Monday, July 07, 2003

archive@badpuppy.com

e-mail Greg Dale here

continued

OUTCOME: Now give us a comparison to working in the 70s, let's say working on "The Idol" for a stark comparison.

GREG: Well, "The Idol" was a love story. I didn't consider it anything & he treated me like a porno star. He was nice & friendly. The cast & crew were friendly. There was no rivalry or anyone zapped out on drugs. We shot on the beach at Santa Monica. I played a straight kid trying to sound like I was Gay. I haven't seen it since '78 so I can't remember exactly.

OUTCOME: You also did a scene in the shower.

GREG: Yeah, it was filmed at Jim Morris' gym on Santa Monica Blvd. It was wonderful. It was fun. Pro body builders were watching the scene being filmed. I was turned on watching them. The gym was closed for the shoot except the hunk who worked there & his buddies. I wanted them to take off their clothes & jump into the shower, unfortunately they didn't. It wold have been hot since one of the guys was someone I was seeing at the time!

OUTCOME: It was like doing a major studio motion picture.

GREG: Yes it was & the people were cool. No Tex Anthony's on crystal telling me not to show up the next day. Tom DeSimone in fact had a wrap party when it was over, it was fun!

OUTCOME: DeSimone was with HAND-IN-HAND who was the MGM of Gay films. Do you remember working with anyone else in that period & how different it was.

GREG: I made another motion picture fot Tom DeSimone called "Country Boy" (the working title. final title was "GETTIN" DOWN"-ed) where I was the star. By that I mean I was in every scene almost and I worked with someone named Shawn Victors. Then he was a lean, muscular bleached blond. I just ran into him & he's fat.

OUTCOME: At least he's alive! Weight you can get rid of, death you can't.

GREG: Right, I'm going through my Lanie Kazan period right now. I gained some weight but I'm dropping it. Even in this crisis there are some hostile people who come up to me and say "I can't believe you're still alive."

OUTCOME: Unfortunately it tends to be that anyone you see, whom you haven't seen in awhile, is a surprise. Death has become an assumption.

GREG: I got stereotyped that just because I did porno movies means that I automatically have A.I.D.S., does that make sense?

OUTCOME: People like to stereotype and to hate, despite Anne Frank's childlike statement. They'd rather raise themselves up by putting others down. So in those terms it makes sense. In reality no, although to assume a full time hustler as A.I.D.S. is valid & possibly life saving.

GREG: I'm saying there are a lot of hostile queens I've known for years who see me around all the time who are hostile because they're sick & I'm not. They think that automatically because I made movies I should have it.

OUTCOME: There has also been a wave of current porn stars who have died of A.I.D.S. They acquired it through hustling with tricks who have it and think nothing of demanding a male or female prostitute not protect themselves. By rights the tricks should be arrested for first degree murder. All this eludes the public's eye and all they can see is video performers dying and thus doing videos is what killed them. In the past the majority of models who posed nude were not hustlers, now a large number are. In the 60s and 70s it was the "in" thing to do and models posed for free or for $10-$25, had a ball and went on with their lives.

GREG: I still get offers to do videos.

OUTCOME: There's a good question, everyone assumes you have to be 18 or 19 to be desirable for still or video work. You're 35 now, which all too many people consider over the hill. Do you find there's a difference in producer's interest?

GREG: Well apparently there are people who want to see me in movies not 22 year old perfect bodies with perfect  faces. I did a lot of speed in the 80s, ya wanna hear this?

OUTCOME: Why not.

GREG: I had a minor stroke January 3rd of '88 from doing it. I stayed up 2-3 days starting New Year's Eve. Then I had a minor heart attack a month later because I didn't learn the lesson. I gained  weight after that & I didn't feel good for about a year. And I started having panic attacks & still have them from that. That was God telling me to cool the crystal. Crystal Methedrine is very popular out here I don't know if it is out there. The young guys test positive and they go absolutely berserk and go on binges and don't care anymore.

OUTCOME: Exactly what my best friend Glenn Turner did, destroyed his beloved creation, STARS, drove away his friends and just couldn't cope with the knowledge of his coming death.

GREG: The last movie I was supposed to make they had asked for me.   It was Easter of '87, that weekend. They had asked for me and when I showed up, then I was a body builder, and I was too big. And when I walked in the room I knew it. It was a bunch of 18-20 year olds, each weighing about 120 lbs. I was on steroids then & I walked in and they told me to take off my clothes, which I thought was rude, & they said I was to big why don't you cool the steroids or lose about 20 lbs. then we can use you another time. And I said you're the ones who asked for me. I said this is 1987 not 1975. I said I need to be paid for this and I got paid just for showing up. They   didn't want to. They gave me a  check & said don't cash it for a couple of days and I went right to the bank.

OUTCOME: But that was about your physical appearance not your age.

GREG: Both

OUTCOME: Really, you think it was your age too?

GREG: Yeah, I don't look old but I'm not 20, thank God.

OUTCOME: Well it's not so much what you look like its a mental perception. Some people, as soon as they hear a certain age range the stereotypes kick in.  They refuse to acknowledge what you look like or your experiences or knowledge or any of the positives that you are that counteract the stereotype.

GREG: They knew who I was but forgot 12 years had lapsed by. They wanted a 18-20 year old & not an adult man who was muscular. I could tell by their vibes & how they looked at me funny.

OUTCOME: There's yet another difference between productions then & now. There used to be a mix of types & ages in films that gave it some depth. Now video outfits have a set formula of look alike types doing essentially the same script over & over.

GREG: There's this guy who's making a movie and he said he only wants older guys because there is a market for that.

OUTCOME: It's starting to be developed. You now have DADDY Magazine & BEAR Magazine creating photo sets & videos for an audience who has been left in the wilderness by the major outfits. We're thankfully beginning to revert back to the 60s & see variety and creative thinking. The business was without  doubt better when it was loads of little studios & photographers. The big outfits only wanted cash & got rid of the artistry and creativity.

GREG: I think the quality level is much better than when I started working. I started out with loops that were like home movies. People tend to be intimated by me now 'cause they think I'm this tough old hustler ex-porn star. I'm seeing somebody now who liked me for a year but thought I was this person that I wasn't. We're getting to knew each other now but he thought I was this butch old porno star. So it does interfere in meeting people or it has & can. Then I get a lot of fans, or people who I don't find attractive & offer me money...

OUTCOME: Yes but that's like what happens to film, TV & recording stars. It goes with the business.

GREG: Well I'm Edy Williams friend and manager & I work with the tabloids so I know the whole star thing. But the thing is I never wanted it to happen. Some people have a definite career goal, like Jeff Stryker. He wants to be in real movies & he's managed. He's been in INTERVIEW magazine, supposedly Lana T. has an interest in him. In fact he's supposed to have done some bit work in some Italian movies. I have a friend in the industry who say I could still get into commercials.

OUTCOME: Talent will out. Porn work didn't stop Cal Culver, Johnny Dawes or Johnny Harden from doing ads or motion picture parts.

GREG: My parents know about it. My Mom said I can't believe I raised you to be a porn star & a hustler. And I said Mom it just happens. In fact they still want me to do something with my life other than work for the tabloids & manage Edy Williams. They think I'm still hustling & making movies but I'm not at this time. It's cute.