Barbara Dare (born February 27, 1963) is an American former

pornographic actress A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts on video that is usually characterized as a pornographic film. Such videos tend to be made in a number of distinc ...

. She was one of the industry's initial contract performers with Essex Video and

Vivid Entertainment Vivid Entertainment Group is an American independent pornographic film production company,AVN and

XRCO Hall of Fame The XRCO Hall of Fame lists well-known adult entertainment works and workers. The list is managed by X-Rated Critics Organization and inducted annually during the XRCO Awards. The first XRCO Awards were presented in Hollywood on February 14, 198 ...

inductee.

Personal life

Dare was born in

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls metropolitan area, Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Archer County, Tex ...

. After her father, a dentist, left the Air Force, the family moved to Wayne,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. She was raised in the Jewish faith. Early in her professional career, Dare self-identified as a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

, having personal relationships with women. Dare spent several years addicted to drugs, including heroin. She got sober and became a Certified Addiction and Substance Abuse Counselor.

Career

Dare began appearing in adult films in the mid-1980s after meeting people who were involved in the adult film industry at Plato's Retreat and also made appearances in magazines such as '' Hustler'', '' Swank'', and ''

High Society High society, sometimes simply Society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth, power, fame and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open ...

''. In 1989, she joined fellow

adult film Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

actress Stephanie Rage as authors of a monthly article for ''Swank''. Dare was one of the top adult film stars of the 1980s. She appeared in scenes with several (at the time) top adult films stars, including Tracey Adams and

Ginger Lynn Ginger Lynn Allen (born December 14, 1962) is an American pornographic actress and model who was a premier adult-entertainment star of the 1980s. She also had minor roles in various B movies. '' Adult Video News'' ranked her at #7 of the 50 ...

. She became one of the first women in the industry to sign an exclusivity contract with Essex Video for 10 movies a year and an annual salary of $150,000 and would later leave that studio to sign with

Vivid Entertainment Vivid Entertainment Group is an American independent pornographic film production company,Vivid Girls Vivid Entertainment Group is an American independent pornographic film production company,Jerry Butler Jerry Butler Jr. (December 8, 1939 – February 20, 2025) was an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and politician. He was the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group the Impressions, who were inducted into the Rock and ...

stated in his autobiography that Dare had a "commanding screen presence" while on set, in spite of her smaller physical stature. Dare also worked as a stripper, commanding a $10,000 weekly salary.

Appearances

Dare was interviewed in 1987 for the episode of the television news series '' Frontline'' regarding the death of

Shauna Grant Colleen Marie Applegate (May 30, 1963 – March 23, 1984), known professionally as Shauna Grant, was an American pornographic actress and nude model. During her two-year career, she appeared in over 30 pornographic films, earning up to $100,000. ...

. She also had minor roles in mainstream productions such as the

Roy Scheider Roy Richard Scheider (; November 10, 1932 – February 10, 2008) was an American actor and amateur boxer who achieved fame with his leading and supporting roles in celebrated films from the 1970s through to the mid-1980s. He was nominated for t ...

and

Ann-Margret Ann-Margret Olsson (born 28 April 1941), credited as Ann-Margret, is a Swedish-American actress and singer with a career spanning seven decades. Her many screen roles include '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' Bye Bye B ...

film ''

52 Pick-Up ''52 Pick-Up'' is a 1986 American neo-noir crime film directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Roy Scheider, Ann-Margret, and Vanity. It is based on Elmore Leonard's 1974 novel ''52 Pickup'' and is the second adaptation of it after '' The Amb ...

'' in 1986 and the live-action/animated

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

- horror

B-movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

'' Evil Toons'' (where she was credited as "Stacey Nix") in 1992. In the August 1992 issue of ''Esquire'', Dare was profiled in their annual feature "Women We Love".

Selected filmography

Awards

* 1987

AVN Award The AVN Awards are List of movie awards, film awards sponsored and presented by the American trade magazine ''AVN (magazine), AVN'' (''Adult Video News'') annually to honor achievements in the global Sex industry, adult entertainment industry. ...

– Best New Starlet *1987

XRCO Award 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 m ...

– Starlet of the Year * 1989

– Best Actress, Video (''Naked Stranger'') * 1990 AVN Award – Best All-Girl Sex Scene, Video (''True Love'') with April West *

AVN Hall of Fame The ''AVN'' (''Adult Video News'') Hall of Fame has honored people for their work in the adult entertainment industry since 1995.XRCO Hall of Fame The XRCO Hall of Fame lists well-known adult entertainment works and workers. The list is managed by X-Rated Critics Organization and inducted annually during the XRCO Awards. The first XRCO Awards were presented in Hollywood on February 14, 198 ...

inductee

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dare, Barbara 1963 births Living people American female erotic dancers American pornographic film actresses Lesbian pornographic film actresses American lesbian actresses LGBTQ people from New Jersey LGBTQ people from Texas People from Wayne, New Jersey Pornographic film actors from New Jersey 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American women Jewish American actresses Lesbian Jews People from Wichita Falls, Texas Actors from Passaic County, New Jersey