Customer Reviews

The Devil Made Me Do It

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"The Devil..." is heavenly! I'm so thrilled to finally get to read about the life of this amazing, wonderful, sex Goddess and performer. She inspired me greatly, and changed my life forever for the better when I saw her for the first time in the Devil and Miss Jones. Georgina Spelvin has always been in a class by herself, and her book reflects that, because it is too. She generously gives readers a great feel (pun intended) for the Golden Age of porn, and what life and sexuality was like in the 60's/70's for the sexually liberated and talented. This book is also very relevant for today's world. I've read and enjoyed many sex worker autobiographies, and this is certainly one of the best--and perhaps the most sincere and from the heart of them all. Well written too!
Annie Sprinkle, Ph.D.--Huge Georgina Spelvin admirer. Porn star turned artist/sexologist.

This book is a lot of things. It's got a lot of slithery explicit salivating sex in it. It's a sixties book. It's got more good info about how movies are made than most movie books. It's a deep and dark tale of addiction and recovery. And it's a warm family story. Swear to God!
The story of how Georgina got to be a porn star in the first place is really funny. She applied to cater The Devil In Miss Jones, and was asked to do a line reading with one of the men who was auditioning. He wasn't hired, but she was, to star in it. She also did the catering. That's maybe the only time the star of a movie that did this well also did the cooking and washed the dishes. It was a friendly set. The director dried.
Having already dropped out of corporate America and become part of a hippie film commune, Georgina ploughed her money into making socially and politically conscious films. She got slippery for the revolution. How did a nice girl ... you know. Remember it was the `60s. Everybody decided the old values weren't working, dropped back to zero, and tried everything.
I'm glad the stuff I tried wasn't filmed.
The book is fabulous. I've published seven books as an author and edited more than 200. This is one of the best. Really. I can't imagine anyone who is not a Bishop reading it and not having a good time. Hell, the best character in it is Georgina's mother. It's that good.

Georgina Spelvin writes with a dry wit and humor. She writes as though she's talking to you personally and telling you a really funny and shocking story. Her writing style reminds me of a cross between Mark Twain and D. H. Lawrence (Lady Chatterley's Lover). It's like the down home humor of back fence gossip and cracker barrel stories delivered with a naughty flavor.

When she writes about her sexual escapades, she does so with straightforward honesty and humor that is racy, sensual and erotic without being phony, vulgar or fake. The way she includes her thoughts in various situations, like a written stage whisper, is a real hoot!

And when she talks about the times that are less than rosy, even downright ugly, she does it without pulling any punches, and without looking for pity, thank you so very much! Yet, even then she finds some humor such that you smile as you grimace (that's not easy, let me tell you!)

I have no literary credentials, but I love to read. I loved this book, and I think you will too!

"... it's an exciting thing to fornicate in the privacy of a film set ... taking off my clothes and shaking my booty in front of a live audience, however, was a whole 'nother story. Don't laugh. It made me feel cheap." - Georgina Spelvin

Anyone of a certain age (55 or older) and gender (most likely, but not necessarily, male) may recollect - if memory hasn't failed by this late date - the three film classics of the 1970s that made porn "chic" and widely public: Deep Throat, Behind the Green Door (Dvd), and The Devil in Miss Jones (Dvd) starring, respectively, the three original queens of X-rated film, Linda Lovelace, Marilyn Chambers, and Georgina Spelvin. And let's not forget the contributions of Georgina's Brazilian Boa co-star.

Written in 2004 many years after most of the events chronicled, THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT, the autobiographical narrative by Georgina Spelvin, is fueled by notes and memories, and held together by dialogue of presumably loose reconstruction. What results is a memoir told in a chatty, matter-of-fact style pretty much devoid of any deep personal exploration or revelation. This is especially reflected in Georgina's impassive description of the chronic alcoholism that plagued her during the latter half of the 1970s. Indeed, the text can be roughly divided into two markedly unequal parts, "BS" (before sobriety) and "AS" (after sobriety), the latter dating from November 11, 1980 and a hard-earned and well-deserved state. Honor is due.

