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 an American retired 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. Ann was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, on May 9, 1972. During the first two years of her adult film career, she was under contract with Metro/Cal Vista and shot only once a month with porn artist John O'Rourke. She quit porn in 1997 due to an AIDS scare in the industry and spent the following seven years stripping. She also owned a day spa for four years during her hiatus from porn. She decided to resume performing in February 2006 after being asked to do a boy/girl photo shoot for Suze Randall. The first scene she shot after returning to the industry was with Christian XXX in Bra Bustin' and Deep Thrustin'. Ann was selected to co-host the XRCO Awards in April 2010. She retired from pornography in 2014, which she announced via a Facebook post. She had a breast reduction surgery shortly after retiring from porn. Following her retirement, she continued to perform in webcam shows occasionally. In January 2018, she announced her return to the adult industry, signing with Evil Angel and making four more scenes. Her first scene was with male pornographic performer Isiah Maxwell for her website thelisaann.com. In 2008, Ann starred as "Serra Paylin", a parody of 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, in Hustler Video's Who's Nailin' Paylin?, which was released on election day on November 4, 2008. Hustler contacted her to offer her the part on the day of the vice-presidential debate, which she viewed to learn Palin's mannerisms in preparation for the role. She also studied Tina Fey's impressions of Palin on Saturday Night Live. Afterward she became one of streaming video site AEBN's most popular female performers . She portrayed Palin again for the sequels Obama Is Nailin' Palin, Letterman's Nailin' Palin, You're Nailin' Palin, Hollywood's Nailin' Palin, and Who's Nailin' Palin? 2. Hustler also produced a mask in the likeness of her portraying Palin for Halloween in 2009. She reprised her role as Palin in the music video for the song "We Made You" by Eminem. She has also performed as Palin at various strip clubs. Ann made her directorial debut with the film, Hung XXX, released on September 22, 2009, by Justin Slayer International. In August 2013, she launched her own production company, Lisa Ann Productions, and signed a distribution deal with Jules Jordan Video. Her directorial debut for the company, MILF Revolution, was released on August 5, 2013. MILF Revolution won the 2014 AVN Award for "Best MILF Release". Ann worked as a talent agent for LA Direct Models between September 2005 and February 2006. According to Ann, female performers in the industry who were 30 years or older were rejected by other agents and had to represent themselves despite the demand for them amid the "MILF phenomenon", which motivated her to start her own agency and represent them. She launched Clear Talent Management in November 2006, which was later renamed Lisa Ann's Talent Management and merged with Adam Glasser's Lighthouse Agency in 2007 before closing in July 2010. In December 2009, it was announced that Ann had signed on to be the spokeswoman for RealTouch, a mechanized artificial vagina produced by AEBN. She later had her own genitalia molded for Fleshlight in 2011. In 2013, Ann hosted a show titled Stripper Town on Sirius XM. She currently co-hosts two Sirius XM radio shows, Lisa Ann Does Fantasy, alongside Adam Ronis, on Monday nights, and The Morning Men on Thursday mornings. In 2023, Ann began a weekly podcast/show with Sirius XM. Better Halves with Lisa Ann and Bret Raybould is a comical therapy session that journeys into the world of dating, sex, and relationships. In December 2014, she said that she is pursuing a career in fantasy football. By January 2016, she was also slowly getting involved with fantasy baseball. On December 15, 2015, Ann released a memoir titled The Life. In August 2014, Ann reached out to fellow porn actress Belle Knox, also known as the "Duke [University] porn star". Through her agent, who also represents Knox, she wanted to see "How's she doing?". She has been mentoring an average of 10 to 15 girls since 2005. In an interview conducted by XBIZ, Ann said she could sympathize with the media attention that Knox had faced. She had a similar experience when playing former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. "I understand that being a new girl in the business can be a very lonely place... She's already out on the road feature dancing, already has a million opportunities and I feel like if that all happened to me, if 'Palin' had happened to me at 19, I don't know how I would've managed it," she said. "So I reached out to her and we started just a little bit of mentoring by text, by phone, by Skype. And I enjoyed the bond when we talked." In December 2014, Ann launched Porn Stars Boot Camp, a consulting firm. Ann appeared on The Howard Stern Show as a "Snapple Girl" prior to the launching her adult entertainment career. On November 7, 2008, she appeared on Entertainment Tonight to promote Who's Nailin' Paylin? Ann was ranked fifth on Complex magazine's list of "The Top 100 Hottest Porn Stars (Right Now)" in 2011. She was also placed on CNBC's annual list "The Dirty Dozen: Porn's Most Popular Stars" in 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015. She was among sixteen pornographic actresses profiled in the 2013 documentary film Aroused. In August 2013, she starred in the music video for the song "Dead Bite" by Hollywood Undead. 