The Sexuality and Spirituality of a Porn Priestess
By Graham Hill
Having already paid tribute to Georgina Spelvin and
Juliet Anderson, I now complete my Cinema Retro porn legends trilogy  by introducing you to another sexual superstar
from the “Golden Era†– Kay Taylor Parker.  Naturally, as you might expect, all three
ladies have moved on from those bygone days of love and lust on the big screen. And just as Georgina and Juliet are so different
and fascinating, so is Kay. In fact, Kay is completely different in that her status as a porn star is just one
of many lives that the now sixty-five year old beauty has experienced.I will
not attempt  to explain each and every
one of them, but I will acquaint you with her body and soul.
It may be a taboo subject for some, but Taboo (1980) is the movie that Kay Parker is best remembered for. You could say that she was one of the first
to launch the mature woman/ younger man trend that is so prevalent today. Once upon a time, before
X-rated movies became totally obsessed with Botoxed beauties sporting
store-bought breasts and pre-pubescent genitalia, the actresses in the industry
relied on their natural assets – including Kay, whose 38-DD bust line made her
an instant superstar in the X rated film business. Entering the adult scene at age 33, she
exuded not just maturity, but a sense of warmth and charm that elevated any scene
she was in. Kay was born in Birmingham,
England in 1944. The middle child of a typical
working class British family, with her father being a sailor in the Royal Navy,
she unfortunately didn’t have many fond childhood memories. She recalls her father being a harsh
disciplinarian who often accused her of “acting
up.â€Â To say that Kay is a believer in
re-incarnation and the metaphysical world is an understatement  for someone who believes she has lived 182
lives. She is totally and completely
convinced of having been born in Atlantis 48,000 years ago. For a better understanding, I refer you to
her book Taboo –Sacred Don’t Touch or
to her website.Kay is not your
usual porn-star profile, she’s very much her own person  and is extremely beautiful, highly intelligent
and ultra compassionate.
As someone who believes in destiny, Kay was introduced to the world of adult movies in 1977 through the legendary porn stud,  later turned director, John Leslie. San Francisco was the place where it was all
happening when it came to hard-core sex on film. The free love of the flower children of the
late 1960s had now seen the emergence of a small underground cottage industry
that was making love for the masses. Its
performers ran the spectrum of college kids, budding actors and those simply trying to pay the rent. Kay was
fortunate in that her first director was a talent named Samuel Weinstein who
went under the main alias of Anthony Spinelli (his brother was acclaimed
character actor Jack Weston.) Spinelli, like his brother, had appeared as an
actor in numerous 1960s TV shows and had side-lined into porn. Within  a short period, he  had gained a reputation as a good director and
someone who could put a beginner at ease.Â
He recognized right away that Kay had star potential and , in her first
adult film Sexworld, she proved it to
one and all.Â
Kay described Spinelli as the Alfred Hitchcock of the adult
film industry, even having a plump profile and witty personality like the Master
himself. Even though Kay had come to
California to make it as a “legit†actress, she was now “making it†with the
likes of porn stud Joey Silvera. In her
very first sex scene, the action got so intense that it resulted in Joey giving
Kay a chipped tooth. Unlike the “fast-food†style porn shoots of today, Sexworld, a raunchy spoof of Michael
Crichton’s Westworld, had a big
budget of $250,000. As was the practice
in those days, the sex scenes were shot not just for the hardcore theatrical
market, but also in a soft-core version for cable TV. Sometimes either by editing or re-shooting, a
softer soft-core version would be shot that resembled the standard R rating of  mainstream movies. The R rated version had full nudity, kissing
and caressing, with a lot of facial expressions and not much else. Â Having taken some acting classes, Kay wanted
to learn more about the profession she now found herself in. She appreciated the time given for rehearsals
-that’s right, in those days there were rehearsals allocated even for porn
movies. Directors like Spinelli, Gerard Damiano,
Henri Pachard (Ron Sullivan) and others took the  time to capture the eroticism and sensuality  of the moment, as well as the basic sex.
