Editing John Holmes (actor)

{{Short description|American pornographic actor (1944–1988)}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2016}}  
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = John Holmes
| image              = John Holmes pornographic actor.jpg{{!}}border
| caption            = Holmes in the 1980 film ''[[Prisoner of Paradise (1980 film)|Prisoner of Paradise]]''
| birth_name         = John Curtis Estes
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1944|8|8|mf=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Ashville, Ohio]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1988|3|13|1944|8|8|mf=y}}
| death_place        = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| occupation         = Pornographic film actor
| years_active       = 1967–1987
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Sharon Ann Gebenini|1965|1984|reason=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Misty Dawn|Laurie Rose]]|1987}}
}}
| alias              = John Duval, John Estes, Big John Fallus, Big John Holmes, John C. Holmes, John Curtis Holmes, Johnny Holmes, Bigg John, Big John, John Rey, Johnny Wadd, John Sacre, Long John Wadd, Johnny B. Wadd, Johnny the Wad, John C. Wadd, John E. Wadd, The [[Duke]] of Wadd, John Foot Long, [[Wadzilla]], King Wadd, The Human [[Tripod]], Wizard of Wadd, The [[Sultan]] of Smut, The Reverse Birth, The Sheriff of Grottingham, Eve's Burden<ref>Klingbine, Graham (September 28, 2016). ''What You Need to Know about Human Sex'' (paperback ed.). Troubador Publishing. {{ISBN|9781785893735}}.</ref>
}}

'''John Curtis Holmes''' ({{né}} '''Estes'''; August 8, 1944 – March 13, 1988), better known as '''John C. Holmes''' or '''Johnny Wadd''' (after the lead character he portrayed in a series of related films), was an American [[pornographic film]] actor. He ranks among the most prolific adult film performers, with documented credits for at least 573 films.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iafd.com/person.rme/perfid=JHolmes/gender=M/john-holmes.htm#perflist|title=Internet Adult Film Database|website=iafd.com|access-date=November 10, 2017|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112014854/https://www.iafd.com/person.rme/perfid=jholmes/gender=m/john-holmes.htm#perflist|url-status=live}}</ref>

Holmes was best known for his exceptionally large [[Human penis|penis]], which was heavily promoted for its length, hardness, thickness, and staying power. However no documented measurement of Holmes' actual penis length, girth, [[tumescence]], sexual stamina, or ejaculate volume has ever been confirmed.<ref name=wadd>{{cite AV media | people=Paley, Cass (Director) | date=September 9, 1999 | title=Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes | medium=Motion picture | location=Lebanon | publisher=Paley, Cass}}</ref>

Near the end of his life, Holmes attained notoriety for his reputed involvement in the [[Wonderland murders]] of July 1981 and eventually for his death from [[complication (medicine)|complications]] caused by [[AIDS]] in March 1988. He was the subject of several books, a lengthy essay in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' and two feature-length documentaries, and was the inspiration for two [[cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] movies (''[[Boogie Nights]]'' and ''[[Wonderland (2003 film)|Wonderland]]'').

== Early life ==
John Holmes was born John Curtis Estes on August 8, 1944, in the small rural town of [[Ashville, Ohio]], about {{convert|11|mi}} south of [[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]]. He was the youngest of four children born to 26-year-old Mary June ({{née}} Barton) Holmes, but the name of his father, railroad worker Carl Estes, was left blank on his birth certificate. Mary had married Edgar Harvey Holmes, who was the father of her three older children {{ndash}} Dale, Edward and Anne. She and Edgar were married and divorced three times, as is documented by wedding certificates dated April 13, 1936; August 13, 1945; and September 12, 1947.<ref>Marriage records for Mary Barton Holmes and Edgar Holmes as researched at Familysearch.org  [https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-FHK9-R Ohio County Marriages, 1789-2016, Franklin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202015317/https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-FHK9-R |date=February 2, 2016 }}, [https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-F8D8-K Ohio County Marriages, 1789-2016, Franklin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202005751/https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-F8D8-K |date=February 2, 2016 }} [https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-B19G-F7 Ohio County Marriages, 1789-2016, Packaway]{{registration required}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202013124/https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-B19G-F7 |date=February 2, 2016 }}</ref> At the time of their first marriage in 1936, Edgar was 35 years old and divorced, while Mary was aged 17.<ref name="Ohio marriage records">{{cite web|title=Ohio marriage records|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-B19G-F7|website=FamilySearch.org|access-date=August 9, 2015|archive-date=February 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202013124/https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-B19G-F7|url-status=live}}{{registration required}}</ref> After divorcing for the third and final time, Edgar and Mary each got married one more time.<ref>[https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-FH4R-X Ohio County Marriages, 1789-2016, Franklin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202011611/https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-FH4R-X |date=February 2, 2016 }}  [https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDMM-Y4X Mary J. Holmes]{{registration required}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218220805/https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDMM-Y4X |date=February 18, 2022 }}</ref>