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". Ann does not identify with any political party. In October 2008, she said she was voting for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election and that she was previously a supporter of Hillary Clinton. She supported Obama again in the 2012 presidential election. Ann has expressed support for gun rights. In March 2010, Ann appeared in a public service announcement for the Free Speech Coalition on the topic of copyright infringement of adult content, directed by Michael Whiteacre. On October 14, 2010, Ann announced that she would only be shooting scenes with condoms after a male performer in the industry was diagnosed with HIV. She also stated that the STD testing system at the time was not enough and encouraged other performers to also demand condom use during shoots. In August 2012, she called for legislation mandating condom use in heterosexual adult films and questioned the standards of syphilis treatment for performers by industry doctors. In August 2013, she alleged that a male performer she was scheduled to work with may have tested positive for hepatitis C and tried to work anyway. She stated that the performer showed her a test from a facility outside of the industry which did not indicate any results for hepatitis and that she discovered two adult performer testing databases had him listed as unavailable to work. Subsequently, the Adult Production Health & Safety Services announced that they would start implementing monthly hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and trichomoniasis testing on August 19, 2013. While in the industry, she paid for a fresh round of tests for her co-stars to ensure they were negative for STIs. Ann has campaigned to destigmatize interracial pornography by speaking out about the treatment of black performers in the industry and the lack of work for them. She also wants to help transform the industry to give performers pensions, health insurance, and career guidance. In 2015, she competed and won the FantasyFootballNerd.com Charity League playing for the charity Blessings in a Backpack which mobilizes communities, individuals and resources to provide food on the weekends for elementary school children across the U.S. who might otherwise go hungry. Ann lived in Huntington Beach, California, for at least fifteen years. She previously lived in Boca Raton, Florida, for a year. As of October 2015, she owns a condo in Los Angeles and an apartment in Midtown Manhattan. She is a sports fan; her favorite sports are basketball and football. In high school, she played basketball and was in the ski club. She stated that if she had not worked in the adult film industry, she would have liked to become a sports agent or writer, blogger, and reporter. She is a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Cowboys. At age 28, she married a bouncer, whom she later divorced. In November 2009, she told TMZ that she started dating Rob Kardashian after meeting him at a gym. A source close to Kardashian spoke to Us Weekly and confirmed that they met at a gym, but denied Ann's claim that they were dating. Due to her interest in sports and professional athletes along with her work as a sports reporter for the Sirius/XM network, Ann has attended numerous games, which has led to interaction, sometimes publicly, with athletes. In October 2014, speculation was raised whether Ann and 18-year-old Notre Dame football player Justin Brent were dating when the two appeared at a game together. After their appearance at Madison Square Garden, personal photos of the two in bed together were released online. In November 2014, she commented via her Twitter account regarding requests made to her by former New York Rangers hockey player Michael Del Zotto. In a February 2014 interview with GQ magazine, sportswriter Myles Brown, Ann wrote, "...if dudes could be with Victoria's Secret models, that's how I look at athletes. I'm 42. I'm looking at 18, 19, 20-year-old guys. They're at the beginning of their lives, so they're still excited, naïve and simple. They're not negative yet." When asked how many athletes she had slept with, she replied, "In my life in the [adult] business for twenty-something years? A lot. Hundreds." She stated that her favored athletes for interaction or relationships are NBA players. Ann said this could lead to awkward situations, such as when players are traded and several