Kay Parker today
One of the things that has never changed in
the adult business is the low pay. When
Marilyn Chambers made her first adult film Behind
the Green Door (1972) for the notorious Mitchell brothers, they paid her
the unheard sum of $25,000. That’s more
money than Kay, Juliet Anderson and Georgina Spelvin saw in their whole adult
careers combined. Today there
are just a mere handful of porn stars making the big money, with most being terribly
exploited. With absolutely no benefits,
not even the protection of state workers rights, it is something that Kay has
long come to terms with and left behind. Kay believes that everything else that
has happened in her life has beenpre-determined,a journey for the soul of which she says, “Whether a person is a
believer in past lives or not, it cannot be denied that each soul has a journey
of growing and evolving. Each must
endure the tragedies, the dramas, pain and separation… eventually arriving on
the other side of those experiences, to hopefully appreciate and manifest the
wisdom in what they have learned, to move into gratitude, peace and ultimately,
bliss.â€Â
The one role that Kay was born (make that re-born) to
play, was that of the mother Barbara Scott in director Kirdy Stevens classic Taboo.Â
The sensual and erotic seduction of her teenage son played by Mike
Ranger, has become legendary in the annals of porn history. It would also somewhat typecast her for other
similar roles. What was also inspired
was the casting of Juliet Anderson as
Barbara’s friend Gena. The rapport and
comedic chemistry between the two, with Kay as the “straight man†to Juliet’s
comedienne, was even more evident in the sequel Taboo II (1982), with a sizzling scene on a massage table between
them and Kevin James. Kay’s colleagues in the business affectionately nicknamed
her  “Mother†–not just for this role,
but for her mature, motherly demeanor. The
name reflects her well-known passion for  people, the environment and human rights. When Kay entered the world of porn she was
empowered by a spirit that rebelled against the devout purity of a former life where
she believes she was a mother superior.Â
Since leaving the business, Kay has really put most memories of those years behind her.She feels it was just part of her journey -it
was something she had to experience to achieve awareness of the world around
her. Once in a while, a dedicated fan
will spot her on the street or in a store and she can handle that. On one occasion, her X-rated fame saved her
from getting a traffic ticket from an awestruck cop.Â
Kay Parker was more than just another
beautiful face with a body to match. She
was also a spokesperson for the adult industry through their trade group the
Free Speech Coalition. An engaging
speaker, Kay was sought out for TV talk shows, usually around the time when
stations were conscious of the “sweeps†rating periods, when they needed a sexy
personality and provocative topic to increase viewership.Kay, along with
fellow performers like Seka and Rich Pacheco, took on the usual opposition
groups to porn –the feminists and the Religious Right.It became the usual unresolved issue that
allowed the afternoon TV audience a brief, titillating “walk on the wild sideâ€
-and all before the kids get home from school. Kay and her colleagues would point out that the film
industry rationalizes it to be perfectly acceptable to show people beating and
killing each other without restraint, yet frowns on the images of other people
making love. The arguments put forward by Kay so many years ago are all the
more relevant today, as sex sells more than ever and seemingly every other
major marketing campaign relies on scantily clad actors engaged in almost
pornographic behavior. Just like
fast-food, the porn industry satisfies a need.Â
It’s just that society has always been in denial of that need, a point
which Kay, would so eloquently bring up to her opponents each time.Â
She graduated from acting in porn movies to
being an eloquent spokesperson for the industry, through her affiliation with
Caballero, the company that dominated X rated film production during the 1980s. Her talents for communicating and motivating
eventually lead Kay to become the New Age spiritual guide, mediator and metaphysical
counselor she is today. She offers hope
and inspiration to the individual and conveys the message that they can make a
difference with their lives.
As a porn star, Kay’s approximately twelve year career
saw her staring in some sixty movies including not only those mentioned, but Chorus Call (1979), The Young Like It Hot
(1983), I Want To Be Bad (1984) and Careful,
He May Be Watching (1987). She
worked with all the top names and always gave a good performance. Â Not just confined to the adult work, she also
had brief parts in Universal’s The Nude
Bomb (1980 as a nude double literally seen from behind and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982),
where she is depicted in a photograph.Â
Oddly enough, the day she spent on a Universal sound stage getting fitted
and made-up for that, was also the day she had to fly to San Francisco to
appear in the X-rated parody of that same film, otherwise known as Memphis Cathouse Blues (1982). Â For her adult work, Kay would be honored by
the Adult Video News (AVN) and the X-Rated Critics Organization. To her fans, Kay Parker will always be a
legend. They may not agree with or even
understand the woman she is today, but her fans are content to appreciate her regardless
of what life she currently inhabits.