I called Charlie Lynch the voice. Lynch, who had this distinctive, rumbling Sam Elliott octave, might have been in the wrong business. He could have sung with The Temptations, he had that kind of voice.

But, instead, Charlie was an art director for a number of adult companies including Cinderella, Metro and Digital Playground, as well as for Brad Willis and Jeff Lam. Lynch eventually went freelance.

I just learned from his old boss at Cinderella, Jack Michaelson [pictured right with Lynch] that Charlie had passed away from a heart attack. In the years, Lynch had gained a lot of weight, and I believe never got off the cigarettes though I know he tried.

I’m not sure how old Lynch was, either. I believe he was in his early Fifties, and I’m fairly certain he had moved recently to Idaho. Lynch, an army vet, was a big fan of Thomas Clancy and a gun nut to boot, so Idaho seemed like a logical place for him to wind up. When the adult industry as a business moved south, Lynch moved north, so to speak.

“As a friend, he always kept in touch,” says Michaelson who was among those who often encouraged Lynch to move on and get work as a voice actor.

“I know he went to auditions and had an agent but when Charlie’s father became ill, lost his sight and eventually died, Charlie began attending to family matters. Then he met a woman and had plans of getting married.”

During his father’s last years, Lynch also got an aviator’s license so he could take his dad, a former WWII pilot, once more into the clouds. Now Charlie will be joining him.

According to Michaelson, Lynch was a great talent during an era when art work and magazine promotions were the key elements to creating product and porn stars.

“With the DVD formats and the smaller packaging, you don’t have that anymore,” continues Michaelson.

“But Charlie was in at the time you had the VHS boxes, the slicks, an infinite number of magazines to promote them and could create art that would pop out at you.”

Truth is, great art, not the product, sold the product and Lynch was right in the middle of that equation.

Michaelson, however, concedes that Lynch had his demons, including alcohol. Charlie, I can tell you first hand, was a bit of a wild child.

“When you met his parents, they were these straight-laced, wonderful, sweet, Norman Rockwell people. Then you took a look at Charlie and went…huh?” Michaelson laughs.