Nina Hartley
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Marie Louise Hartman (born March 11, 1959), known professionally as Nina Hartley, is an American pornographic film actress described by
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as "a legend in the adult world".


Early life and education

Hartley was born on March 11, 1959 in
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...
, to a
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
father, Louis Hartman, and a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
mother, Blanche Hartman (née Gelders), whose family was from
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. Her maternal grandfather, Joseph Gelders, was a
University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...
physics professor who was a Communist Party USA (CPUSA) party member in the 1930s. Hartley's parents were members of the CPUSA who converted to
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
when she was young. Her father was blacklisted in 1957 for his communist beliefs. Hartley grew up in the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
, and as a teenager self-identified as a feminist. After graduating from Berkeley High School in 1977, she attended
San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...
's undergraduate nursing school and graduated '' magna cum laude'' in 1985. She was a registered nurse until her license expired in 1986.


Adult film career

Hartley has said she saw the 1976 erotic film ''
The Autobiography of a Flea ''The Autobiography of a Flea'' is an anonymous erotic novel first published in 1887 in London by Edward Avery. Later research has revealed that the author was a London lawyer of the time named Stanislas de Rhodes. The story is narrated by a ...
'' by Sharon McNight ( it), alone at a theater in San Francisco and chose her life's work: making porn. In 1982, during her sophomore year of nursing school, she started working as a stripper at the Sutter Street Theatre, and later the
Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre The Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre was a strip club at 895 O'Farrell Street near San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. Having first opened as an X-rated movie theater by Jim and Artie Mitchell on July 4, 1969, the O'Farrell was one of ...
. She began working in pornography in 1984, which she saw as a way to make a career of having sex. Her pornographic film debut was in ''Educating Nina'', where she was cast and directed by fellow performer
Juliet Anderson Juliet Anderson (born Judith Carr), also known as Aunt Peg, (July 23, 1938 – January 11, 2010) was an American pornographic actress and adult movie producer, relationship counselor and author. Entering the adult movie business relatively late i ...
. In 1994, she began her line of instructional videos that are marketed under the ''Nina Hartley's Guide'' brand. Hartley has been described by news outlets as "one of the best-known actresses in the industry" and "a legend in the adult world". Explaining how Marie Louise Hartman became Nina Hartley, she stated in an interview that she chose the name "Nina" because it was easy for Japanese tourists to say during the time she was a dancer in San Francisco; "Hartley" was chosen as it was close to her own real last name as possible and because she "wanted a name that sounded like that of a real person." She stated that when she got into the adult business, she was blessed with two popular fetish items: "big, baby-blue eyes and that round butt with a high, small waist", with her buttocks becoming her trademark. In the 1980s and early 1990s, she starred in several of the '' Debbie Does'' film series spin-offs such as ''Debbie Duz Dishes'' (1986) and ''Debbie Does Wall Street'' (1991). In 1992, she directed her first movie, ''Nina Hartley's Book of Love''. For many years, she also toured the United States and Canada as a stripper and made personal appearances at adult shops. Hartley played the part of
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
in the 2008 satirical pornographic film ''
Who's Nailin' Paylin? ''Who's Nailin' Paylin?'' is a 2008 American satirical pornographic film directed by Jerome Tanner and starring Lisa Ann. It satirizes former U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.HustlerHollywood.com, 2008. Besides being a parody of Sara ...
'', with
Lisa Ann Lisa Ann Corpora, known professionally as Lisa Ann, is an American pornographic film actress and radio personality. She has also worked as a director and talent agent. She parodied former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin in six adult films and a m ...
in the role of Sarah Palin. In 2010, she said, "Now I work with women who are younger than my breast implants." Hartley was still actively performing in pornography, and by 2017 she had appeared in more than one thousand adult films. Hartley has appeared in several documentary films: she was interviewed in ''The Naked Feminist'' (2003) was featured in '' After Porn Ends'' (2012), and appears in '' Sticky: A (Self) Love Story'' (2016), in which she discusses masturbation with regards to education, the forced resignation of
Joycelyn Elders Minnie Joycelyn Elders (born Minnie Lee Jones; August 13, 1933) is an American pediatrician and public health administrator who served as Surgeon General of the United States from 1993 to 1994. A vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commiss ...
, and her opinions on the blackballing of comedian
Paul Reubens Paul Reubens (; born Rubenfeld; August 27, 1952) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and children's entertainer. He is known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s, an ...
after his arrest for masturbating in a public theater.