Spelvin had an interesting career as an entertainer. Her conventional zenith came when she was lead dancer for the last few months of the Broadway production of "Pajama Game." Following that, she, almost by accident, fell into the lead role in THE DEVIL IN MISS JONES, the porn sensation that gifted her everlasting fame. Indeed, her paid duties during production included providing various orifices for sexual coupling with the male "stars" plus cooking for the cast and washing up the dishes. (A feminist's dream job, you think?)

Before and after TDIMJ, Georgina's means of earning a buck have included chorus line dancer, film editor, off-Broadway actor, costume designer, choreographer, fish gutter, one day as avocado packer (before being fired), window and bathroom cleaner at a construction site, and stripper. For her, like the rest of us, whatever it takes to survive. Since achieving sobriety, her career until retirement was in desktop publishing.

Is THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT a page turner? Is it the story of a remarkable life? Is it particularly salacious? In my opinion, "no" to all three. But it is the interesting and engaging narrative of an unconventional life that, by the book's conclusion, had me caring about the author enough to wish her well in the sunset of her days.

If you go to Georgina's personal website, you'll see her, white-haired and perhaps resembling your own grandmother, enjoying the landscaped back yard of her Los Angeles home; she's found lasting contentment. If nothing else, this should remind the reader that white-haired grandmothers were young once and may have lead unconventional lives.

Georgina Spelvin was one among a host of starlets whose names are synonymous with the phrase `the golden age of porn'. Although there are many names (Ginger Lynn, Annie Sprinkle, Gloria Leonard and Marilyn Chambers spring readily to mind), there are not, to my mind, many film titles from this era that have entered into the mainstream consciousness. Perhaps `Deep Throat', `Behind the Green Door', `Debbie Does Dallas' and `The Devil in Miss Jones' are the titles that would garner most lascivious nods and winks from those who may not have seen these movies but know them by reputation. And it was `The Devil in Miss Jones' for which Ms. Spelvin is probably best known - as is reflected by her book's title.

It should be pointed out that Georgina Spelvin only took that name on completion of `The Devil in Miss Jones', but she uses that name on the book's cover and makes no mention of her real name within its pages.`The Devil Made Me Do It' gets down to brass tacks from the off. It is 1972 and Georgina is contemplating her first hardcore scene in an adult movie. For an actress who was to have a relatively prolific career, her debut in hardcore came unusually late: she was 36 years old and already twice divorced. The descriptive writing here, and in other parts of the book, alternates between what is going on in Georgina's head ("If you yawn you won't gag. It's not really THAT big," as she contemplates getting up, close and personal with her co-star), and the more conventional descriptive and discursive prose that illustrates her colorful life. From free-spirited flower-powered far-out bohemian, the book follows Georgina's life into adult films, alcoholism and into the more traditional concepts of respectability. Only the names have been changed to protect the guilty.

This is more a memoir than a straightforward biography, but matters are dealt with chronologically. The book opens in 1972, so Georgina's early life, other than a few brief mentions, is discounted. However, the time that is covered makes for an absorbing read. She famously went to meet director, the late Gerard Damiano, to discuss her possible employment managing the catering on `The Devil in Miss Jones' and came out with the unexpected bonus of the leading role in the film as well as the catering gig. The writing is light and often self-deprecating and the author often has fun with the exaggerated language beloved of some theater ("theatah") folk.

Her battle against the bottle isn't really given the prominence that it requires in my opinion. An early reference to it is made when Georgina remarks that she is drinking wine way before noon, but how much of a grip it had on her comes as something of a shock later in the book. The chapters on Georgina's 1976 stripping gig in Atlantic City chaperoned by her mother are poignant, funny and harrowing as alcoholism overshadows her life. Another slight disappointment is the lack of photographs in the book. Georgina explains that this is because the book is self-published and she is limited to using non-glossy paper. Also largely unmentioned is her recent career in publishing. Again, this is something that's dropped into the writing almost like an afterthought. These gripes aside, this is a highly recommended book for those interested in its subject matter. Georgina Spelvin has a fascinating story to tell and she tells it very well.