Mary changed John's surname from Estes to Holmes when he was a child. In 1986, when Holmes applied for a [[passport]] for the first time prior to a trip to Italy, his mother reportedly provided him with the handwritten copy of his original birth certificate, which led Holmes to learn that his biological father was Carl Estes.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Holmes' mother was said to be a devout [[Southern Baptist Convention|Southern Baptist]] and with her children regularly attended church in [[Millport, Pickaway County, Ohio|Millport, Ohio]]. By contrast, his stepfather Edgar was an [[alcoholism|alcoholic]] who would come home inebriated, stumble about the house and even vomit on the children. As a child, Holmes enjoyed a reprieve from his turbulent home life when he visited his maternal grandparents, John W. and Bessie (née Gillenwater) Barton.<ref name="Ohio marriage records"/> Mary divorced Edgar when Holmes was a toddler and moved with her children to Columbus, where they lived in a low-income [[housing project]] with a friend of Mary's and her own two children. The two women worked as clerks and waitresses in order to support their children.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

On December 31, 1951, when Holmes was aged 7, his mother married Harold Bowman. Shortly afterward, Holmes and his family moved to the small town of [[Pataskala, Ohio]], about seventeen miles east of Columbus. Holmes recalled that Bowman was a good father until his younger half-brother David was born, at which point Bowman reportedly lost interest in his stepchildren and began [[child neglect|neglecting]] them.<ref name=amerson>{{cite news|title=Bill Amerson interview |work=Wadd: The Life and Times of John C. Holmes|date=1998}}</ref><ref name=wadd/>

In 1960, Holmes left home at age 15 and enlisted in the [[United States Army]], with his mother's written permission. He spent most of the three years of his military service in [[West Germany]] in the [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|Signal Corps]].<ref name=wadd/> Upon his [[Military discharge|honorable discharge]] in 1963, Holmes moved to [[Los Angeles]], California, where he worked in a variety of jobs, including selling goods [[door-to-door]] and tending the vats at a [[Pearson Candy Company, Inc.#Signature product: Pearson Coffee Nip|Coffee Nips]] factory. During his stint as an ambulance driver, Holmes met a nurse named Sharon Gebenini in December 1964. They married on August 21, 1965, in [[Fort Ord, California]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&query=+givenname:John~++surname:holmes~++spouse_givenname:Sharon~++spouse_surname:Gebenini~|title=FamilySearch|website=www.familysearch.org|access-date=October 3, 2018|archive-date=February 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218222618/https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&query=+givenname:John~++surname:holmes~++spouse_givenname:Sharon~++spouse_surname:Gebenini~|url-status=live}}{{registration required}}</ref> after Holmes turned 21.<ref name="scary">{{cite book|last=Sager|first=Mike|title=Scary Monsters and Super Freaks: Stories of Sex, Drugs, Rock 'N' Roll and Murder|publisher=Da Capo Press|year=2003|page=[https://archive.org/details/scarymonsterssup00sage/page/10 10]|isbn=978-1-56025-563-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/scarymonsterssup00sage/page/10}}</ref>

In April 1965, Holmes found work as a [[forklift]] driver at a [[meat packing industry|meatpacking]] warehouse in [[Cudahy, California|Cudahy]]. However, repeated exposure to the freezing air in the large walk-in freezer after being outside inhaling the desert-hot air caused him severe health problems, leading to a [[pneumothorax|collapsed lung]] on three separate occasions during the two years he worked there.<ref name=scary/> Sharon also had health problems, as during the first seventeen months of her marriage to Holmes, she [[Miscarriage|miscarried]] three times.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book|title=John Holmes, a Life Measured in Inches|last1=Sugar |first1=Jennifer |last2=Nelson |first2=Jill C. |date= 2008}}</ref>

== Career ==
=== Film career ===
{{blockquote|John Holmes was to the adult film industry what [[Elvis Presley]] was to [[rock and roll|rock 'n' roll]]. He simply was The King.|[[Cinematography|Cinematographer]] [[Bob Vosse]] in the documentary ''[[Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes]]''.}}

Holmes began his pornographic movie career in the late 1960s while he was unemployed and recovering from his [[pneumothorax|collapsed lung]]. He frequented a men's card playing club in [[Gardena, California|Gardena]] where on one evening, he allegedly met a photographer while standing next to him at a restroom [[urinal]] who gave Holmes his [[business card]], telling him that he could find work in the underground [[adult film]] business. From 1969, Holmes did nude modeling for underground adult magazines as well as occasional [[stag film]]s.

In 1971, Holmes' career began to take off with an adult film series built around a [[private investigator]] named Johnny Wadd, written and directed by [[Bob Chinn (film director)|Bob Chinn]]. The success of the film ''Johnny Wadd'' created an immediate demand for follow-ups, so Chinn followed up the same year with ''Flesh of the Lotus.'' Most of the subsequent Johnny Wadd films were written and directed by Chinn and produced by the Los Angeles-based company Freeway Films.

