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CASEY DONOVAN (1943 - 1987)

One of the first real stars of gay porn, born John Calvin Culver.  He also worked under the name Cal Culver in mainstream films and stage dramas.  A former private school teacher, Culver appeared in numerous stage productions in the early 1970s,including a 1973 production of The Merchant of Venice, appearing with Rosemary Harris at The Viviane Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center (directed by Ellis Rabb), and had also done some modeling.  He was also in a lover relationship with former film star and science-fiction author Tom Tryon. In 1972 he was featured in the mainsteam film Score, playing the husband in a young heterosexual married couple who are eventually seduced by their neighbors into a bisexual affair.  In 1974, as Casey Donovan, he was featured in Boys In the Sand, one of the first feature-length gay porn films and the first to feature performers with actual names. Prior to this time, gay porn films were little more than ten to fifteen minute loops featuring performers who were either anonymous or went by fake first names like "Joe" or "Bob." Donovan was in sharp contrast to the performers of today, being lanky as opposed to steroid muscular, venturing into porn after a promising beginning in the mainstream, and starting his porn career at the age of thrity-one, well past the retirement age of most gay porn performers.  An instant sensation in Boys In The Sand, Casey went on to perform in such other films as Tight Jeans, Dragula, Heatstroke, Boys In The Sand 2, L.A. Tool & Die, Moving, Sleaze, and The Other Side of Aspen, another classic which launched the careers of Al Parker and Dick Fisk.  Casey's appeal came largely from his natural good looks, his boy-next-door persona, and especially for his great enthusiasm for sex, both on and off the set. In many ways, he was the epitome of the free love and hedonism of the 1970s and early 80s.  Sadly, Casey Donovan was one of the first stars of gay porn to succumb to AIDS. He died of AIDS complications in Los Angeles.

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