Candida Royalle
Candida Royalle | |
---|---|
Brooklyn, New York | |
Died | September 7, 2015 Mattituck, New York, U.S. | (aged 64)
Other names | Candace Chambers, Candice Ball, Candice Chambers, Candida Royalle |
Height | 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) |
Website | candidaroyalle |
Candida Royalle (born Candice Marion Vadala; October 15, 1950 – September 7, 2015) was an American producer and director of couples-oriented pornography,
Early life and education
Royalle was born Candice Marion Vadala on October 15, 1950 to a working-class Catholic family in
Trained in music, dance and art in New York City, she studied at the High School of Art and Design, Parsons School of Design and the City College of New York.[7]
Career
After graduating from Parsons School of Design, she moved to California and began performing with the avant-garde theater group The Cockettes. In 1975, she played Divine's daughter in the play The Heartbreak of Psoriasis.[8][9][10]
In 1975, she began her career as a pornographic performer,
Royalle returned to New York in 1980.
Royalle stated that she tried to avoid "
She was featured in Maya Gallus's 1997 documentary film Erotica: A Journey Into Female Sexuality.[17]
Royalle wrote regular columns for adult magazines High Society and Cheri.[18] She was also a public speaker, giving lectures at Smithsonian Institution, the World Congress on Sexology, and numerous universities and professional conferences.[19]
In 2004, she authored the book How to Tell a Naked Man What to Do.[19]
A five-track EP titled Candida Cosmica, a collaboration between Royalle and Patrick Cowley from the mid-1970s, was released in October 2016 by Dark Entries Records.[20]
Affiliations
Royalle was a member of the
Personal life and death
In the 1980s, Royalle was married to producer Per Sjöstedt;[23] they separated in 1988.[13]: 78 In May 2006, she announced that she was engaged to be married.[24] She died in Mattituck, New York[19] on September 7, 2015, aged 64, from ovarian cancer.[7][25]
Legacy
In 2019, Candice, a documentary about Royalle's life and finding out what happened to her mother who left her as a child, was screened at various documentary film festivals.[26][27][28] It was directed by Sheona McDonald and distributed by Mbur Indie Film Distribution.[29]
Royalle is the subject of the book “Candida Royalle and the Sexual Revolution: A History From Below,” written by Jane Kamensky, a former historian at Harvard University. Kamensky describes Royalle's unique place in feminist history. “She is way too critical and self-critical for many of the sex-positive feminists... and she absolutely does not fit into an anti-pornography box," Kamensky told The New York Times.[6] Kamensky worked to put Royalle's archive, including her photos, letters, film clips, and other memorabilia, into the Schlesinger Library.[6]
Filmography
During her acting career (1975–1980), Royalle performed in 25 traditional male-centred porn films, including Ball Game (1980) by Ann Perry, Hot & Saucy Pizza Girls, Hot Racquettes, Delicious, Fascination by Chuck Vincent, and finally Blue Magic (1980), which Royalle also wrote and her then-new husband Per Sjöstedt produced.[13]: 71
By 2013, Royalle had (jointly) written or directed 18 feminist porn films with Femme Productions since 1984, including:[30][13]: 77–78
Candida Royalle's Femme Productions videos open like a perfume commercial, with a young woman running across a country field in a lacy white nightgown. "Finally, there's Femme," breathes the female announcer as the woman is caught and passionately kissed by a bare-chested man. "Erotic film star Candida Royalle dares to bring to the screen the fantasies that women have been dreaming about all these years." The scene cuts to two men caressing one woman, and to a couple biting a slippery piece of watermelon together. The announcer speaks tenderly. "Femme... it's only the beginning."