With the success of ''[[Deep Throat (film)|Deep Throat]]'' (1972), ''[[Behind the Green Door]]'' (1972) and ''[[The Devil in Miss Jones]]'' (1973), [[porn chic|porn became chic]] even though its legality was still hotly contested. Holmes was arrested during this time for [[Procuring (prostitution)|pimping and pandering]], but he avoided prison time by reputedly becoming an informant for the [[Los Angeles Police Department]] (LAPD).<ref name="library">{{cite web |title=John Holmes and the Wonderland Murders: Wadd the Informer |url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/celebrity/john_holmes/3.html |publisher=crimelibrary.com |access-date=May 20, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417013100/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/celebrity/john_holmes/3.html |archive-date=April 17, 2008  }}</ref> Holmes' "handler" during his time as an informant was LAPD vice detective Thomas Blake. Of his involvement with Holmes, Blake said, "It was a pleasure working for him."<ref>Interview segment with Detective Blake in the documentary, Wadd:The Life and Times of John C. Holmes, 1998</ref>

By the late 1970s, Holmes was reputed to be earning as much as $3,000 per day as a porn performer.<ref name=amerson/><ref name=library/> Around this time, his consumption of [[cocaine]] and [[freebasing]] were becoming an increasingly serious problem. Professionally, it affected his [[Impotence|ability to maintain an erection]]. To support himself and his drug habit, Holmes ventured into crime, selling drugs for gangs, prostituting himself to both men and women, as well as committing [[credit card fraud]] and various acts of [[petty theft]]. In 1976, Holmes met 15-year-old Dawn Schiller, whom Schiller later claimed he [[Child grooming|groomed]], abused and forced into prostitution to support his drug habit.<ref>{{cite news|title=Holmes' Confession in Bathtub: Told Wife of Role in 4 Murders|date=April 14, 1988|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|author=Robert W. Steward|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-14-me-1912-story.html|access-date=September 21, 2015|archive-date=March 12, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140312035115/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-04-14/local/me-1912_1_sharon-holmes|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Devil in John Holmes|url=http://longform.org/stories/the-devil-and-john-holmes|author=Sager, Mike|work=Rolling Stne|date=May 1989|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150917214413/http://longform.org/stories/the-devil-and-john-holmes|archive-date=September 17, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=MacDonell, Allen|title=In Too Deep|work=Los Angeles Weekly|url=http://www.laweekly.com/news/in-too-deep-2137087|date=October 2, 2003|access-date=September 21, 2015|archive-date=November 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103015233/https://www.laweekly.com/news/in-too-deep-2137087|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Number and gender of partners ===
In the 1981 biographical feature documentary ''Exhausted: John C. Holmes, The Real Story'', from director and Holmes confidante Julia St. Vincent, Holmes stated during an interview segment that he had had intercourse with over 14,000 women.<ref name=library/> The number had in fact been invented by Holmes on the spur of the moment to help salvage his waning image.<ref name=amerson/> The true number of women and men with whom Holmes had sex during his career would never be known. After his death, his ex-wife Sharon came across a [[Footlocker (luggage)|footlocker]], plated in 24k [[gold leaf]], which contained photographic references to Holmes' "private work" and which she burned.<ref name="autogenerated1998">{{cite book|title=''Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes''|date=1998|edition= Director's Cut|title-link=Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes}}</ref> Holmes' performances included at least one [[homosexuality|homosexual]] feature film, ''The Private Pleasures of John C. Holmes'' which was filmed in 1983.<ref name="crimelibrary.com">{{cite web |title=John Holmes and the Wonderland Murders: AIDS and Misty Dawn |url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/celebrity/john_holmes/11.html |publisher=crimelibrary.com |access-date=May 20, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024195434/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/celebrity/john_holmes/11.html |archive-date=October 24, 2007  }}</ref>

=== Drugs and the Wonderland murders ===
{{Further|Wonderland murders}}
In late 1980, a mutual friend introduced Holmes to Chris Coxx, who owned the Odyssey nightclub. In turn, Coxx introduced Holmes to [[Eddie Nash]], a drug dealer who owned several nightclubs, including the [[Starwood (nightclub)|Starwood]] in [[West Hollywood, California|West Hollywood]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.angelfire.com/mb/peejay/kingdong4.html|title=King Dong|page=4|access-date=September 20, 2015|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305134704/http://www.angelfire.com/mb/peejay/kingdong4.html|url-status=live}}</ref> At the same time, Holmes was closely associated with the [[Wonderland Gang]], a group of [[heroin]]-addicted cocaine dealers, so called for the [[rowhouse]] located on Wonderland Avenue in the [[Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles|Laurel Canyon]] neighborhood of Los Angeles, out of which they operated. Holmes frequently sold drugs for the gang. Gang members included [[Ron Launius|Ronnie Lee Launius]], [[David Clay Lind]] and their "[[Wheelman (driver)|wheelman]]" [[Tracy McCourt]].{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