Full Disclosure: I am a fan of the "Golden Age" of adult films, and Georgina Spelvin is one of my favorite stars, so I was predisposed to enjoy this book. This book is a must-read for fans of "The Devil In Miss Jones," as the author spends about one third of the book giving a detailed account of her experiences on set. You'll learn how a 36 year old Texas-born caterer got offered the lead role of Miss Jones, the origin and owner of the boa Miss Jones shared a scene with, and why the lesbian scene in the film had such heat, among other tidbits. You'll also learn that the pseudonym Georgina Spelvin came from the theater tradition, where George Spelvin is like John Doe. It is a fitting reference, since Ms. Spelvin (she sticks with the pseudonym throughout the book) had a career as a dancer, actress, and choreographer in legitimate theater. She doubled for Shirley MacLaine in "Sweet Charity" and was the female dance lead in a Broadway production of "The Pajama Game." She describes her meetings with the famous and the infamous, from the Rat Pack in Vegas to Marc "Ten-and-a-half" Stevens.

"Miss Jones" wasn't her first adult film role, that honor went to 1972's "High Priestess of Sexual Witchcraft", and the author says she wasn't told up front that the film would require explicit sex. "It wasn't like I was a virgin or something. Hell, at thirty-six years of age I was twice divorced and now a free-wheeling free-loving hippy, for pitysake. My hymen hadn't been intact since I was fifteen anyway, if then. I was an adventurous child. Did any possible ramifications cross my mind? Not for an instant. Films of this genre weren't seen by anyone I knew, and certainly not by anyone to whom I was related...........No one would ever know." She was correct about "High Priestess," but not about her next movie, "The Devil In Miss Jones." She recruited friends from her commune and associated bikers to be naked extras for the second day of filming. As she observed of the biker, "He swings his slightly bowed legs along in that peculiar rolling gate of life-long bikers. They are often thought to be swaggering. They aren't. It's the scooter butter caked in the crotch of their jeans that makes them walk that way." It is on the set of "High Priestess" that Georgina meets the aforementioned Marc Stevens. As they shoot a scene where they sit on their thrones as the High Priest and High Priestess of Sexual Witchcraft, Marc makes small talk:

A few minutes later Marc leans towards me and strokes my knee. I tense instinctively.

"I'm not getting fresh," he whispers, "I just wanted to get close enough to ask you something, and this way, if the camera catches us, we'll be in character."

He is quite serious about staying in character.

I lean my head close to his and whisper, "What?"

"Would you like to meet Jerry Damiano?" he asks.

"Who?"

"Gerald Damiano."

He lowers his voice to imitate an announcer, "The famous director of the greatest f*ckfilm of all time, Deep Throat."

"Deep Who?"

"Deep Throat? You don't know Deep Throat?" he asks in mock horror. (Well, maybe it wasn't all that mock.)

"I've never heard pf it. What's it about? A giraffe?"

That puts Marc on the floor.

"Cut!" screams the director from midway across the room. "We're making a movie over here, you guys."

For fans of the "Golden Age" of adult films, there are charming portraits of Marc Stevens, Harry Reams, Gerald Damiano, Herman the boa, Paul Thomas, Marilyn Chambers, John Leslie, Annie Sprinkle, Veronica Harte, and in the non-porn category Sammy Davis, Jr., Shecky Green, Buddy Hackett, John Raitt (father of Bonnie), Lou Walters (father of Barbara), Jim Kimberly (of the Kimberly-Clark clan), and millionaire Huntington Hartford.

The set of "Miss Jones", an old barn part-way converted into a house in the country, is the scene for most of the first third of the book. For the most part, it is a happy set, including Herman the boa, who makes a habit of bedding down with Georgina and her sometime lesbian lover/daughter/waif, Claire Lumiere. Herman becomes quite fond of Georgina's warmer regions, although they maintained a platonic friendship, even through their scene together, although Herman did get a little fresh with his tail.