Activism

'' Las Vegas Weekly'' calls Hartley "a guiding force for a generation of feminist porn stars". She began engaging in
feminist activism The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality between men and women. Such i ...
in the 1980s and has made frequent appearances at academic conferences, workshops, and in the media to promote
sex positivity The sex-positive movement is a social and philosophical movement that seeks to change cultural attitudes and norms around sexuality, promoting the recognition of sexuality (in the countless forms of expression) as a natural and healthy part of th ...
, along with lectures at several universities. As a feminist working in the pornography industry, she has said, "Pleasure is very, very powerful, very, very potent. You're no longer at the mercy of men when you understand that", and "Sex isn't something men do to you. It isn't something men get out of you. Sex is something you dive into with gusto and like it every bit as much as he does." Hartley is a long-time board member of the
Woodhull Freedom Foundation Woodhull Freedom Foundation, also known as Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance, is an American non-profit organization founded in 2003 that advocates for sexual freedom as a fundamental human right. The organization is based in Washington, D.C., U ...
, and has been involved in
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
activism. Politically, Hartley describes herself as a
democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...
, saying, "There are some things the federal government is essential for and some things best left to local government." Hartley has long been affiliated with the
Adult Performer Advocacy Committee Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC) is an American organized labor group for pornographic actors. Launched in 2014, shortly after the closure of the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation (AIM), the organization released a video call ...
(APAC), a labor union for pornographic film actors. Before the rise to stardom of
Jenna Jameson Jenna Marie Massoli (born April 9, 1974), known professionally as Jenna Jameson (), is an American model, former pornographic film actress, businesswoman, and television personality. She has been named the world's most famous adult entertainme ...
, Hartley had often been called on when television news programs and talk shows required an articulate, leading adult film actress to support the adult film industry's right to exist. Hartley and fellow pornographic actress Ona Zee have also spoken out against illegal drug use in the industry. Hartley was interviewed by
Eric Schlosser Eric Matthew Schlosser (born August 17, 1959) is an American journalist and author known for his investigative journalism, such as in his books ''Fast Food Nation'' (2001), '' Reefer Madness'' (2003), and '' Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, ...
for his book ''Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market'' in which she was critical of anti-pornography legislation.


Mainstream media appearances

Hartley acted in the 1996 Canadian film ''Bubbles Galore'' and has appeared on ''
The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...
''. In the 1997 film '' Boogie Nights'', she played
William H. Macy William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor. His film career has been built on appearances in small, independent films, though he has also appeared in mainstream films. Some of his best known starring roles include those i ...
's character's serially unfaithful wife, who is murdered by him. She later remarked, "The only movie I ever died in for having sex was a mainstream movie." She also played Wanda, a salesclerk at a sex toy shop, in the 2017 punk comedy film '' Scumbag''.


Writing

In 2006, Hartley co-authored ''Nina Hartley's Guide to Total Sex'' with her husband Ira Levine. The book includes sections on
sex toy A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate human sexual pleasure, such as a dildo, artificial vagina or vibrator. Many popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals, and may be vibrating or non-vibratin ...
s, swinging,
threesome In human sexuality, a threesome is commonly understood as "a sexual interaction between three people whereby at least one engages in physical sexual behaviour with both the other individuals". Though ''threesome'' most commonly refers to sexua ...
s,
dominance and submission Dominance and submission (also called D/s) is a set of behaviors, customs, and rituals involving the submission of one person to another in an erotic episode or lifestyle. It is a subset of BDSM. This form of sexual contact and pleasure has bee ...
, and
erotic spanking Erotic spanking is the act of spanking another person for the sexual arousal or gratification of either or both parties. The intensity of the act can vary in both its duration and severity, and may include the use of one or more spanking implem ...
. '' Library Journal'' called the book a "well-written guide" that is "strong on both safe sex and a permissive approach", saying Hartley "handles the material frankly, accurately, and with sensitivity".


Selected publications

* * * *


Personal life

Hartley is a self-described bisexual, swinger, and
exhibitionist Exhibitionism is the act of exposing in a public or semi-public context one's intimate parts – for example, the breasts, genitals or buttocks. The practice may arise from a desire or compulsion to expose themselves in such a manner to group ...
. From 1981 to 2000, she was involved in a relationship with a man (a former
Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...
leader) and a woman. She married her male partner in 1986; their divorce was finalized in 2003. The same year, Hartley married Ira Levine, a director of porn films under the name Ernest Greene. They are openly polyamorous.


Recognitions


AVN Awards

Hartley has received eight Adult Video News Awards, including:


XRCO Awards

Hartley has won a number of
XRCO Awards The XRCO Awards are given by the American X-Rated Critics Organization annually to people working in adult entertainment and it is the only adult industry awards show reserved exclusively for industry members. Once every calendar year, XRCO ...
:


Other awards and nominations


References


Further reading

* Features a chapter on Hartley * Features an essay and introduction by Hartley * Features a chapter on Hartley * * * * Features an interview with Hartley


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartley, Nina 1959 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Berkeley, California American erotic dancers American female erotic dancers American pornographic film directors American nurses American women nurses Jewish American actresses American pornographic film actresses American sex educators American women film directors Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni Bisexual pornographic film actresses Bisexual writers LGBT film directors LGBT Jews LGBT people from California American LGBT writers Living people Pornographic film actors from California San Francisco State University alumni Sex-positive feminists Sex worker activists in the United States Women pornographic film directors Polyamorous people American democratic socialists