but in January 2023, a judge found him mentally unfit to stand trial due to "incurable neurocognitive decline"; he was released to a private residence in November 2023.

Photo of Juliet Anderson

3. Juliet Anderson (1938 - 2010)

With an HPI of 59.78, Juliet Anderson is the 3rd most famous American Pornographic Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Juliet Anderson (born Judith Carr), also known as Aunt Peg (July 23, 1938 – January 11, 2010), was an American pornographic actress and adult movie producer, relationship counselor and author. Entering the adult movie business relatively late in life (at age 39), she quickly built a reputation as one of the premier performers in the so-called "Golden Age of Porn", appearing in over seventy films—often as "Aunt Peg", a role portrayed as a giddy, insatiable woman determined to enjoy life and sex to the maximum extent possible. In 1987, she started a new career as a relationship counselor and massage therapist, before returning to adult entertainment in the mid-1990s.

Photo of Lisa Ann

4. Lisa Ann (b. 1972)

With an HPI of 59.13, Lisa Ann is the 4th most famous American Pornographic Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 43 different languages.

Lisa Ann Corpora (born May 9, 1972), known professionally as Lisa Ann, is a retired American pornographic film actress and radio personality. She has also worked as a director and talent agent. She parodied former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin in six adult films and a music video. She is a member of the AVN, XRCO, and Urban X Halls of Fame. Ann has been described as one of the most popular and successful pornographic actresses in the world. Ann quit porn in 1997 due to an AIDS scare in the industry, but resumed performing in February 2006. In 2008, she starred as "Serra Paylin", a parody of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, in Hustler Video's Who's Nailin' Paylin?, which was released on Election Day. Her directorial film, MILF Revolution (2013), won the 2014 AVN Award for "Best MILF Release". In December 2014, she launched Porn Stars Boot Camp, a consulting firm, and also announced her retirement from performing in adult films. She had breast reduction surgery shortly after her second adult entertainment retirement. Four years later, in 2018, Ann announced her comeback to the adult industry, signing with Evil Angel. Prior to beginning her adult entertainment career, Ann appeared as a "Snapple Girl" on The Howard Stern Show. She played Palin in the music video for the song "We Made You" by American rapper Eminem. She voiced a character known as "Prostitute #2" in the video game Grand Theft Auto V, released in September 2013. Ann appeared alongside Rayveness and Cory Chase in Season 4, Episode 7 of the Showtime series Billions titled Infinite Game. In 2013, she hosted a Sirius XM show titled Stripper Town. In early 2016, she began participating in fantasy baseball. In 2023, Ann began working with Bret Raybould on Better Halves with Lisa Ann and Bret Raybould on Sirius XM, a weekly comical therapy session that journeys into the world of dating, sex, and relationships.

Photo of Nina Hartley

5. Nina Hartley (b. 1959)

With an HPI of 58.51, Nina Hartley is the 5th most famous American Pornographic Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

Marie Louise Hartman (born March 11, 1959), known professionally as Nina Hartley, is an American pornographic film actress and sex educator. By 2017 she had appeared in more than one thousand adult films. She has been described by Las Vegas Weekly as an "outspoken feminist" and "advocate for sexual freedom", and by CNBC as "a legend in the adult world".

Photo of Georgina Spelvin

6. Georgina Spelvin (b. 1936)

With an HPI of 57.47, Georgina Spelvin is the 6th most famous American Pornographic Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Shelley Bob Graham (born March 1, 1936), known professionally as Georgina Spelvin, is an American former actress and pornographic performer, best known as the star of the classic 1973 pornographic film The Devil in Miss Jones, released during the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984).

Photo of Jenna Jameson

7. Jenna Jameson (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 57.09, Jenna Jameson is the 7th most famous American Pornographic Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 65 different languages.

