About the other category, in Italy Rocco Siffredi and Moana Pozzi are (were, in the case of Moana) known even outside porn and basically celebrities.
To a lesser degree Cicciolina (Ilona Staller), Selen, Eva Henger and now Valentina Nappi are quite well known.

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Marilyn Chambers portrayed the young mother pictured on Ivory Soap boxes back in the early fifties. However, I'm not sure that many consumers actually knew her name.

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I think Holly Sampson was famous before, during, and after porn.

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In terms of people who became famous through doing porn, I think Jenna Jameson tops that list with Linda Lovelace also being up there. Stormy Daniels has become pretty well known but more for her link to Trump rather than her porn career alone. She was a very successful pornstar, don't get me wrong but not famous outside of porn until Trump. Wouldn't go as far as to say Jenna is a household name but she is well known as a pornstar even by those who aren't big porn fans. Linda Lovelace is hugely well known purely because Debbie Does Dallas is the most famous porno of all time.

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Linda Lovelace would have been a strong contender as late as the early 90s, but, like John Holmes, she is pretty much unknown to probably the last two generations. Maynard Ferguson, the world's greatest trumpet player, for some unfathomable reason, decided to take a break from blowing his horn and sing every now and then. Usually, it was, "I Can't Get Started," wherein he would sing:

I've been invited to tea by the Queen
Linda Lovelace, she thinks I'm obscene
Still I'm broken hearted
Cause I cant get started with you

That was the 80s-mid-90s version. Everyone in the audience always got it. After 1998, he substituted "Monica Lewinsky" for "Linda Lovelace."

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Point also taken on Linda Lovelace. I read the question as a pornstar who became famous to non-porn fans. She undoubtedly did that in her time. It seems you meant people who are still currently famous from doing porn. I think that only really applies to Jenna Jameson, don't think there's ever been a bigger pornstar.

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Someone truly famous before they did porn? Can't think of any.

In Japan it happens all of the time with Gravure Idols. So much competition that some go on to do porn because its a steady paycheck.

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Sonny Landham was well known as a porn actor and then co-starred in 48 HOURS, PREDATOR, and LOCK UP before going on to run for office three times in Kentucky. He used the same name throughout his career.

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Joan Laurer (RIP) probably wins it though. She was hugely recognisable as Chyna from her time in the WWF at the peak of its popularity, and she actually did proper hardcore scenes for Vivid. Didn't make the full transition like Maitland Ward did though.

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Sorry, I see it is already mentioned above

Edited by - Lenny Voyeur on 4/29/2020 6:35:45 PM

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As far as ones popular for being porn performers, I'm not sure anyone else has gotten to the highs that Jenna made it to.

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Edited by - Lenny Voyeur on 4/29/2020 11:45:34 PM

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We all have our different frames of reference, and, with apologies to aficionados of porn stars from other countries, I'm thinking primarily of the U.S.

I've never heard of Chyna, whether as a porn star or something else (but I don't watch much Vivid stuff); I'd never heard of Maitland Ward until I read about her here. Ditto Holly Sampson. OTOH, Teri Weigel's name might as well have been written in 288-point type when I saw it on her first porn box cover, because I recognized the name from Playboy; but I know that the name would have meant nothing to a great many people. Still, I'm not sure that we can say for certainty which porn star had the greatest name recognition before porn. I think they'd all qualify as minor celebrities, with name recognition among certain groups of people, but whose fame did not extend to the general public.

If we played word association, and I said "Stormy Daniels" to a non-porn-person, would the more likely response be, "porn star" or "woman who boinked Trump." Most likely, I'm betting, it would be, "porn star who boinked Trump." The operative word phrase is "porn star." Yeah, she got the additional exposure because of Trump, but I'd say she's the porn performer most widely known to the general public. If you'd asked the question prior to 2016, the answer probably would have been "Linda Lovelace."

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Her page at IMDB

She was very well known as a burlesque star and B-movie actress, being muse and wife to director Russ Meyer for a time, before graduating to hardcore movies and videos. She was in both Airplane! movies and even had a guest star role in a TV show (The New Adventures Of Beans Baxter).

Hope that helps.

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Hypnosis Should Be A Porn Thing

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Sasha Grey may not be as well known in the mainstream as say, Stormy Daniels, but she does have an active career as a novelist, actress and DJ. Check her website for yourself.

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Hypnosis Should Be A Porn Thing

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I think the best answers are probably Chyna/Joalie Laurer as she was very known in wrestling, Sybil Kakeli (Game of Thrones) because of how huge the show is, and maybe Jenna Jameson even if she was not famous BEFORE porn, she aquired such a notoriety from Porn and did had a few roles in B movies.

Edited by - Returnofthedude on 6/15/2020 7:09:02 PM

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I think Maitland Ward is a generational thing, Boy Meets World ran for 7 seasons so those who grew up watching her are a not insignificant number of people.

She was also on Bold and the Beautiful for a few years which again would have made her familiar to a large mass audience of a different, older generation.

I think Sasha Grey became quite well known in the mainstream at her peak due to her appearences on trashy daytime TV talk shows, small role on Entourage on HBO, arthouse film with the prestigious filmmaker Soderbergh and just for being the biggest pornstar of her era during the huge growth of the net and porn's accessibilty via the same.

Edited by - BlackSix on 6/15/2020 7:32:01 PM

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There have always been rumors of mainstream actresses appearing in stag films or porn before their careers took off. Marilyn Monroe and Meg Ryan come to mind.

The other side of the coin of mainstream actresses (that you'd actually heard of) who later went into porn is a lot more rare. The reality TV trend has made this a bit more common, as its a lot easier to appear as "yourself" without the time and effort devoted to a real acting career. It does attract a certain amount of attention and fame seekers (and drama queens). Jayden Taylors was on a lot of episodes of RHOC as a daughter.

Amber Rayne claimed she was a touring Broadway performer (and probably was) in addition to the usual mainstream extra and bit part player.

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Edited by - BlackSix on 6/18/2020 8:38:26 AM

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