After using more than his share of the Wonderland Gang's drugs,<ref name="In Too Deep">{{cite magazine|title=In Too Deep|magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> Holmes found himself falling out of their favor. In June 1981, he told Launius and Lind about a large stash of drugs, money and jewelry Nash had in his house. Holmes helped to set up a [[Gregory Diles|home invasion and armed robbery]] committed on the morning of June 29. Although Holmes was not present during the robbery, Nash apparently suspected he had a part in it. After [[Forced confession|forcing Holmes to confess to his participation]] and threatening his life and those of his family, Nash dispatched [[Mob enforcer|enforcers]], accompanied by Holmes, to exact revenge against the Wonderland Gang.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

In the early hours of July 1, 1981, four of the gang's members were found murdered and a fifth severely beaten in the Wonderland Avenue rowhouse. Holmes was allegedly present during the murders and left a palm print (not "bloody" as Los Angeles media outlets covering the story erroneously reported) over one victim's [[Headboard (furniture)|headboard]], but it is unclear whether he participated in the killings. Holmes was questioned but was released due to lack of evidence; he refused to cooperate with the investigation. After spending nearly five months on the run with Schiller, Holmes was arrested in [[Florida]] on December 4, 1981, by former LAPD homicide detectives Frank Tomlinson and Tom Lange (the latter of whom later gained fame for his role in the [[O. J. Simpson murder case]]). Holmes was [[extradition|extradited]] to Los Angeles, and in March 1982 was charged with personally committing all four murders. After a three-week trial, Holmes was [[acquittal|acquitted]] on all charges except committing [[contempt of court]] on June 26, 1982.<ref>{{cite web |last=Scheeres |first=Julia |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/celebrity/john_holmes/10.html |title=Miami — The Wonderland Murders — Crime Library |publisher=Trutv.com |access-date=March 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103184736/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/celebrity/john_holmes/10.html |archive-date=January 3, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The murder trial was a landmark in the history of American trial procedure, as it was the first in which [[videotape]] was introduced as evidence.<ref>"Wadd: The Life and Times of John C. Holmes", statement made by his lawyer, Earl Hanson.</ref>

== Penis size ==
Holmes' signature asset in the adult film business was his exceptionally large [[Human penis|penis]]. No definitive measurement or documentation verifying his [[penis]]' length or girth exists, leaving its exact size unknown. Holmes was [[foreskin|uncircumcised]].

{{blockquote|"When an actress did her first scene with John Holmes, this was the moment where she learned if bigger was better or not. There was no other test."| Actor/raconteur [[Richard Pacheco]] in the documentary ''Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes''.}}

Veteran porn actress [[Seka (actress)|Dorothiea "Seka" Patton]] has said that Holmes' [[penis]] was the biggest in the industry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fullonclothing.com/seka.html|title=Seka Interview|publisher=fullonclothing.com}}</ref> In the documentary film ''Exhausted'', she described [[oral sex]] with Holmes as similar to [[fellatio|fellating]] a [[Utility pole|telephone pole]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whoisjohnholmes.com/popular-culture|title=Exhausted: John C. Holmes, the Real Story|publisher=whoisjohnholmes.com|access-date=March 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327080213/http://www.whoisjohnholmes.com/popular-culture/|archive-date=March 27, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Holmes' first wife recalled his claiming to be {{convert|10|in|cm|1}} when he first measured himself in her presence.<ref name=resm>{{cite web|title=Biography of John Holmes|url=http://www.johnholmes.com/|work=JohnHolmes.com|access-date=March 19, 2017|archive-date=August 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822053036/http://www.johnholmes.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> On another occasion, Holmes claimed his [[penis]] was {{convert|16|in|cm|1}} long and {{convert|13|in|cm|1}} in [[circumference]].<ref name=resm/> Holmes' long-time friend and industry associate, Bill Amerson, said, "I saw John measure himself several times; it was thirteen-and-a-half inches [34.3&nbsp;cm]. The [[Glans penis|head]] was the size of an apple."<ref name=amerson/> In contrast, medical studies of human [[penis]] size have consistently found erections average between about five and six inches,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Wylie | first1 = K. | last2 = Eardley | first2 = I. | year = 2007 | title = Penile size and the 'small penis syndrome' | journal = BJU International | volume = 99 | issue = 6| pages = 1449–1455 | doi = 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2007.06806.x | pmid = 17355371 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1-link=Hunter Wessells| last1 = Wessells | first1 = H | last2 = Lue | first2 = TF | last3 = McAninch | first3 = JW | year = 1996 | title = Penile length in the flaccid and erect states: guidelines for penile augmentation | journal = The Journal of Urology | volume = 156 | issue = 3| pages = 995–7 | doi = 10.1016/S0022-5347(01)65682-9 | pmid = 8709382 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Chen | first1 = J. | last2 = Gefen | first2 = A. | last3 = Greenstein | first3 = A. | last4 = Matzkin | first4 = H. | last5 = Elad | first5 = D. | year = 2000 | title = Predicting penile size during erection | journal = International Journal of Impotence Research | volume = 12 | issue = 6| pages = 328–333 | doi = 10.1038/sj.ijir.3900627 | pmid = 11416836 | doi-access = free }}</ref> with fewer than 0.2% of penises {{convert|9.5|in|cm}} or more.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sparling |first1=Joseph |title=Penile erections: Shape, angle, and length |journal=Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy |date=1997 |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=195–207 |doi=10.1080/00926239708403924|pmid=9292834 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|"We're talking about a [[penis|dick]] from my elbow down" (gesturing to his outstretched arm)| Adult industry historian [[Bill Margold]] in the documentary ''Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes''.}}

