Porn Valley- I first met Russ Meyer in 1987 in Chicago during the Consumer Electronics Show. Long before the adult industry had gotten its act together, Russ was taking booths at various trade shows, promoting his company RM Films International. And Russ' booth was always a welcome rest stop to park my ass and meet some truly interesting people from the old days, such as Dave Friedman. I grew up on Friedman and Meyer movies which, in fact, lent me impetus to get into the adult business.
And what Russ did, which the adult business failed to do, was hold his price. You wanted a Russ Meyer movie? You paid a substantial price. I remember his videos going for something like $79.95 and that price didn't change much over the years.
The thing about Russ, was, he either took to you or he didn't. Fortunately we hit it off right from the start. Russ especially liked to roll his "r's", He'd greet you with a "good morning, sirrrrrrrrrrrrr." But before we had even met officially, I did a phone interview with Meyer. And every time we met after that he'd always make a point of telling me that was the best piece ever written about him. Maybe he told that to every writer, but I got the impression that Meyer was never the kind to bullshit you.
What also got Russ and myself off on an even keel was our mutually appreciative discussions about the zaftig British model June Wilkinson. Meyer, as I learned, lived next to Wilkinson in the Hollywood Hills and photographed her many times through the years. As a kid I remember Wilkinson being in a nudie movie of sorts called The Career Girl, later in Bellboy and The Playgirls which Francis Ford Coppola had a hand in directing. [Wilkinson went on to marry- for a time - football player Dan Pastorini who later quarterbacked for The Philadelphia Eagles.]
As for Coppola, his first movie was another nudie treasure called Tonight For Sure which, if bar bets are being made, would declare him the first adult director ever to acquire true mainstream legitimacy. Though Meyer himself had a fling with a couple of projects which he did for 20th Century Fox.
Russ was a gourmet and loved to drink, so there were two other areas of common interest we shared. During our first meeting, Russ had me all over Chicago in search of great restaurants, and I remember finding Russ being invited to judge a big tit contest one night, with me winding up next to Roger Ebert, a close friend of Meyers', during that event. Ebert was behaving as though it were all a guilty pleasure and would be truly mortifying if his presence were generally known. But Ebert also cracked me up by stating that something I wrote managed to make it on the Chicago Sun Times bulletin board. It was an AVN "retraction" concerning an anal scene with Lisa De Leeuw and whether it was truly her first or not. Ebert thought the whole thing was hysterical as apparently the rest of the editorial staff.
Later in Meyer's career he acquired an obsession with a big titted woman named Tundi, "The Fabulous Tundi" he proclaimed her, and was promising a cinematic comeback of sorts with her in the lead role. By this time, Meyer was also well into his autobiography which he hand wrote and would work on it at his booth during the trade shows.
Finally, Russ just got too old to be making the show rounds. Sadly, the next time I talked to him, which was on the phone, he had already lost it.
