BijouBlog

By M. Webster

During a recent session of scanning and touching up behind the scenes photos from Jack Deveau's Hot House (1977) from our archive of materials from the great Hand in Hand Films, I felt a lot of enthusiasm to share them with an interested audience. In that spirit, here is a primarily photo-based blog featuring a selection of those images, interspersed with interview excerpts from Hand in Hand crew members pulled from the 2019 book Good Hot Stuff: The Life and Times of Gay Film Pioneer Jack Deveau, a historically valuable peek into the inner workings of one of the foundational studios of '70s/'80s gay porn!

On Hot House:
Classic porn icons Roger and Jack Wrangler star in this comical tale of frustration as two horny men trying to find privacy to have fun in a NYC apartment that is invaded by obnoxious painters, crabby janitors, and neighbors who have lost their keys.

Also starring Jayson MacBride (Catching Up, A Night at the Adonis), David Hunter, Eric Streiff, and Garry Hunt (Ballet Down the Highway, Dune Buddies, Fire Island Fever), and featuring the voice of Tray Christopher (aka legendary fetish video artist Christopher Rage).

Director: Jack Deveau
Writer: Moose 100
Camera: Kees Chapman & Jack Deveau
Sound: Rolf Pardula
Key Grip: Ken Schnetzer
Make-Up: Gene Kelton
Make-Up Assistant: Jim Delegatti
Production Coordinator: Sydney Soons
Editor: Robert Alvarez
Mixer: Kees Chapman
Music Consultant: Bobby
Producer: Jack Deveau

“The big-ticket draw of Hot House was to have been the sex scene between Wrangler and Roger, and the pay-off is there. Back in 1977, these two porn titans knew that the audience expected to be transported nearly to Valhalla when settling in for this section, and both go all out to create what comes off as a genuine physical desire.” - Manifest Reader

“There's a sense of humor and a sense of innocence that resonates from an earlier time.” - Mr. Magazine
 

Frequent Hand in Hand sound mixer Rolf Pardula started with the company with 1975's Ballet Down the Highway and continued to work with them throughout the rest of their productions. He went on to serve as the sound mixer for many independent films including George Romero's Day of the Dead, Larry Cohen's The Stuff, and several Spike Lee productions (School Daze, Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Summer of Sam, and Bamboozled). In Marcus Siedelmann's Good Hot Stuff interview with Pardula, he credits Hand in Hand with helping him to come out.

“When I started working with Bob [Alvarez] and Jack [Deveau] – that was back in the 70s – this was my first introduction into another world, the homosexual world. I had never been exposed to that. I was having relations with women at the time. Bob and Jack, they liked me... They treated me as a part of the family, which was very kind. They had love and care, and they didn't want anything to happen to me. In fact, they protected me, and at the same time allowed me to be on the set, and see these beautiful men having sex with other men. After a few years, I realized I'd been hiding my sexual feelings, and that I really wanted the company of other men. So thanks to Jack and Bob, I was allowed to formulate my personality, who I really was... I didn't have to suppress my feelings or to hide them. Why should I hide my homosexuality if Jack and Bob didn't do that?”

On Jack's style on set: “[Jack] managed it in a very casual style; never something like the set of a Hollywood film. It was always like having a party. He was always comfortable. He never screamed, and he was always a gentleman on the set. He said he wants this and that done, but it was always graciously, and with great respect... That's one of the things Jack Deveau was very well known for.”

Hot House screenwriter Moose 100 had begun as a playwright and was introduced to Jack Deveau and Bob Alvarez through his friend David Earnest, who wrote original scores to many of the studio's early films. Moose 100's writing brought Hand in Hand into its later era, which largely focused on lighter, more comedic works cleverly and affectionately capturing and spoofing NYC gay life.

“Most of the films I've written opened at the Adonis Theater. People went there to cruise. The most unusual thing was that somebody would sit down and watch the movie from the beginning to the end. So the audience saw the films in fragments. Jack and I felt that it was giving us the opportunity to write the movies just like we wanted to, because no one paid that much attention. They were just looking at the sex scenes. They were fantasizing. They were picking up men. That freed us. We felt we were able to experiment. In fact, I used to borrow a print of a new movie, throw a big party, and asked the audience consisting of my straight female friends. They loved them! And they had plenty of hot men to look at.”