So celebrated was the size of Holmes' [[penis]] that it was used as a promotional tool for films in which he did not even appear. The film ''Anyone But My Husband'' ran a promotional tag line of: "Tony 'The Hook' Perez has a [[penis|dick]] so big he gives John Holmes a run for his money."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.johnholmes.com/|title=johnholmes.com|website=www.johnholmes.com|access-date=November 30, 2011|archive-date=August 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822053036/http://www.johnholmes.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> At the height of his career, Holmes had his [[penis]] insured by [[Lloyd's of London]] for [[United States dollar|US$]]14 million. Holmes reveled in claiming he was insured "for $1 million an inch".<ref>{{cite news|title=All Tied up in Knots (Interview with John C. Holmes)|work=Penthouse Magazine|date= July 1976}}</ref>

{{blockquote|"To think that he walked among us with that massive tool, like a dinosaur with that thump, thump, thump! But it wasn't his feet hitting the floor. It was his [[testicle|balls]] hitting the floor, it was his [[penis|DICK]] hitting the floor!"| Adult industry publisher and commentator [[Al Goldstein]] in the documentary ''Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes''.}}

Another controversy was regarding whether Holmes ever achieved a full [[erection]], although much of his early work clearly revealed he was able to achieve a substantial [[erection]]. A popular joke in the 1970s porn industry held that Holmes was incapable of achieving a full erection because the blood flow from his head into his [[penis]] would cause him to [[Syncope (medicine)|pass out]].<ref name=haven/> Fellow film actress [[Annette Haven]] stated that his [[penis]] was never particularly hard during intercourse, likening it to "doing it with a big, soft kind-of [[loofah]]".<ref name=haven>{{cite news|title= Annette Haven interview |work=Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes|date=1998}}</ref>

{{blockquote|{{" '}}How big is it?' My fans would scream. 'Bigger than a [[payphone]], smaller than a [[Cadillac]]' was my reply."| Actor John C. Holmes in his posthumously-released autobiography, ''Porn King''.}}

After Holmes' death, the length of his [[penis]] continued to be used to market Holmes-related material. For example, at the premiere of the film ''[[Wonderland (2003 film)|Wonderland]]'' (2003), patrons were given 13{{frac|1|2}}-inch rulers as [[gag gift]]s.<ref name=wond>{{cite web |url=http://www.franksreelreviews.com/shorttakes/wonderlandmurders.htm |title=John Holmes and the Wonderland Murders |publisher=Franksreelreviews.com |access-date=March 13, 2014 |archive-date=March 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311103150/http://www.franksreelreviews.com/shorttakes/wonderlandmurders.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> When Los Angeles-based S&M Bikes debuted its first extra-long bicycle frame for BMX racing in 1989, the new model was dubbed the "Holmes" as a tribute to the actor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.23mag.com/com/sm/sm.htm |title=23Mag BMX |access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
On August 22, 1965, Holmes married a young nurse named Sharon Ann Gebenini at Fort Ord, California.<ref name=scary/> Their divorce was finalized on October 19, 1984.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPGV-NX4|title=FamilySearch|website=www.familysearch.org|access-date=November 27, 2019|archive-date=February 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218233759/https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPGV-NX4|url-status=live}}</ref> She died on October 28, 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=FamilySearch.org|url=https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KWNB-1ZB/sharon-ann-gebenini-1943-2012|access-date=2021-08-05|website=ancestors.familysearch.org|archive-date=August 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805134630/https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KWNB-1ZB/sharon-ann-gebenini-1943-2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1975, Holmes met Julia St. Vincent on the set of his film, ''Liquid Lips'', which was being produced by her uncle Armand Atamian. Holmes and St. Vincent remained close until the Wonderland murders in 1981. St. Vincent produced the [[Ersatz good|ersatz]] biographical film of Holmes' life, ''Exhausted'' (1981).<ref>''[[Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes]]'' (1998)</ref>

