Where Are They Now? The Children Of Adult Film Stars

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How different would your life be if your parents were porn stars? Would you be a normal, well adjusted member of society if you and your classmates and their parents could easily find footage of your folks fucking? Maybe, maybe not. 

The most well known child of porn stars is actress Thora Birch, whose parents, Carol Connors and Jack Birch, acted in the 1972 porn classic Deep Throat. Thora made a name for herself in the mainstream film world with roles in American Beauty and Ghost World. Today, in honor of Thora's 30th birthday today, we take a closer look at her and other porn offspring to see what they're up to. Get ready, it's Where Are They Now? The Children Of Adult Film Stars edition...

Written by Tanya Ghahremani (@tanyaghahremani)

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Thora Birch

Parents: Jack Birch & Carol Connors

Many actors and actresses come from a background of entertainment, but Thora’s parents provided the sort of entertainment that most people don't talk about indulging in. Thora is the eldest daughter of Jack Birch and Carol Connors, two former adult film actors who appeared in what is arguably the most well known X-rated film of all time, Deep Throat. Actually, that’s where they met. How’s that for a love story?

Thora, of course, went on to have a pretty good career in the late '90s and early 2000s. With memorable performances in two critically-acclaimed films, American Beauty (1999) and Ghost World (2001), it seemed like she was well on her way to being a rather hot commodity in Hollywood. And who could forget Hocus Pocus (1993)? Unfortunately, her father’s “background” in entertainment led him to believe that he knew something about the industry, and it’s been widely reported that his overbearing, at times intimidating, presence on the sets of her films led to the eventual downfall of her career and forced her to take roles in Lifetime movies like The Pregnancy Pact (2010).

Recently, news broke that Thora had committed to a big-screen version of Chuck Palahniuk’s 2008 novel Snuff, along with Daryl Hannah and Tom Sizemore, so we can only hope Jack will stay away long enough this time for filming to be completed. Suffering the fate of doing another Lifetime movie in order to sustain a career is something no respectable actress should have to experience.

Bobby Gordon

Parent: Richard Pacheco

Growing up with a parent who was prominent in the adult film industry has gotta be tough for a kid, especially once they reach their teens and actually learn what pornography is. Children of adult film stars deal with the knowledge of their parents’ professions differently; some choose to ignore it entirely, some get into the adult industry themselves, and some, like Bobby Gordon, turn the story of their life into a live, one-man comedy show called Debbie Does My Dad. It’s quite the coping method, really. 

Bobby is the son of adult star and director Richard Pacheco, who is so famous and well known that he’s won multiple awards for his work, and was even named Playgirl’s Man of the Year back in 1979 (as Howie Gordon). Basically, there was no way he was ever going to escape the shadow of his father’s chosen profession. Or, as Bobby himself describes it, “the shadow of his father’s erection.” So, he turned it into a show that is largely autobiographical, describing how it was to grow up with a father in the adult film industry. It’s a strange look into a world most of us wouldn’t otherwise see, and Bobby’s certainly got enough material from his life to go off of.

Tyger Drew-Honey

Parents: Lindsay Honey & Linzi Drew

Though he’s not well known here in the States, across the pond Tyger here is pretty big. He stars in the popular and critically-acclaimed Brit comedy Outnumbered, which is basically Malcolm in the Middle set in South London. It wasn’t widely known until 2010, but Tyger is also a child of a unique entertainment background—his father, Lindsay Honey, was an adult film star in his day going by the name Ben Dover, and his mother is former adult film star Linzi Drew. 

“People do know I'm Tyger's dad but I have never gone on record with newspapers talking about the family link until now,” Honey said in a 2010 interview with People UK. “I didn't want my past to impact on his future … People can be very judgmental in the acting world but I want Tyger to be judged on his merits and ability, not because his dad has slept with hundreds of birds on film.” So that’s why he talked to a tabloid at length about it, then? Makes sense.

Holly Randall

Parents: Humphry Knipe & Suze Randall

Though Holly’s parents weren’t technically adult film stars, they were in the industry—her mother, Suze Randall, is an erotic photographer, and her father, Humphry Knipe, has written and directed numerous adult films. Holly ended up following in her mother’s footsteps and is a prominent erotic photographer, her work having appeared on the covers of major adult magazines. Additionally, she’s branched out into producing and directing pornographic films for her mother’s production company, Suze Randall Productions.  

Back in 2007, in her first column for XBiz, a blog mostly geared towards those in the adult film industry, Holly admitted that she didn’t actually “expect to” follow her mother’s career path. “At 20, I agreed to leave photography school to help my parents with the business, and I haven't looked back since. … Fast forward eight years and I'm still working for my parents and shooting more and more as my mother slowly retires into her horse-breeding obsession.”

Hey, the family business is what it is.

Ice La Fox

Parent: Angela DeAngelo

Another case of a child following in their parent’s footsteps. Ice La Fox is what one would call a “second generation” adult film star, as her mother, Angela DeAngelo, was one as well back in the '90s. Ice, born Vanessa Ordonez, is arguably a bit more famous than her mother, something that can be derived by the fact that she has a Wikipedia page while her mother does not. She’s won an AVN award (Best Oral Scene, 2007) for her work as well, so it’s safe to say she’s pretty popular. 

Ice retired from the industry in 2008, only to return with brand new DDs, which is probably the appropriate approach to re-entering the adult film industry after being absent for a length of time.

Tiffany Lubben

Parents: Shelley Lubben

Not much is known about Tiffany except for her roots. Her mother, escort-turned adult-film-star-turned-advocate-against-the-adult-film-industry, Shelley Lubben, became pregnant by a client at 19, and had Tiffany by the age of 20. According to interviews, she remained in the escort and adult film industry after Tiffany's birth. "Tiffany grew up a sad little girl who was neglected and whose innocence was often violated," she's said of her daughter's childhood. "I even gave Tiffany a beeper and made her to go to the park while I pulled tricks. She was only 4 years old."

Shelley left the adult film indsutry when she was 26, and has since become a huge advocate against it, citing her experiences in the industry as the source of much psychological and physical trauma, including it being the reason she contracted genital herpes, HPV, and early cerival cancer. 

Tiffany herself, now about 24, is an advocate against the adult film industry like her mother. She is also a casual photographer.

Delilah Strong

Parent: Deborah Coxxx

The second second-generation adult film star on this list, Delilah Strong is the daughter of Deborah Coxxx, who reached some level of fame back in the '80s. According to Delilah, her mother’s participation in the adult film industry didn’t at all influence her decision to go into it, as she initially wanted to go into nude modeling and eventually get into Playboy. She only began to think about the adult film industry when she was 20, at which time she said that her parents were supportive of her decision as long as it was what she wanted.

Delilah herself began her career as a stripper, until she was approached by a rep for Hustler magazine that led to modeling and eventually her first adult film. Since then, she’s appeared in over a hundred films, and she won an AVN award in 2009 for her work (Best Threeway Sex Scene, 2009).