Porn Star the Legend of Ron Jeremy Los Angeles Premiere November 30, 2001

Photos and text are by Rachel Worth, and may not be used elsewhere without permission. Copyright © 2001, Worth-a-Million Productions. I probably first became aware of Ron Jeremy in the early 80's. I find that more now than back then, there's something about him--most likely his gorgeous eyes and warm smile--that I find appealing. I've met him a few times at different shows and have spoken with him briefly, but am never sure if he remembers me. Ron definitely IS a legend. Everyone recognizes him wherever he goes. In January 2001, at the time of the Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas, I was walking out of the Venetian Hotel, and suddenly I heard an immense roar of cheers that sounded like it was coming from thousands of people. I walked toward the crowds, thinking it was for one of the players from the Los Angeles Lakers, who I had heard were in town. Well, it was not for Shaq, or other famous sports figure; those cheering, adoring fans were vigorously clapping and loudly vocalizing their adulation for Ron Jeremy! I was very anxious to see this movie, and wanted to be at The Premiere--the first public showing of the documentary in L.A., having missed the private showings that were for the Media. I didn't care that I had to buy a ticket, I was concerned about whether I would even be able to get in. Well, there were a few seats left when I arrived and I did get in, and I must say it was a very enjoyable 78 minutes--funny, touching, interesting and delightful. The film also held special meaning for me, since I know about half a dozen of the people in it. There were a lot of humorous parts, like when Ron gets lost in the hidden hallways of American Airlines and lots of short excerpts from some of his old movies where he was either getting knocked down, killed, or wearing a ridiculous-looking costume. I got a kick out of Al Goldstein's amusing comments, and I was fascinated by the glimpse into Ron's personal telephone book (you're not going to believe how this voluminous collection of phone numbers is maintained). Inserted along with humor were some touching moments when he and his sister talked about their mother's illness and subsequent death from Parkinson's disease. She became ill when Ron was only in third grade. His father is also interviewed for the movie, and I found him a delightful man with a great sense of humor. I was glad to find out that his family is supportive of him, and I found it interesting to hear his future dreams. I spoke with Bill Margold a few hours before seeing the movie, and he informed me that he was the person who had actually given Ron the nickname "the hedgehog" in 1979, but it wasn't mentioned in the documentary. He speaks very fondly about Ron, the legend. Bill had already seen the movie, and one comment he made to me was that he felt that it really didn't give the viewer enough insight into who Ron really is. After seeing it, however, I think that maybe he feels that way because he knows Ron so well. But I would think the average person, who knows him only from his movies or appearances, would surely find this look into Ron's life very informative and interesting. Even if it didn't go too deep into helping us know him, I think that all of us viewers felt we knew him a whole lot better than before we saw the film.

The Los Angeles premiere was at the Nuart in West L.A., and will be playing there through December 6. Ron spoke to the crowd before the show (which, unfortunately, I missed), and then met afterward with everyone in the lobby for conversation, autographs and pictures. His (very pretty) sister was there, as was one of the directors, whose name I don't remember. There were other people of notoriety whose names I didn't know who were getting their pictures taken a lot. I gave Ron a copy of a picture I had taken of him at Erotica L.A. in July (seen at the left). It's a photo that I think really shows off his beautiful eyes. I had made a second copy which I had him autograph.

I have an incredible piece of videotape from 1998 at the World Conference on Pornography where Al Goldstein (who appears frequently in the documentary) asks Ron in a workshop being presented by Al, to come up front and share his words of expertise on how to give oral sex to a woman. I was sitting right there with video camera rolling and captured it all on tape. While watching the movie, I couldn't help but think that it would have been a great piece of footage to include. Although there were some similar clips from his club appearances, they weren't nearly as good. I asked Ron on this night if I could put that clip on my website, and he gave me permission to do so. It will soon be in the members' section that I am currently working on. I spoke with some of the people who attended the premiere and asked for their reactions. Here is what they said: Cori W -- the timing was great, not too long or too short, the editing was concise and the interviews were shot well Ryan P -- this was a very human portrait of a larger-than-life character Janice G -- very well done--humorous and very interesting Mitch -- a great insight into Ron's life, and Ron himself impressed me in person as much as in the movie Jeff -- one of the most entertaining films of 2001. Ron's a legend and a truly nice guy.

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