The middle of the book deals briefly with the rest of her career in adult films (including involvement with the infamous Memphis indecency trial), flashbacks to relationships, relocation to California in a $300 bus, her career as a stripper (snakes come back into the picture, but not Herman, alas), her struggle with alcoholism, and the loss of her Mother, followed by her Father two years later. She beat the booze and met the love of her life, and even accepted her role as "A Living Legend of Erotica."

When Paul Thomas remade "Devil In Miss Jones" in 2005, Georgina was invited to give some commentary for the DVD, and she records the reaction of Savanna Samson, the Miss Jones of the new version, to seeing the original: "I fast forwarded through most of it. There was a lot of talking." I think that marks the biggest change in the adult films of today and of 30 or so years ago. In the old days, they shot with very limited budgets, weak scripts, bad actors, and all the other limitations, but with great imagination and skill and dedication to making a real movie and not just a f*ckfilm. I believe that the fact that they had to be prepared to defend their work against obscenity charges made all involved more motivated to make a movie that could stand its ground as a good movie, not just a good porn movie.

As the author says, "if you're looking for the ordeals of a victim, this ain't your book." Also, she doesn't use this opportunity to settle scores, the only person she is hard on is herself. As she and Gerald Damiano were finishing up on the set of the original "Miss Jones," he turns to her and gently quotes the closing line of Robert Anderson's play Tea and Sympathy, "Years from now, when you speak of this, and you will, be kind." In this entertaining, funny, honest, and sometimes heartbreaking book, she has been kind indeed. It is a book not to be missed.

DEVIL MADE ME DO IT....Georgina Spelvin Book Review


Wish I'd known the Devil back then! While Georgina Spelvin was having myriad blasts and balls, many of us less imaginative folks were plugging away in the military or school or corporateland or all of them...sigh.

Until I read this delightful lady's informative and deliciously fun book all I knew about her was the 1973 movie of her book's titular fame. I remember it showing openly at the movie house on main street in our little town back then. We sure live in different times now. Today, the local, state and federal moral cops would bust everyone, including the audience, and probably find a terrorist connection.

Ms Spelvin began her show business career with the pageants, dance classes and musical events you associate with growing up innocent in rural Texas of the late 1940s and `50s. She saw Broadway as her future, and, actually got there. She knows or was/is friends with some truly big name icons of that era's stage and screen.

But, hey, her book tells all that far better than I.

Anyway, her story of how she became a porn icon is profound, funny, reasonable and a true American success story. There are lots of big names and hilarious highlights in that part of her life, too. But, what do I know about porn films? Well, other than interviewing Linda Lovelace, Marilyn Chambers, Gloria Leonard , Ushi Digart, and, now, finally, Georgina Spelvin for magazine feature articles all those years ago, really, very little. Ms Spelvin knows porn....very personally in over 100 films in a ten years career, and she sure tells that as it was.

But, hey, her book tells all that far better than I.

The lady worked corporate suitland, too, Major League level. Some of her memories here are very familiar to the rest of us who also worked in corporate America then. Yet,she managed to mix her three careers well at this point, too...legit stage, porn and corporate.

But, hey, her book tells all that far better than I.

For the past three decades, this personable, truly comedic, lovely lady says she has been living a very happy and private time with John, the love her life, and also gardening, picnicking and enjoying old pals and neighbors. Oh, and she wrote this wonderful book that you will stay up too late reading it because she is a great, great storyteller.

But, hey, you'll find that out for yourself when you read it.

[...]

Reviewed by Charles LeMone www.allwordman.com

This fascinating memoir tells the story of how Georgina Splevin went from Broadway actress to iconic porn-star of the `70s. Spelvin's straightforward and witty writing style is shamelessly gutsy, spiced with humorous recollections, sprinkled with vividly crafted details and a dash of pathos.

Referring back to her many handwritten journals to tell her life story, The Devil Made Me Do It has an airy freshness that was like a trip down memory lane for me. I could well understand how the hippie movement enticed her into thinking she could change the world as a filmmaker rather continue pursuing her goal to become a Hollywood star. And having landed the lead role in the stage production of The Pajama Game--following Shirley Mac Claine's departure for greener pastures--there were signs that fame and fortune could, also, one day be hers.

