Georgina Spelvin

Georgina Spelvin

Spelvin in 2008
Born Shelley Graham[1]
(1936-03-01) March 1, 1936
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Other names Shelley Abels, Claudia Clitoris, Tia Von Davis, Dorothy May, Merle Miller, Ruth Raymond, Georgette Spelvin, Ona Tural
Height 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Weight 118 lb (54 kg; 8.4 st)
Spouse(s) John Welsh (2000 - present)
Website http://georgiespelvin.com

Georgina Spelvin (born March 1, 1936) is the stage name of Shelley 'Chele' Graham[1] a former American actress and pornographic performer who is best known as the star of the classic pornographic film The Devil in Miss Jones.

Early life

Spelvin was born in Houston, Texas.[2] As a child, Spelvin fell victim to an attack of polio, but she recovered enough of her mobility to become a dancer. She began her professional career as a chorus girl in New York City and was featured in the Broadway productions of Cabaret, Guys and Dolls, Sweet Charity, and The Pajama Game.[3][4] She also worked in theater as a choreographer, director, and lighting technician in a number of musicals.[5] She made her first movie, The Twilight Girls, a softcore lesbian film, in 1957.[3]

Pornography career

Graham moved into porn when her friend, actor Harry Reems, introduced her to adult film director Gerard Damiano.[3] The stage name she adopted is a variation on George Spelvin, a name traditionally used as a pseudonym by stage actors.

Though Spelvin is known to have appeared in a few sexploitation features during the late 1960s, she became one of the best-known figures in hardcore pornography for her starring role in The Devil in Miss Jones in 1973. Spelvin went on to appear in over 70 adult films before retiring from the industry in 1982.[2]

In 1974, she was charged with transporting obscene materials across state lines for her film Devil in Miss Jones in Tennessee.[6] The charges were eventually dropped in 1977.[7]

In addition, she appeared in the low-budget exploitation film Girls For Rent (aka I Spit on Your Corpse), for which she also served as costume designer. Spelvin made cameo appearances in the straight mainstream films Police Academy and Police Academy 3: Back in Training.

She later had straight film roles in Bad Blood, in which she was credited as "Ruth Raymond," and Next Year in Jerusalem as well as guest-starring roles on the television shows Dream On and The Lost World. In 1973, Robert Berkvist, writing in The New York Times, commented that "'Miss Jones' is as familiar in [the respectable and well-to-do New York suburb of] Scarsdale as she is on Broadway."

After Devil

Spelvin went into desktop publishing and worked for the Los Angeles Times until 2004.[2]

In 2004, she made a cameo appearance in Vivid Video's remake of The Devil in Miss Jones, which it titled The New Devil in Miss Jones.[8]

In 2005, she was interviewed for the documentary film Inside Deep Throat. As of the third week of February 2008, she resided in the Los Angeles area with her husband, actor John Welsh.

In 2009, she appeared as herself in the video for Massive Attack's song "Paradise Circus".[9]

In 2011, Spelvin was a guest on an episode (season 1, episode 5) of the Showtime series Dave's Old Porn, in which she viewed and discussed clips from a number of her films (including The Devil in Miss Jones) with host Dave Attell and guest Adam Carolla.

Autobiography

In May 2008, she published her autobiography, The Devil Made Me Do It, and appeared on camera in a short web clip announcing its release on the internet. A self-published work, the book is available through her official website, Georgiespelvin.com.[10]

Awards

Wins

Nominations

References

  1. 1 2 "Leading lady faces obscenity charges". The Morning Record. Associated Press. August 2, 1974. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Michael Varhola (2011). Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in the Lone Star State. Clerisy Press. pp. 24–27. ISBN 978-1-57860-459-3. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 'Georgina Spelvin: The Devil, Miss Jones, and the New York Years', The Rialto Report: Audio interview with Georgina Spelvin
  4. ↑ Corliss, Richard (March 29, 2005). "That Old Feeling: When Porno Was Chic". Time (magazine). Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  5. ↑ Robinson, Johnny (July 26, 1974). "Chele Graham Released On 10,000 Bail". Lewiston Evening Journal. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "In Trouble". people.com. People Magazine. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "Spartanburg Herald Making the News 4/16/1977". Spartanburg Herald. Associated Press. April 16, 1977. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Georgie Rocks The House". Retrieved 2007-11-30.
  9. ↑ "Massive Attack - Paradise Circus". Retrieved 2009-12-14.
  10. ↑ "The Devil Made Her Do It". Retrieved 2008-05-14.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "rame awards list". Retrieved 2007-11-29.
  12. ↑ "AVN Hall of Fame". Retrieved 2007-11-29.
  13. ↑ "XRCO Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
  14. ↑ "AVN 2006 Nominations" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 29, 2005. Retrieved 2007-12-02.

External links

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