athletes she is in contact with are on the same team, a situation she makes an effort to avoid. "I don't mess with multiple guys on a team at the same time. I don't want to be in any locker room talk." In March 2015, during the annual March Madness NCAA basketball tournament, there was media attention regarding her involvement in a promotion in conjunction with the production studio Brazzers. The contest, "Win a Date with Lisa Ann", was co-sponsored by the studio and offered an all-expense-paid trip to the national championship game for the best trick shot video submitted. Unexpectedly, Brazzers withdrew the promotion via press release, effectively shutting down the contest. Ann is considered to be one of the most popular and successful pornographic actresses in the world. List of Italian-American entertainers List of people from the Lehigh Valley List of pornographic performers by decade Lisa Ann on Facebook Lisa Ann on Instagram Lisa Ann on X Lisa Ann at IMDb Lisa Ann at the Internet Adult Film Database Lisa Ann at the Adult Film Database

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". Hartley was born on March 11, 1959, in Berkeley, California, to a Lutheran father, Louis Hartman, and a Jewish mother, Blanche Hartman (née Gelders), Her grandfather was a University of Alabama physics professor who was a Communist Party USA (CPUSA) party member in the 1930s. Hartley's parents were members of the CPUSA who converted to Buddhism when she was young. Her father was blacklisted in 1957 for his communist beliefs. Hartley grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and as a teenager self-identified as a feminist, influenced by the slogan "my body, my rules". After graduating from Berkeley High School in 1977, she attended San Francisco State University's undergraduate nursing school and graduated magna cum laude in 1985, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She was a registered nurse until her license expired in 1986. Hartley sought a career in pornography as a way to make a living by having sex, later telling Las Vegas Weekly, "Porn gave me easy access to women without having to date them or have a relationship." She writes that part of her reason for choosing sex work was to be able to indulge her exhibitionistic and voyeuristic streak. She has said she chose her life's work when she saw the 1976 erotic film The Autobiography of a Flea alone at a theater in San Francisco. In 1982, during her sophomore year of nursing school, she started working as a stripper at the Sutter Cinema and then the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre. She told an interviewer that she chose the name "Nina" because it was easy for Japanese tourists to say during the time she was a dancer in San Francisco, and "Hartley" because it was close to her own last name, and she "wanted a name that sounded like that of a real person." Her pornographic film debut was in Educating Nina (1984), where she was cast and directed by fellow performer Juliet Anderson. For many years, she toured the United States and Canada as a stripper and made personal appearances at sex shops. In 2013 she described her father's reaction upon learning about her occupation: He asked, 'Why sex? Why not the violin?' I know now that I'm sexual the way that Mozart was musical [...] a life of public sexuality has, from my very first time on stage, been as natural to me as breathing." In the 1980s and early 1990s, Hartley starred in several of the Debbie Does Dallas film series spin-offs such as Debbie Duz Dishes (1986) and Debbie Does Wall Street (1991). In 1992, she directed her first movie, Nina Hartley's Book of Love. She also produced and starred in a series of sex education videos for Adam & Eve. In 1994, she began her line of instructional videos marketed under the Nina Hartley's Guide brand. Hartley played the part of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 satirical pornographic film Who's Nailin' Paylin?, with Lisa Ann in the role of Sarah Palin. As of 2015, Hartley was still actively performing, and by 2017 she had appeared in more than one thousand pornographic films. She has been described by news outlets as "one of the best-known actresses in the industry" and "a legend in the adult world". Hartley acted in the 1996 Canadian film Bubbles Galore and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. In the 1997 film Boogie Nights, she played William H. Macy's character's serially unfaithful wife who is murdered. She later remarked, "The only movie I ever died in for having sex was a mainstream movie." Hartley has appeared in several documentary films: she was interviewed in The Naked Feminist (2003) was featured in After Porn Ends (2012), and appears in Sticky: A (Self) Love Story (2016), in which she discusses masturbation with regards to education, the forced resignation of Joycelyn Elders, and her opinions on the blackballing of comedian Paul Reubens after his arrest for masturbating in a public theater. Las Vegas Weekly has described