Moose 100: "We had a style of working where I would present a first draft. Then we would meet and talk about it, discussing some changes. I used to go home and write [these revisions]... Once we got a shooting script – and this is what I really liked about the process – I was on set all the time in case I was needed. The minute a sex scene starts, you're shooting a documentary. It's what happens in reality, and sometimes, people who act in porn movies got problems, because suddenly there are all these people around, those big hot lights, and they're expected to get erections. Sometimes it doesn't work that way, and things have to change. So having the writer right there can be a helpful thing, or – depending on the people in the cast – sometimes you see one of the actors and you want to sort of customize the role for them. There was one incident during Hot House. They were shooting a sex scene, and right when they'd come to the cumshot, the film suddenly went out of the camera. And they lost it. Immediately, Jack fixed the camera and put in new film, and by that time they were ready to re-shoot the scene – Jack Wrangler also was sexually ready again. I think he was amazingly good at what he was doing. I used to call him The Sexual Professional. You could tell him: 'Jump out of an airplane, jerk off, and come as you land!' (laughing) And he could have done it, because he was totally a pro. In a way that nobody I ever worked with was. He could control his sexuality in a way most people couldn't.”

Robert Alvarez was Jack Deveau's partner in life and in Hand in Hand. They co-founded the studio with Jaap Penraat in 1972 and later co-ran it with Kees Chapman. Bob was the studio's editor, with past experience in experimental and documentary film, and his creativity and skill brought polish and excitement to Hand in Hand's productions.

“[Kees Chapman] came to us actually as the partner of Sydney Soons [aka Mark Woodward]. Sydney came to our office and worked as a production assistant. He also was in Drive, of course, but he was way more interested in the jobs behind the camera, and so he ended up working for us in production. Kees then was working as a waiter downtown. He came in, hung out, and next thing you know, he also was doing work for us [behind the scenes]. At a later point in the game, Kees and Sydney split up... Kees became another partner [in Hand in Hand] because he was very valuable to us. He was a huge help in the later years of Hand in Hand Films' existence. He organized a lot and he also got into camera work. He actually shot some of the stuff in the later films with Jack. He had no specific artistic background; I guess it just came out while working with us. He was very ambitious to learn the different aspects of filmmaking. He was able to work with actors very well, especially after Jack died. More or less, he took over the directing of the actors. We always worked well together.”

Jim Delegatti worked in many different behind-the-scenes roles for Hand in Hand over the years. He initially came to them after seeing their debut film, Left-Handed (1972), with the fantasy of being a performer. They didn't need any at the time, but were looking for crew members. He began as assistant to their make-up artist, Gene Kelton, and served as primary make-up artist on some of their final films. He additionally did set decorating, still photography, acting cameos, and more (“I was still doing this and that. I was learning a lot during the films.”). In his interview with Siedelmann, Delegatti says of Hand in Hand, “We really were a family in many ways” and that, as a small company, everyone helped with everything.

“It was a wonderful time of my life... I always wanted to do it, and I did it. And it was good. I helped a lot to create these films, because in these kind of films you need a certain atmosphere on set; a special mood. And I helped a lot on that too. The actors got their buffet. (laughing)”

“Jack became sick and after he passed I was... he was a big influence in my life. He meant a lot to me. At the time, I needed someone like him to be around. He was there, and so this was a big family loss.”

“I really don't think there was such a thing after Hand in Hand. Jack tried to make something out of it, something different than just a porno film. He was a great cinematographer, and he learned to do all these different things by himself... [Jack] did a lot to improve pornography, and gay cinema. There was a story behind all his films, and there is so much knowledge about the gay community.”

Read more interviews and catch more behind the scenes photos from Hand in Hand Films in Good Hot Stuff: The Life and Times of Gay Film Pioneer Jack Deveau!

In addition to Hot House, Bijou carries the Hand in Hand Films catalog of movies on DVD and Streaming.

For more Bijou Blogs on Hand in Hand Films:
-Interview with Robert Alvarez
-Blog on Jack Deveau & Hand in Hand
-Interview with Tom DeSimone Part 1 & Part 2
-The Backstory of Peter de Rome's The Destroying Angel

By Josh Eliot

I’ve been told my blogs tend to run long so I have to leave some fun stuff out of them. Below are a few previous blogs where I had to leave some “pertinent information” on the cutting room floor. What can I say, I’ve got “more than a mouthful” of things to say that don’t always fit on the page!