In 1976, Holmes started grooming and sexually abusing a 15 year old girl, Dawn Schiller.<ref>{{cite book|title=Throwaway Teens|author=Schiller, Dawn|date=January 6, 2015 | publisher=APB Speakers |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6zDe-Ke344| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/Y6zDe-Ke344| archive-date=2021-10-30}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Holmes got Dawn addicted to drugs, [[physical abuse|physically]] and [[sexual abuse|sexually abused]] her and trafficked her out to support his own drug addiction. In her memoir, ''The Road Through Wonderland: Surviving John Holmes'' (2009), Schiller also made the assertion that she and her sister Terry believed Holmes was a [[voyeur]] who looked through their [[bungalow]] windows in [[Glendale, California|Glendale]], as well as strangers' hotel windows at the [[Biltmore hotels|Biltmore]] in [[Palm Springs]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Schiller, Dawn|title=The Road Through Wonderland: Surviving John Holmes|publisher=Medallion Press|date=2010}}</ref>

In 1982, Holmes met his second wife [[Misty Dawn|Laurie Rose]]; they married in January 1987,<ref name="John Holmes 1989"/> which made Holmes stepfather to Rose's young son.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sugar |first1=Jennifer |last2=Nelson |first2=Jill C. |url=http://www.johnholmesinches.com/ |title=John Holmes, A Life Measured in Inches |publisher=BearManor Media |isbn=978-1-59393-302-9 |date=2008 |access-date=February 23, 2011 |archive-date=February 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224064153/http://www.johnholmesinches.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Later life and death ==
===Relationships===
After his release from [[Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department|Los Angeles County Jail]] for contempt of court in November 1982, Holmes quickly resumed his film career with a new generation of porn stars. His drug addiction continued off-and-on, and although work was still plentiful, it was no longer as lucrative as it had been with the advent of cheaply made videotapes that saturated the porn market. Most of the adult films and videos he made during the 1980s were little more than [[cameo appearances]].

In February 1986, five or six months after initially testing negative, Holmes was diagnosed as [[HIV]]-positive. According to his second wife, Holmes claimed that he never used [[hypodermic needle]]s and that [[fear of needles|he was deathly afraid of them]]. Both his first wife and friend [[Bill Amerson]] separately confirmed later that Holmes could not have contracted HIV from intravenous drug use as he never used needles.<ref name=amerson/>

During the summer of 1986, Holmes was offered a lucrative deal from Paradise Visuals, who were unaware he was HIV-positive, to travel to Italy to film what were to be his last two pornographic films. Holmes' penultimate film was ''The Rise of the Roman Empress'' (originally released in Italy as ''Carne bollente'') for director [[Riccardo Schicchi]]. The film starred Holmes, the later [[Italian Parliament]] member [[Ilona Staller|Ilona "Cicciolina" Staller]], [[Tracey Adams]], [[Christoph Clark]] and [[Amber Lynn]].<ref name="book2">{{cite book | title=Huge | publisher=STARbooks Press | author=John Patrick | year=2008 | page=[https://archive.org/details/hugeeverymansenv0000unse/page/13 13] | isbn=978-1-934187-29-6 | url=https://archive.org/details/hugeeverymansenv0000unse/page/13 }}</ref> His final film was ''The Devil In Mr. Holmes'', starring Adams, Lynn, [[Karin Schubert]] and [[Marina Hedman]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.xbiz.com/news/news_piece.php?id=86797 |title=Paradise Visuals Inks Distribution Deal With Anabolic |access-date=April 11, 2009 |author=Steve Javors |date=November 21, 2007 |publisher=XBIZ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709100516/http://www.xbiz.com/news/news_piece.php?id=86797 |archive-date=July 9, 2009 }}</ref> These last films created a furor when it was revealed later that Holmes had deliberately concealed his HIV status to his co-stars before engaging in unprotected sex for the production.<ref name="book2"/><ref name=nyt>{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=940CE0DF1F3AF931A25752C0A9679C8B63 |title=WADD: The Life and Times of John C. Holmes |first=Stephen |last=Holden |date=January 12, 2001 |newspaper=NY Times |access-date=February 9, 2017 |archive-date=October 8, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008030754/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=940CE0DF1F3AF931A25752C0A9679C8B63 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Caligula and the fight for artistic freedom: the making, marketing and impact of the Bob Guccione film | publisher=McFarland & Company | author=William Hawes | year=2009 | page=203 | isbn=978-0-7864-3986-7}}</ref><ref name="El Mundo">{{cite news | url=http://www.elmundo.es/magazine/2004/242/1084286415.html | title=La mala vida del rey del porno (Spanish) | work=El Mundo | access-date=September 4, 2011 | location=May 16, 2004 | archive-date=February 13, 2013 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130213052113/http://www.elmundo.es/magazine/2004/242/1084286415.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Not wanting to reveal the true nature of his failing health, Holmes claimed to the press that he was suffering from [[colorectal cancer|colon cancer]].<ref name="In Too Deep"/>