When an opportunity came along to help pay the overdue rent on her New York City industrial loft, which also served as a business office and flophouse for her production staff, fate barged in. Nevertheless, at the time she did not realize that by accepting a role in a small budget porn film her life would be forever altered. Helping her to make the decision was the fact that she was certain no one she knew, especially members of her family and the people in the small town back in Texas where she grew up, would ever see such a naughty film. Still, as a precaution, she chose to use the pseudonym Georgina Spelvin because in theatric terms George Spelvin equals John Doe.

The feminine equivalent might still be languishing in anonymity had she not agreed, a few days later, to cater another porn film being made by Gerard Damiano, the director of Deep Throat. For it was in his office to settle arrangements on the catering gig, when Damiano casually asked her to read a part across from a male actor who was auditioning for a minor role. Right there and then, at the age of 36, she was offered the lead role in The Devil In Miss Jones.

The most touching segments of Spelvin's memoir come years later when her mother, all the way from Texas, shows up at one of her gigs as a strip artist, determined to wean her daughter off her dependence on alcohol. Spelvin is agreeable but feels she must honor a prior commitment to perform for one more week at another strip joint in Atlantic City. It is during that long week with Georgina's mother backstage while she is onstage three times a day--answering questions from the rowdy audiences before stripping--that we see a mother's unconditional love exemplified.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who acknowledges Anais Nin as a literary delight--and to all other readers who won't let descriptive accounts about sex performed in front of a camera lens mar the experience of enjoying a well-written memoir. Others may want to wait another ten or twenty years from now to see how some future filmmaker recounts Georgina Spelvin's life before reading the book to compare the two.

If you are in search of a tell-all autobiography of adult film star Georgina Spelvin, you will likely walk away disappointed. However, if you are open to reading a tell-all autobiography of the person behind the character, you are in for a worthwhile read.

While the book covers the making of "The Devil & Miss Jones" in rich detail and recounts a few anecdotes from Ms. Spelvin's adult film career, the bulk of the material focuses on her life away from the camera's eye. We learn of her upbringing, career in "legitimate" entertainment, life as a free spirit, battles with alcoholism, and redemption as a healthy and happy retiree. While she never shies away from her adult work and is quite frank when she discusses those times, they are revealed to be no more than a single facet of a colorful life.

In "The Devil Made Me Do It", we are treated to something quite rare in the realm of adult entertainer biographies; the full reveal, the reality of the person behind the fantasy.

As any adult film fan can attest, the name "Georgina Spelvin" is legendary for her tour-de-force performance in Gerard Damiano's THE DEVIL IN MISS JONES. After staying out of the public eye for the past decade or so, Ms. Spelvin has re-emerged in a cameo appearance in Paul Thomas' THE NEW DEVIL IN MISS JONES, an enlightening interview for the Special Edition DVD of the original MISS JONES (conducted by yours truly), and now this long-time-coming autobiography that could easily be subtitled "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Georgina Spelvin But Couldn't Ask"!!

In this book, you will learn who "Georgina Spelvin" was when the camera shut off. If you are looking for a tell-all from the set and learning of her co-stars and directors of the period, you won't find it here, but the wealth of information about Georgina's real life and her charming, witty writing style more than makes up for this. You will read of her special relationship with her mother, her background in professional theater before entering the adult industry through a guerrilla film crew and accidentally winding up as the star of a porno chic classic, her battle with alcoholism that almost killed her, the lesbian relationship with on- and off-screen paramour Clair Lumiere/Judith Hamilton, and her final discovery of her soul mate who she is still happily married to today. Which isn't to say that you won't hear about the filmmaking days that made her famous: the first part of the book is a lengthy, detailed account of the shooting of MISS JONES, and Georgina provides some interesting insight into working with Marc Stevens, Harry Reems, and Jack Wrangler. But reading through this incredible tome, you feel a real sense of accomplishment, a life lived to the fullest, and pride for surviving it all. Bravo, Georgina, bravo!