In no particular order, I’ll start with the blog that is the most fresh on my mind, since I found a photograph to back up the story I told. It was my 48th blog called: “The GOLD COAST Gold Rush Boys.” In that story, I wrote about the Gold Coast Bar in West Hollywood and the Bijou hit, Steve Scott’s Gold Rush Boys. I told the story about an evening when porn star Anthony Gallo and my spouse Tony Fontana (who were dating at the time) were working front door security at the Gold Coast and were attacked by an unruly patron when they tried to escort him out. I mentioned how the patron hit Anthony Gallo on the head with an object, requiring a lot of stitches, and that the scar was visible in movies shot after that date in 1995. Well, Tony just happened to find the photo of Anthony Gallo right after the incident where you can see just how awful that attack was.

Anthony Gallo fully recovered from that injury and, as far as we both know, is living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Now on to lucky blog #13: “Is That AL PARKER in Your Photograph?” In this one, I went rummaging through my partner’s photos and found one of him with Al Parker and another of him with Estelle Getty. Another photograph I didn’t include because the blog was running long was a photo plainly displayed in our office. A picture if discovered in a pile of photos might cause me to ask, “Is That Charo in Your Photograph?” In the photo, you’ll see Tony was lucky enough to draw Charo’s attention at one of her performances he attended with his friend Art. I must say, she looks the same now from what I see on her Instagram page! Anyway, when Tony and Art got together they were kind of out of control. That evening, they sat at a table with a couple of other “fun” girls who attended the show. Complete strangers, but they all shared lots of laughs with each other. The girls had a camera with them to use when Charo hit the stage. Unfortunately, the two practical jokers, Tony and Art, ruined that moment for them. When the girls excused themselves to the bathroom, Tony and Art thought it would be “cute” to take pictures of each other making silly faces and gestures. They put the camera back on the table just in time so no one knew the better before the girls returned. At the point when Charo came into the audience and right up to their table, the girls went for their camera and started to shoot the pictures but, to their dismay, there was only 1 shot left. The girl freaked out and started screaming to her friend that she thought she had more photos left on the roll. She ran to the gift shop in the lobby to buy more film. Tony and Art played dumb and unfortunately the girls missed it when Charo literally walked up to Tony, put her breast on his head, and Art shot this picture with his Nikon 35mm camera.

I would imagine those girls were really pissed when they got home and developed the film. Blog #6 was called “A Salty Fuck in Saugatuck,” where I talked about making Thrill Me! with Ray Harley, Steve Rambo and Donnie Russo. Donnie and Rambo got into an argument over something as ridiculous as a bumble bee entering the rental unit at The Douglas Dunes Resort in Michigan. Those two stressed me out so much that when it came time for Brad Austin to shoot them together in a sex scene for his movie Deep Woods Inn, I begged Brad to let me off of doing his videography for that day. I just could not be around them; the tension between them was physically making me sick. There was always so much stress on my shoulders because, at any place or anytime someone, could get pissed and refuse to do a scene and we would be fucked. Especially out in the middle of nowhere. That would mean thousands of dollars down the drain if we didn’t return to L.A. with completed scenes. The tension between those two models was just too much - I couldn’t be on that set. Bless Brad Austin for taking it on! Brad of course said, “You don’t have to be on my set. I’ll shoot camera, it’s not a problem.” He was an angel. I was so grateful but could never tell him what I did instead. Lake Michigan is like an ocean and they have miles and miles of sand dunes there. It just so happens those dunes are very “gay occupied,” as we noticed a couple days earlier when we shot a scene for The Men of Lake Michigan, another movie I was filming back to back. I took a ride over to those dunes, hiked a bit, laid my blanket down and it took less than a minute for a few new “friends” to show up. Of course, I had to be hospitable. When I returned to the motel where they were shooting, I was pleased to find out that both Rambo and Russo were cordial with each other on the set, and other than the fact that Russo pounded Rambo extra hard, everything went just “jiffy.” Naturally it didn’t stay that way, as they went back to being enemies later that night!