Holmes married Laurie Rose on January 23, 1987, in [[Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]], after confiding to her that he had [[AIDS]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Basten|first=Fred |author2=Laurie Holmes |author3=John C. Holmes|title=Porn King: The John Holmes Story|year=1998|publisher=John Holmes Inc.|isbn=978-1-880047-69-9}}</ref> During the last five months of his life, from November 1987 to March 1988, Holmes received treatment and stayed at the [[Veterans Administration|VA hospital]] on Plummer Street in [[North Hills, Los Angeles|Sepulveda]]. On March 13, 1988, at age 43, Holmes died from AIDS-related complications, which, per his death certificate, were described as [[Cardiac arrest|cardiorespiratory arrest]] and [[encephalitis]] due to AIDS, associated with [[lymphadenopathy]] and [[esophageal candidiasis]].<ref name="crimelibrary.com" /> Holmes' body was [[cremation|cremated]], and his widow Laurie and mother Mary scattered his ashes at sea off the coast of [[Oxnard, California]].<ref>{{cite book |last=McNeil |first=Legs |author2=Jennifer Osbourne |author3=Peter Pavia |title=The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film|url=https://archive.org/details/otherhollywood00mcne |url-access=limited |publisher=HarperCollins|year=2005|page=[https://archive.org/details/otherhollywood00mcne/page/n467 451]|isbn=978-0-06-009659-5}}</ref>

=== Hobbies ===
During his free time, Holmes enjoyed clay [[sculpting]], [[woodworking]] and outdoor activities such as visiting beaches, camping, fishing and hiking.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="Schiller, Dawn 2009">{{cite book |author=Schiller, Dawn |title=The Road Through Wonderland: Surviving John Holmes |date=2009 |publisher=Medallion Press |asin=B00CNWM7FE}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://wonderland1981.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/dawn-sharon-talk-about-john-holmes-abuse/|title=John Holmes' Boogie Life|date=September 7, 2003|author=Kennedy, Dana|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 20, 2015|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923185557/https://wonderland1981.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/dawn-sharon-talk-about-john-holmes-abuse/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Business activities and endeavors ==
In 1979, along with his younger half-brother David Bowman, Holmes opened a Los Angeles [[Locksmithing|locksmith]] shop managed by Bowman and an attached used goods store called The Just Looking Emporium, named by Gebinini and managed by Schiller. However, because of Holmes' escalating drug addiction, which distracted him from buying inventory for the Emporium and siphoned its [[working capital]], the Emporium "close[d] its doors forever by the end of September 1980".<ref name="John Holmes 1989"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Schiller, Dawn|title=The Road Through Wonderland}}</ref> According to Schiller, "David [kept] his part of the business open while John remove[d] our inventory and [sold] it all for coke."<ref>{{cite book|author=Schiller, Dawn|title=The Road Through Wonderland}} Chapter 11.</ref>

Later, after Holmes' acquittal, he and Amerson founded and operated Penguin Productions, where Holmes could be a [[Triple threat (entertainer)|triple-threat]]: writing, directing and performing.<ref name="John Holmes 1989">{{cite magazine|title=The Devil in John Holmes|magazine=Rolling Stone|author=Sager, Mike|url=http://longform.org/stories/the-devil-and-john-holmes|date=May 1989|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150917214413/http://longform.org/stories/the-devil-and-john-holmes|archive-date=September 17, 2015}}</ref> Holmes appeared in seven of Penguin's twenty productions between 1985 and 1988. After requesting permission to use the name "Johnny Wadd" from his old director and friend Bob Chinn, Holmes reprised the role for Penguin's ''The Return of Johnny Wadd'' (1986) – one of his last films.

== Holmes mythology ==
Holmes' career was promoted with a series of claims that he made over the years (many made up on the spur of the moment by Holmes himself). The most dubious ones include:
* Holmes had degrees in [[physical therapy]], [[medicine]], and [[political science]] from [[UCLA]].<ref>{{cite web|title=John Holmes and the Wonderland Murders: 12.5 Inches|url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/celebrity/john_holmes/2.html|publisher=crimelibrary.com|access-date=May 20, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411161323/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/celebrity/john_holmes/2.html|archive-date=April 11, 2008}}</ref> Holmes was in fact a high school dropout who never returned to school and, according to Bill Amerson, "the closest John ever got to UCLA was breaking into cars in the school's parking lot".<ref name=amerson/>
* Holmes' [[Human penis|penis]] was so big that he had to stop wearing underwear because: "I was getting [[erections]] and snapping the elastic waist band four or five times a month".<ref>{{cite book|chapter=John Holmes interview |title=Exhausted}}</ref>
* During the filming of a gay feature film, Holmes inadvertently killed two male performers and was tried for [[manslaughter]]. The judge in the case sentenced Holmes to abstain from performing [[sodomy|anal sex]] in any future films. However, this is likely an [[urban myth]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Wadds Up? John Holmes Fact and Fiction|work= Man to Man Magazine|date= January 12, 1974}}</ref>
* Holmes and [[Ken Osmond]], who played [[Eddie Haskell]] in the TV series ''[[Leave It to Beaver]]'', were the same person. In reality, the two men simply shared a passing resemblance.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Stengel|first=Richard|title=When Eden Was in Suburbia |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,925676-2,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512022433/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,925676-2,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 12, 2009|date=August 9, 1982|magazine=TIME|access-date=May 20, 2008}}</ref>