– Laura Jane Fraser, 1990[31]
- Femme (1984)
- Urban Heat (1984)
- Three Daughters (1986)
- Christine's Secret (1986)
- A Taste of Ambrosia (1987)
- Rites of Passion (1987)
- Sensual Escape (1988)
- Revelations (1993)
- My Surrender (1996)
- The Gift (1997)
- The Bridal Shower (1997)
- Erotica: A Journey Into Female Sexuality (1997)[32]
- One Size Fits All (1998)
- Eyes of Desire (1998)
- Eyes of Desire 2 (1999)
- Afrodite Superstar (2006)
- Under the Covers (2007)
References
- ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (March 11, 2024). "The Woman Who Tried to Make Porn Safe for Feminism - How the archive of Candida Royalle, a porn star turned pioneering director, landed at Harvard — and inspired a new book challenging the conventional history of the sexual revolution". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
- ^ "XRCO Hall of Fame". Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- ^ "AVN Hall of Fame". Adult Video News. Archived from the original on April 15, 2009. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- ^ Robets, Sam (September 11, 2015). "Candida Royalle, Who Made Erotic Films for Women, Dies at 64". New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
- ^ a b "Candida Royalle, 64, Dies; Filmed Erotica for Women (Published 2015)". September 11, 2015. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
- ^ a b c "The Woman Who Tried to Make Porn Safe for Feminism". March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
- ^ a b Vanmetre, Elizabeth (September 7, 2015). "Former porn star turned director Candida Royalle dies at age 64". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- ^ Stanley, John (February 21, 1988). "Film Maker Gives Erotica A Woman's Point of View". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
- ISBN 9780520291706. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
- ^ Eichelbaum, Stanley (June 20, 1975). "A musical comedy that's sheer agony". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
- ^ "Candida Royalle iafd bio". Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- ^ "Candida Royalle". Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- ^ OCLC 828140733.
- ^ "Discourses of Desire: Liberals, Feminists, and the Politics of Pornography in the 1980s -- Cameron 2 (4): 784 -- American Literary History". alh.oxfordjournals.org. Archived from the original on August 2, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2008.
- ^ illy Bragge, "Girls on top", The Age, June 16, 2004.
- ^ "15 Worst Pick Up Lines You've Ever Heard In Hindi - Enjoy The Rainny Romance". May 2019. Archived from the original on May 22, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
- ^ Janice Kennedy, "Exploring female sexuality: Documentary a revealing look at women's erotica". Ottawa Citizen, February 10, 1999.
- ^ Lyon, Jason. "New York Stories: The Adult Industry's Past ... and Present". Adult Video News. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- ^ a b c Kernes, Mark. "Famed Actress/Director Candida Royalle Passes". avn.com. Adult Video News. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- ^ Lefebvre, Sam (August 5, 2016). "Waking the Spirit of a Disco Innovator". The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
- ISBN 9781452270685.
- ISBN 9780446565233.
- ISBN 0520066529. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
Per Sjostedt candida.
- ^ Abby Ehmann (May 16, 2006). "Candida Royalle". Eros NY. Archived from the original on November 17, 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2007.
- ^ Celona, Larry (September 7, 2015). "Orphaned ex-porn star dies of cancer". New York Post. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- ^ Gee, Dana (April 26, 2019). "Godmother of feminist porn is focus of new doc Candice | Vancouver Sun". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ Shepherd, Jeremy (May 3, 2019). "Doc examines life of adult film star turned feminist icon". North Shore News. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ Lamble, David. "What's up, DocFest?". The Bay Area Reporter. The Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ "Mbur Indie Film Distribution". Retrieved November 18, 2020.
- ISBN 9781580053518. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
- ^ Fraser, Laura (February–March 1990). "Nasty Girls [The New Feminist Pornography]". Mother Jones. 15 (2): 32–35, 48–50. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
- ^ TCM (Turner Classic Movies): "Erotica: A Journey Into Female Sexuality" synopsis: TCM synopsis.
External links
- Candida Royalle's Website
- Candida Royalle at IMDb
- Candida Royalle at the Internet Adult Film Database
- Candida Royalle at the Adult Film Database
- Papers of Candida Royalle, 1920-2017. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.