The final blog I want to add on to is #15: "We Waited 8hrs for a Cum Shot, Is That a World Record?" I certainly had a lot to say about how producer Scott Masters tortured us trying to get Vic Summer’s cum shot. Read the blog if you’re interested - I just can’t revisit that moment again! What I was unable to talk about was the day prior to shooting the scene. Scott Masters evidently had a bottomless budget for this movie, because several wooden box crates arrived at the studio containing a custom set of neon tubes and transformers. For the final scene with Matt Powers and Vic Summers, Scott wanted an all-white heavily draped set with lots of flowing material and four round columns, as elements of a four post bed. In the scene, he wanted the columns to magically come alive with color at their first kiss, and flash throughout the scene. He rambled off quickly over the phone how he wanted the color tubes attached inside the columns, but quickly cut us off when we had questions. I was lost about how to even hook up neon or handle all the wiring. Back then, you couldn’t just Google or YouTube an instruction video. It took us all night to attach wire and get the effects to work. On the shoot day when Masters arrived, he asked us to show him the neon lighting. We proudly turned on the lights, color by color, showing him how we could control each color on its own. We were happy it all worked flawlessly… until Scott Masters barked out, “No, I don’t believe this! You’ve got it all wrong!” Our hearts dropped and our blood pressure started to rise! When he barely described on the phone how he wanted the colored tubes placed, we understood each color would be side by side at the top and bottom of every pole. One red tube next to one blue tube, next to one yellow tube… if you get my drift. No, he wanted the top all red, the bottom all blue, then the next column would be all yellow on the top, orange on the bottom, next column top green... yadda, yadda, yadda. We were mortified but more pissed that he didn’t take the time to properly describe the placement initially. I don’t have to tell you that there was no changing his mind about the order of the tubes. Luckily, I had a full crew to help me unwire and re-wire these fucking tubes and get them properly placed for what turned out to be his lame-ass finale scene. Personally speaking, the way we wired the tubes initially would have looked much better than the re-wired version he demanded. Maybe if we didn’t have to take a few hours to rewire these tubes, the models wouldn’t have gotten bored, lost their boners for each other, and well, you know the (8hr) rest.

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002.

By Will Seagers

Hi Folks, Will here. As usual, I have yet another strange title for you! The name of this multi-faceted adventure won't be significant until we get to the end of the blog. Like the house that landed in Oz, this story will go through lots of turbulence before getting there. But, with the help of of my friends, it turned out quite well.

In the summer of 1975 in The Pines on Fire Island, a seed was planted by my beau of the time, Roger. He told me that he was moving to San Francisco in the fall. I was taken aback by this as Roger was a quintessential New Yorker, never having lived anywhere else in his thirty-four years. He was born in the Bronx, lived in the West Village, and was also a teacher in the NYC school system. To me, he seemed happily entrenched in his metro lifestyle. But, San Francisco bound, he was.

After an intense but brief affair, our relationship morphed into a really solid friendship. Soon, the idea (adventure) of moving to San Francisco grew on me, as well. Ultimately, this would be a move that I would make on my own. Even though I had never been there before, I was not daunted. And, it was not the first nor last time I would made that kind of move. But first, a rather eventful year would transpire before getting there.

Denis, my brilliant and zany former roommate from San Juan (Eastern Airlines days) had won a scholarship to Arizona State University and needed a "companion." Truth be told, it was really his parents' idea, as they were scared to death of him living alone and so far from their New Jersey home. Although Denis was quite book smart (Fulbright Scholar and MENSA member), his street smarts were lacking. Not having a formal plan nor date for my move to the West Coast, I agreed to be his chaperone and roommate for this truly hysterical adventure!

His parents gave him a car. After loading it to the hilt, we left NJ on Route 80 for the trek to Tempe, AZ. I only wish that we had a video camera to record our antics en route. I don't think I have ever laughed as much in my life! Between our two unconventional outlooks on life, there was never a dull moment. I do remember nearly running the car off various interstates in fits of laughter on several occasions! We arrived in Tempe and took up lodgings at an apartment complex complete with pool!

He went to school and I went to work as a bartender... something I had never done before. I relied heavily on my appearance to keep these gigs afloat! A bartender I am not! I also had some small legit modeling jobs at a local agency. I did manage to land a cattle call and get a small part in a crowd scene in the Barbra Streisand remake of A Star is Born. I was within arm's reach of Kristopherson - not so much Ms. Streisand!

As Denis finished up his school year, I was contacted by a dear friend, Lou Thomas, of Target Studios. I had done some print work for him in NY and in Arizona. Lou asked me if I would be interested in working for John Whyte at the Boatel in Fire Island Pines. I jumped at the opportunity (as I had nothing planned for after Arizona). So, back across the country I zoomed!

My summer of 1976 at the Boatel deserves and will get its own chapter in my upcoming autobiography. Suffice it to say that it was a vivid and fabulous experience that I repeated again in the summers of 1977 and 1978! But, the most important events to happen during that first summer were meeting Chuck Holmes (of Falcon fame) and becoming "family" with my Boatel co-workers. Chuck Holmes offered me a job at his SF restaurant, Trinity Place, as well as modeling work with his studios. And, my Boatel co-workers all wanted to move to SF at the close of the season on the Island. Synchronicity, eh?

So, Denis popped up again. He requested the pleasure of my joining him on a trip to Mazatlan, Mexico as soon as I finished up with my Fire Island duties. Naturally, I joined him... but not before seeing "Irma" in Huachuga City, AZ. I told him about SF. But, he said it would only be a week at Mazatlan's beautiful beaches. After he picked me up at Tucson airport, he drove me to see "Irma," the tiny trailer where he lived in Huachuga City. BTW, this was the rather hilly and very green section of Arizona where the high speed driving scenes were filmed towards the end of A Star Is Born. More synchronicity?

We left for Mazatlan from Nogales, AZ on an ancient but beautifully preserved train - a la Orient Express! It was mid-October... and guess what? That's the height of Mexico's hurricane season. So, we had no sun for that week! This made me even more anxious to set sail for San Francisco! After getting back to the U.S. and to Tucson Airport, I finally departed for the "City by the Bay" with only the clothes on my back and a small duffel to stow overhead.

Arriving in San Francisco but not knowing the workings of the BART system, I paid the hefty cab fare to my Castro and 19th St. destination. Although I was offered only the floor of one of my co-worker's tiny flat... this was my liaison in SF! I wasn't concerned about my accommodations - I was finally here! After a few hugs and putting away my duffel bag, I ventured out.

As I eased my way down the steep slope of Castro Street towards 18th and Castro (the gay crossroads of the world), I felt like Dorothy swinging open the door to her house that had just crash landed in Oz. Gazing around at all of the men and the "gaiety" that blanketed the area, I could only think: Nope... This Sure Ain't Kansas!

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.

Will Seagers, recent photo

By Will Seagers

Hello folks! Will (At Large) here with some thoughts and feelings from the past.

First of all, a big Happy Valentine's Day wish to all of you Bijou fans and readers! Although posting time for this blog comes a little after the fact, nonetheless I am writing this right smack in the middle of Valentine's Day! I hope you all are or will be having a warm and cozy time with those near and dear to you!

Lying in bed this morning in the haze of just having awakened, I wanted to prowl that foggy state to think of what to convey today. The men that kept coming into my memory were my Gemini loves! Not that I haven't had great relationships with those of other signs, it was just too obvious that these guys and their signs stood out! Astrology has been a love and study of mine since the age of 18. And, NO the first thing I ask someone is not, "What's your sign?!" Lol. As a story teller, I just look back and assemble my mental and emotional notes as accurately as possible. Not only have I met and had significant relationships with men born under this sign, but astonishingly right down to one day... May 22nd!

My first 5/22 love was a big and burly man, Roger, whose physique caught my eye on the dance floor of the Ice Palace in Cherry Grove, Fire Island in 1975. Our "dancing in bed" was only matched by our dancing on the dance floor! That summer on Fire Island, whether in the Pines or the Grove, we became a recognized "thing" every time we came out to party. People actually backed away and gave us a little extra room for our (appreciated) dance antics! It was Roger who planted the seed for my moving to San Francisco. He moved there in 1975 and I followed in 1976. My move there was aided by the assurance of a job provided by the owner of Falcon Studios, Chuck Holmes.

So, here we are in 1976 where I'm working my first season for John White at his Boatel/Blue Whale complex in the Pines. I was secretly infatuated with his chiseled good looks. He had recently retired from being one of New York's top male super models. Little did he know that I enjoyed basking in his limelight! This was all a fantasy for me... nothing ever came of it. Oh, and did I mention that his birthday was May 22nd!

Now, staying in that same year, 1976, I took a leap of faith and moved to San Francisco with a troop of my Fire Island work comrades. It was here where I met Tommy (yep, another 5/22!). This was the sweetest set of coincidences! I met him at the bar and restaurant, Trinity Place. It was owned by Chuck Holmes and was one of the jobs that was used to lure me to San Francisco. Tommy was adorable with beautiful brown eyes you could get lost in. I found out in short order that he was a devout Will Seagers fan. After gifting me with a beautiful gold chain and a lovely dinner, we went back to his place and tore things up! That one night blossomed into 13 years! Soon, I found out that he met Roger through a common love of opera. (This turned out to be another 5/22 trait that they also shared with John Whyte!)

Although not born on May 22nd, two more loves of my life were born in the season of Gemini. And, these two men I shared with all of you readers and viewers! I am talking about Jim Bentley and Richard Locke. There was a similar thread to meeting the two of them. We had the pleasure of jumping the gun and getting together before our "screen work!" Believe me, by the time we were in front of the cameras there was no loss of spontaneity. We interacted with the prior knowledge of what a good a fit we were! LOL!

I think that showed with Richard and me on the set of L.A. Tool & Die. It turned out that I got a bit more involved with Jim. We had a lot of similar interests - particularly birds. We both had Moluccan Cockatoos! I had one and he had a pair.

We were in a pretty torrid affair for a while. Me being his senior by a few years, I can actually remember him wearing me out! One thing that I picked up over the years with my Gemini "buddies" is that even if the lust diminishes, the friendship remains.

So, these were "The Days of Our Lives." Some of my cherished and wonderful memories. And, I am very happy to have conjured them up for for all of you on this day of AMOUR!

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.

Will Seagers, recent photo

By Josh Eliot

I am writing this on Saturday January 13th, 2024. I specifically blocked out time on this day as it was exactly 25 years ago that my partner (from 1992-1999) Yves-Claude Theriault aka Mark Rutter passed away. When I was pulling photos for my last blog about the Gold Coast Bar and writing about Mark working there, I discovered it was the 25th anniversary. I’ve spoken about our relationship in the past (“7 Years with Colt Model Mark Rutter”), but this time I think it would be special for Mark’s words to do a little story telling. I re-discovered a diary Mark had started to work on but never got to complete. I never thought his words in writing would ever find an audience, but thanks to BijouWorld and this blog excerpts now will. The passages I will share may not read like a story and have a beginning, middle and end like a blog should, but it makes me really happy to give them some life, with an audience.

Mark Rutter was born Yves-Claude Theriault, on October 8, 1951, a French Canadian growing up in Maine. After shooting a photo layout with Al Parker for the Surge Studio magazine Pit Stop, he was introduced to Jim French at Colt Studios and worked exclusively for them in films. Mark passed away at the age of 47, leaving siblings who include his sister Charlene, his brother Rick, nephews Pierre and Jeremy and his Mom. We had his ceremony at The Little Brown Church in Studio City, where celebrities Marlon Brando, Debbie Reynolds and Mickey Rooney were married and the Reagans renewed their vows in 1992. He was cremated and buried over his father’s grave in Maine. Here are some of his thoughts, as written, with only punctuation, spelling and my real name changed, along with a ton of pictures!

*****

I knew I was HIV+ in 1982 without actually going to see a doctor or being diagnosed. Something was going on with my body that let me know I was positive. I can almost pinpoint the day I feel I was infected. It was through intravenous drug use and I knew the dangers at the time but was not very knowledgeable that it could happen to me. I went into denial for 5 years because there was so little help out there and decided to not go on whatever medication was available. People were going through terrible side effects and were still dying left and right. One day in 1987 while walking to work I noticed a small purplish dot on the inside of my elbow. I knew right away what it was, Kaposi Sarcoma, a type of cancer associated with HIV. I freaked out but was not the least bit surprised. I kept it to myself for 3 or 4 weeks and finally told Rick, my brother, who was my roommate at the time. I was still against any medication. I was going to let the process take its course. I finally called my sister and found the nerve to tell her about it. We discussed it at length but I was still determined not to do anything about it. She got very angry with me and said I was being irresponsible.

I decided to go to the Gay & Lesbian Center on Highland Blvd to get tested and be told all my options. Two weeks later I returned for my blood results as instructed. By then I had developed two more lesions on my right arm. A counselor took me in this little room and informed me that my test results were back and my results were negative. My mouth dropped to the floor and I had chills up and down my spine. I said to the counselor, showing her my arm, “Then what is this?” She proceeded to shuffle papers around and her face turned ghostly white. She was very upset and told me that she was looking at someone else’s results. She was devastated and did not know what to say or do next. I told her not to worry, that I had known about my results, and I ended up counseling her.

Mark ended up being referred to a research program for treatment using Tran Retinoic Acid, a derivative of Vitamin A. Eight pills three times a day for one year until the KS went into full remission. In the next excerpt, we jump ahead a number of years. Mark’s brother Rick confessed that he too was HIV+. The two shared an apartment until a falling out over Mark’s partying too much, with his friend Kelly, so Mark moved out. Kelly was a fellow bartender at the Gold Coast and was also dealing coke. Mark was hanging out with Kelly and his partner Don all the time.

*****

I was hanging around my friend Kelly a lot and was doing a lot of cocaine, while my health was getting worse and worse. My T-cells were dropping at an alarming rate. By this time by an act of God I met someone at the Gold Coast and we made plans for dinner. I was a little apprehensive and felt awkward, we were to meet on safe grounds at Rafters (bar) and then go to dinner from there. I asked my friend Valerie and her girlfriend (Michelle) to join us for a drink before dinner. When I walked into Rafters he was there wearing a denim shirt, jeans and a black leather jacket. I was wearing a denim shirt, jeans and a black leather jacket, the only difference was that mine was pressed and starched and his was wrinkled. HaHa. His name was (Josh) by the way. I asked him if he wanted a line and his eyes lit up and he said yes, and off we went to the bathroom. I thought… there goes dinner. We stayed at the bar until closing, by then Valerie and Michelle were drunk and obnoxious. I asked him if he wanted to come over and he answered yes.

The next morning we took showers and he said he would take me to breakfast since we missed dinner altogether. We went off to Silver Spoon, one of the worst places to eat in town, but I was not really bothered by it because something was happening. Shelly Winters was sitting next to us and was yelling and being obnoxious. She needed butter for her fucking toast. After breakfast I drove (Josh) back to his truck which was parked down the street from Rafters. We exchanged phone numbers and promised to call one another.

We started meeting a few times a week for dinner. I was showing (Josh) the fine art of dining and expanding his horizons. He kept my feet on the ground and in control, it was a perfect match. I remember Kelley saying: “If you fuck this up I’ll kill you.” Kelly and Don were very fond of him. I remember we had a date to spend Easter together. I stopped by Thrifty’s and got him an Easter basket to impress him. Well when I got to his place he had a dozen roses and a box of Godiva chocolates. I felt like a fool with my little basket from Thrifty’s.

One thing led to another and we started dating exclusively. We really got along very well together. It was my first serious relationship since I was a gay man and it felt good. He’s fun to be around and is very compassionate and takes very good care of me. We are complete opposites but complement each other. After dating for a year we started talking about getting a place together. That scared me a little since I had been living on my own since I was 16 years old. I was very good at changing the subject and I managed to avoid it for another year.

It literally took months of being together before I was able to wean Mark off his addiction to Kelly and their cocaine lifestyle. I knew he was a party animal from the start but I wasn’t about to buy into it. I was not into the whole drug as a lifestyle thing and made it very clear from the get go. We cut our visits to their place to once a week, if that, but I’m sure they were doing coke while working their shifts at the bar. I did eventually convince him to look at a great condo in West Hollywood that I strong-armed him into moving into with me, finally conquering his fear of living with a partner. Later that year. Kelly’s partner Don passed away and Kelly ended up moving back home to Tennessee. Shortly after moving there, he was riding on the back of a friend's motorcycle when it went off the road and they both were killed. Mark was devastated, naturally, but by this time his health was better and he stopped drinking and drugging. His HIV was under control and we had a good number of years ahead of us.

When Mark started these writings it was not long before he started having issues with CMV, which affected his eyes. He was let go from the Gold Coast at this time, leading to depression as his failing health got the best of him. Unfortunately, his brother Rick passed away a few years later. I’m just happy to be able to get a couple passages of his words in print somewhere even though they are minimal. I’ve had these writings in a file for 25 years and the timing of this blog could not be more appropriate. Reading Mark’s writings, it was almost as if I could hear him reciting the words. Twenty-five years is a long time ago, but in the case of so many of the adult film and video actors who entertained and aroused us over the years, their performances are eternal. Thanks to companies like Bijou, their work is being preserved, allowing them to live on for future generations to enjoy.

Thank you to Josh Eliot for use of his photos.

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002.