Jenna Marie Massoli (born April 9, 1974), known professionally as Jenna Jameson (), is an American businesswoman, writer, television personality, and former pornographic film actress. She has been named the world's most famous adult entertainment performer and "The Queen of Porn". Jameson started acting in erotic videos in 1993 after having worked as a stripper and glamour model. By 1996, she had won the "Top Newcomer" award from each of the three major adult movie organizations. She has since won more than 35 adult-video awards, and has been inducted into the X-Rated Critics Organization (XRCO) and Adult Video News (AVN) Halls of Fame. Jameson founded the adult-entertainment company ClubJenna in 2000 with Jay Grdina, whom she later married and divorced. Initially, a single website, this business expanded into managing similar websites of other stars and began producing sexually explicit videos in 2001. The first such movie, Briana Loves Jenna (with Briana Banks), was named at the 2003 AVN Awards as the best-selling and best-renting pornographic title for 2002. By 2005, ClubJenna had revenues of US$30 million with profits estimated at half that. Jameson has also crossed over into mainstream pop culture, starting with a minor role in Howard Stern's 1997 film Private Parts. Her mainstream appearances continued with several guest-hosting and guest-starring on various television programs. Playboy TV hosted her Jenna's American Sex Star reality show, in which aspiring porn stars competed for a ClubJenna contract. Her 2004 autobiography, How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale, spent six weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. Jameson announced her retirement from pornography at the 2008 AVN Awards, stating that she would never return to the industry. Although she no longer performs in pornographic films, she began working as a webcam model in 2013.

Photo of Asa Akira

8. Asa Akira (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 56.56, Asa Akira is the 8th most famous American Pornographic Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Asa Akira (born January 3, 1985) is an American pornographic film actress, writer and adult film director. Akira has appeared in 689 adult films as of June 2023. In 2013, she became the third Asian performer (after Asia Carrera and Stephanie Swift) to win the AVN Female Performer of the Year Award. Akira hosted the 1st and 2nd ceremonies for the Pornhub Awards. She was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame, XRCO Hall of Fame, Urban X Hall of Fame, and Brazzers Hall of Fame.

Photo of Julia Ann

9. Julia Ann (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 56.30, Julia Ann is the 9th most famous American Pornographic Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Julia Ann is an American pornographic actress and feature dancer. She is a member of the AVN, XRCO, NightMoves, and Brazzers Halls of Fame.

Photo of Annie Sprinkle

10. Annie Sprinkle (b. 1954)

With an HPI of 56.19, Annie Sprinkle is the 10th most famous American Pornographic Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Annie M. Sprinkle (born Ellen F. Steinberg on July 23, 1954) is an American certified sexologist, performance artist, former sex worker, and advocate for sex work and health care. Sprinkle has worked as a prostitute, sex educator, feminist stripper, pornographic film actress, and sex film producer and director. In 1996, she became the first known porn star to get a doctoral degree, earning a PhD in human sexuality from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. Identifying as ecosexual, Sprinkle is best known for her self-help style of pornography, teaching individuals about pleasure, and for her conventional pornographic film Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle (1981). Through the production of feminist based pornographic content, include understanding of female genitalia and pornography based on women's desires, Sprinkle has contributed to feminist pornography and the larger social movement of feminism; she is also known for contributing to the rise of the post-porn movement and bisexual/lesbian pornography. Sprinkle, a bisexual woman and member of the LGBTQ+ community, married her long-time partner Beth Stephens in Canada on January 14, 2007.

People

Pantheon has 147 people classified as American pornographic actors born between 1936 and 1996. Of these 147, 125 (85.03%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living American pornographic actors include Ron Jeremy, Lisa Ann, and Nina Hartley. The most famous deceased American pornographic actors include Linda Lovelace, Juliet Anderson, and Gloria Leonard. As of April 2024, 14 new American pornographic actors have been added to Pantheon including Abella Danger, Jennifer Welles, and Herschel Savage.

Living American Pornographic Actors

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Deceased American Pornographic Actors

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Newly Added American Pornographic Actors (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Pornographic Actors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 20 most globally memorable Pornographic Actors since 1700.