Jerry Douglas wore many hats, as a novelist playwright and theater director, but here we will celebrate him as the gay porn director, film historian, storyteller and a mentor to many figures in the gay porn industry today.
Douglas is justly celebrated at the director of The Back Row one of the first hardcore films made after Stonewall. Watching it today, The Back Row is a precious artifact showing a pre-Disney Times Square and the seedy, gritty, 70’s New York City that is legend to many people who remember it. But The Back Row also documented a fixture in the culture of gay cruising, the movie theater.
Not a lot of people in adult today remember George Payne, though he was one of the more recognizable stars of the golden age of adult film in New York. Payne entered the porn industry in 1972 appearing in The Back Row after coming to New York to do male swimsuit modeling and initially marketed himself towards a gay audience. He transitioned over to the straight side of the industry eventually and gained notoriety for his intense portrayals.
In this episode we are going celebrate Jerry Douglas, his film, The Back Row and adult entertainer George Payne.