Hartley as an "outspoken feminist, sex educator and advocate for sexual freedom" and "a guiding force for a generation of feminist porn stars". Describing herself as a "classical liberal feminist", Hartley began engaging in feminist activism in the 1980s. Regarding her understanding of feminism, she has said: Based on my experience as a woman and a sexual being, and my understanding that I had the right to decide for myself what to do with my life – that’s what I understood to be feminist, to give everybody choices – I didn’t choose to be a mother but I chose this [porn] because it suits me. Hartley has also been involved in socialist activism and has long been affiliated with the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC), a labor union founded in 2014 for pornographic film actors. Politically, Hartley describes herself as a democratic socialist, saying, "There are some things the federal government is essential for and some things best left to local government." Hartley was elected to the board of the Free Speech Coalition in 1995, and is a long-time board member of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation (founded in 2003). She has made frequent appearances at academic conferences, workshops, and in the media to promote sex positivity. She has given lectures at Dartmouth College, Harvard University, and the University of California. In 2006, Hartley co-authored Nina Hartley's Guide to Total Sex with her husband Ira Levine. The book includes sections on sex toys, swinging, threesomes, dominance and submission, and erotic spanking. Library Journal called the book a "well-written guide" that is "strong on both safe sex and a permissive approach", saying Hartley "handles the material frankly, accurately, and with sensitivity". Hartley is a self-described bisexual, swinger, and exhibitionist. For two decades until the early 2000s, she was involved in a three-way relationship with her first husband—a former Students for a Democratic Society leader—and a woman. She married her male partner in 1986, a marriage she says was regrettable; their divorce was finalized in 2003. The same year, Hartley married Ira Levine, a director of porn films under the name Ernest Greene. They are openly polyamorous. Hartley, Nina (1993). "Reflections of a Feminist Porn Star". Porn in the USA. Gauntlet: Exploring the Limits of Free Expression. Vol. 5. Springfield, Penn.: Gauntlet Inc. pp. 62–68. ISBN 978-0-9629-6594-4. —————— (1994). "Confessions of a Feminist Porno Star". In Jaggar, Alison M. (ed.). Living With Contradictions: Controversies In Feminist Social Ethics. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. pp. 176–178. ISBN 978-0-8133-1775-5. —————— (1997). "In the Flesh: A Porn Star's Journey". In Nagle, Jill (ed.). Whores and Other Feminists. New York: Routledge. pp. 57–65. ISBN 978-0-4159-1822-0. With Levine, I. S. (2006). Nina Hartley's Guide to Total Sex. New York: Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-58333-263-4. With Morpheous (2012). How to Be Kinkier: More Adventures in Adult Playtime. San Francisco, Calif.: Green Candy Press. ISBN 978-1-9311-6094-0. Hartley, Nina (2013). "Porn: An Effective Vehicle for Sexual Role Modeling and Education". In Taormino, Tristan; et al. (eds.). The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure. New York: The Feminist Press. pp. 228–236. ISBN 978-1-5586-1818-3. —————— (2015). "Culture Clash". In Lee, Jiz (ed.). Coming Out Like a Porn Star: Essays on Pornography, Protection, and Privacy. Berkeley, Calif.: ThreeL Media. pp. 255–256. ISBN 978-0-9905571-6-6. Hartley has received eight Adult Video News Awards, including: Hartley has won a number of XRCO Awards: Feminist views on pornography Barbano, Nicolas (1999). Verdens 25 hotteste pornostjerner. Copenhagen: Rosinante. ISBN 87-7357-961-0. Features a chapter on Hartley Chapkis, Wendy (1997). Live Sex Acts: Women Performing Erotic Labor (1st ed.). New York: Routledge. pp. 33–36, 102. doi:10.4324/9781315811512. ISBN 0-4159-1288-1. Greenfield-Sanders, Timothy (2004). XXX: 30 Porn-Star Portraits. New York: Bulfinch Press. ISBN 0-8212-7754-5. Features an essay and introduction by Hartley Marvin, Louis (1987). The New Goddesses. Malibu, Calif.: AF Press. ISBN 0-912442-99-9. Features a chapter on Hartley McCumber, David (1992). X-Rated: The Mitchell Brothers: A True Story of Sex, Money, and Death. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 117–125, 320. ISBN 978-0-671-75156-2. Sullivan, David (March 11, 2009). "Happy Birthday, Nina Hartley". Adult Video News. "Viva Nina!". Women and Revolution: Journal of the Women's Commission of the Spartacist League (PDF). Winter 1993 – Spring 1994. p. 13 – via Marxists.org. Warner, Brad (2010). Sex, Sin, and Zen: A Buddhist Exploration of Sex from Celibacy to Polyamory and Everything in Between. Novato, Calif.: New World Library. ISBN 978-1-57731-910-8. Features an interview with Hartley Official website Nina Hartley at IMDb

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.