Ethnicity White | Name John Leslie | |
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Full Name John Leslie Nuzzo Born January 25, 1945 ( 1945-01-25 ) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. Other names John Lestor, Lenny Kent, John Leslie Dupree, John Leslie Dupre, Louie T. Beagle, Louis T. Beagle, John Lesley, John Lessly, Frederick Watson | ||
John Leslie Nuzzo (January 25, 1945 – December 5, 2010) was an American pornographic film actor-director-producer. Usually credited under the name John Leslie, he has also worked under a variety of pseudonyms, including John Leslie Dupre, Frederick Watson, and Lenny Lovely.
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Along with Ron Jeremy, Jamie Gillis, John Holmes, and Harry Reems, Leslie was one of the stalwart male stars of the Golden Age of Porn, when blue movies had to have narratives to avoid prosecution, were shot on film with pretensions of quality production values, and were frequently shown in mainstream movie houses.
After Holmes experienced setbacks due to drug and legal problems, Leslie inherited the mantle of the porn industry's top male superstar with the success of Talk Dirty To Me in 1980. He eventually starred in over 300 porn films before making the transition to director.
Career
Leslie was born into an Italian-American family in Pittsburgh in 1945. As a young man, he moved to Michigan, where he supported himself as a bartender while trying to make it as a musician. Leslie was a vocalist who played harmonica in a blues band.
Beginning with 1973's Sensuous Delights, Leslie was a performer in almost 300 adult films and won numerous awards during his days as a performer. He appeared with some of the era's most noted porn stars, including Traci Lords, Seka, Kay Parker, and Annette Haven. His most noteworthy roles were in Obsessed (1977), Desires Within Young Girls (1977), A Coming of Angels (1977), Dracula Sucks (aka Lust At First Bite) (1978), Pretty Peaches (1979), The Ecstasy Girls (1979), Nothing To Hide (1981), and Talk Dirty To Me, Part II (1982).
He was one of the first porn actors to make the transition from performing to directing, beginning with 1987's Nightshift Nurses. Since then he directed more than 90 adult movies, including The Chameleon (1989), Curse of the Catwoman (1992), Dog Walker (1994), and Drop Sex (1997), along with the Voyeur, Fresh Meat, and Crack Her Jack series. He won many awards for his work behind the cameras as well. Though much of his later work, in keeping with current trends in adult video, was in the gonzo genre, such as the "Fresh Meat" and "Crack Her Jack" series, Leslie continued to make feature films, or "sex dramas"; most recently, in 2007 he directed the film Brianna Love, Her Fine, Sexy Self.
In the early 1970s, he was a vocalist and harmonica player for The Brooklyn Blues Busters, a southeastern Michigan-based musical group, sometimes accompanying John Lee Hooker. The Brooklyn Blues Busters were the backing band for Victoria Spivey during the 1973 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival. Nuzzo also worked as a bartender in the early 1970s at Mr. Flood's Party, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
He was a member of the AVN, and XRCO Halls of Fame.
John Leslie died of a stroke at the age of 65 on December 5, 2010 at his home in Mill Valley, California. Leslie was one of several former porn stars featured in the 2012 documentary After Porn Ends, which was about life after being a porn actor. His final appearance was in the 2016 documentary "X-Rated 2: The Greatest Adult Stars of All Time".
Awards
As a performer:
As a director:
Other awards: