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| Born John Curtis Estes on August 8, 1944, in rural Pickaway County, Ohio, the youngest of four children, John was raised by a religious fanatic mother, named Mary, and an abusive alcoholic stepfather, named Harold Bowman. He was a bible student, but at the age of 16 dropped out of school, left home, and went through a stint in the U.S. Army, where he was stationed in West Germany for three years. After his discharge, Holmes moved to Los Angeles in 1964 where he married a young nurse, and worked odd jobs from a taxi driver, a door-to-door salesman, postal clerk, temp worker, coffee vat attendant, ambulance driver, and a forklift driver. In the late 1960s, he gravitated to the underground porno industry. One story was that a female neighbor was making porno loops and advised Holmes he could make good money. Unfortunately his first check bounced and after that he always insisted on payment in cash. Another story is when in 1967, Holmes frequented a mens card playing club in Gardenia when a photographer for an underground magazine noticed his large 'member' while standing next to him in a restroom urinal and gave Holmes his business card to work in still photo magazines. By 1969, with the advent of X-rated porn films, Holmes moved into the movie business. With his tall, slim build with curly light brown hair, a light mustache, and bright blue eyes which made him an instant recognizable man, John was not lacking for work, bringing not only a professional attitude but also his legendary endowment (12 5/8" long according to a Screw Magazine interview while other conflicting stories put it at 13 1/2" long). His enormously long 'member' got him starring roles in over 2,000 loops, stag films, and adult features in a career that spanned nearly 20 years (with a peak of a $3,000-a-day salary). His lucrative off-screen penis-for-hire business took him around the world. His most famous character is probably Johnny Wadd, a lusty, always on-the-make detective he played in several crude porno films like 'Tell Them Johnny Wadd is Here' (1976), 'The Jade Pussycat' (1977), 'China Cat' (1978), 'Liquid Lips' (1976), and 'Blond Fire' (1978), the last of which is considered the best of the so-called 'Wadd Films'. Better still were the big-budgeted pictures that co-starred some of the adult film industry's top leading ladies including Marilyn Chambers, Seka, Annette Haven, and even a young, underage Traci Lords. In late 1970s, Holmes fell victim to drug abuse which prevented him from performing in the on-screen sex, making him drop out of the adult film business. By late 1980, Holmes was broke with all of his millions spent on drugs which he never fully got over his addition. He made money by robbing peoples houses and cars, as well as delivering drugs for the local gangsters. The lowest point in his life was when he was implicated in four grisly, drug-related murders on July 1, 1981. He was allegedly present at the drug-related torture and murders of William Deverell, Ronald Launius, Joy Miller, and Barbara Richardson by a gang of unknown henchmen sent by a powerful gangster, named Eddie Nash. A fifth victim, Susan Launius (Ronald Launius's estranged wife), barely survived the attack and had no memory of the event. The bloody crime made lurid headlines throughout southern California and became known as The Wonderland Murders, named after the street in the wooded Laurel Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles where the killings took place. Holmes refused to tell the police what he knew and went on the run for nearly six months, with his teenage mistress, Dawn Shiller, before he was taken into custody while hiding out in Florida. The authorities, angered by Holmes' refusal to co-operate with the investigation, put him on trial for committing all four murders. After a three-month, semi-public trial, Holmes was finally acquitted on June 26, 1982. Although found not guilty of the murders, he remained in jail for burglary and contempt-of-court charges until his release in November 1982. The true nature and details of the Laurel Canyon murders remains unsolved to this day. After his release from prison, Holms tried to clean up his act and continue his porno career with a new generation of porno stars. But his drug addiction continued off-and-on and although the work in the porno business was still plentiful, it was no longer lucrative, plus he was no longer the prominent male star. Later, Holmes was diagnosed with AIDS late in 1985. He continued working until around 1986 which his increasingly gaunt physical appearance began to give away the true nature of his health. John Holmes died at the veteran's Administration Hospital at Sepulveda, California on March 13, 1988 of AIDS-related complications at age 43, with his second wife at his side, former porn star Misty Dawn. Holmes once estimated he'd had sex with over 14,000 women (on and off screen), and was truly a porn legend. His life was used as the basis for the film Boogie Nights (1997), and he was portrayed by Val Kilmer in the film Wonderland (2003), but the conflicting truth about his life, as always, was stranger than fiction. |
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