== Filmography ==
'''Productions in the ''Johnny Wadd'' series:'''

* ''Johnny Wadd'' (1971)
* ''Flesh of the Lotus'' (1971, credited as John Duval)
* ''The Blonde in Black Lace'' (1972, credited as John Duval)
* ''Tropic of Passion'' (1973)
* ''The Danish Connection'' (1974)
* ''Around the World with Johnny Wadd'' (1975)
* ''Here Comes Johnny Wadd'' (1975)
* ''Liquid Lips'' (1976)
* ''Tell Them Johnny Wadd is Here'' (1976)
* ''Tapestry of Passion'' (1976)
* ''[[The Jade Pussycat]]'' (1977)
* ''The China Cat'' (1978)
* ''Blonde Fire'' (1978)
* ''The Return of Johnny Wadd'' (1986)

'''Other significant performances:'''

* ''[[Zodiac Rapist]]'' (1971)
* ''Confessions of a Teenage Peanut Butter Freak'' (1975)
* ''Cream Rinse'' (1976)
* ''[[Fantasm Comes Again]]'' (1977)
* ''[[Dracula Sucks]]'' (1978)
* ''Summertime Blue'' (1978)
* ''California Gigolo'' (1979)
* ''[[Insatiable (film)|Insatiable]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Prisoner of Paradise (1980 film)|Prisoner of Paradise]]'' (1980)
* ''Deep Thoughts'' (1980)
* ''Up n Coming'' (1983)
* ''The Private Pleasures of John C. Holmes'' (1983)
* ''Young & Hung'' (1985)
* ''The Good, the Bad, and the Horny'' (1985)
* ''Looking for Mr. Goodsex'' (1985)
* ''Puss O Rama'' (1986)
* ''Saturday Night Beaver'' (1986)

== Awards ==
* February 14, 1985 – First inductee into the X-Rated Critic's Organization ([[XRCO]]) Hall of Fame
* 2008 [[XBIZ Award]] – Lifetime Achievement – Male Performer<ref name=xbizwinners>{{cite web|url=http://www.xbizawards.com/winners.php|title=Winners|website=[[XBIZ]] Awards|date=February 2011|access-date=June 14, 2011|archive-date=July 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120727100927/http://xbizawards.xbiz.com/winners.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Biographies ==
=== Print ===
* {{cite book|author=Holmes, John C.|title=Porn King: Autobiography of John C. Holmes|date=1998}} (out of print)
** {{cite book|last1=Holmes |first1=John C. |last2=Holmes |first2=Laurie|title=Porn King: Autobiography of John C. Holmes|date=2012|edition= Revised with added material and photos |publisher=Bear Manor Media|isbn= 978-1-59393-685-3}}
* {{cite magazine|author=Sager, Mike|author-link=Mike Sager|title=The Devil and John Holmes|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=June 15, 1989|url=http://longform.org/stories/the-devil-and-john-holmes|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150917214413/http://longform.org/stories/the-devil-and-john-holmes|archive-date=September 17, 2015}}; reprinted in ''Scary Monsters and Super Freaks'' (2004).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://mikesager.com/pdf/Devil_and_John_Holmes.pdf |work=Scary Monsters and Super Freaks |date=1989 |title=The Devil and John Holmes |author=Sager, Mike |author-link=Mike Sager |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041024092524/http://mikesager.com/pdf/Devil_and_John_Holmes.pdf |archive-date=October 24, 2004 }}</ref>
* {{cite book|last1=Sugar |first1=Jennifer |last2=Nelson |first2=Jill C.|url=http://www.johnholmesinches.com |title=John Holmes, A Life Measured in Inches|publisher= BearManor Media|isbn=978-1-59393-302-9|date=2008 }}; updated 2nd edition (2011; {{ISBN|978-1-59393-674-7}})

=== Documentaries ===
* ''Exhausted: John C. Holmes, the Real Story'' (1981)<ref>{{cite web|website=dvdmg.com|title=Review of ''Exhausted: John C. Holmes, the Real Story''|date=1981|url=http://www.dvdmg.com/exhausted.shtml|edition=Excite DVD|author=Jacobson, Colin (Reviewer)|access-date=August 17, 2016|archive-date=October 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007171733/http://www.dvdmg.com/exhausted.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''Wadd: The Life and Times of John C. Holmes'' (1999)<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|title=Wadd: The Life and Times of John C. Holmes|date=1999|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wadd_the_life_and_times_of_john_c_holmes/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011061105/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wadd_the_life_and_times_of_john_c_holmes/|archive-date=October 11, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/33/wadd.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729103857/http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/33/wadd.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 29, 2012 |title=Discussion of ''Wadd: The Life and Times of John C. Holmes'' |author=Morris, Gary |website=BrightLightsFilm.com |date=2001 }}</ref>
* ''XXXL: The John Holmes Story'' (2000; also known as ''The Real Dirk Diggler: The John Holmes Story'')<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|date=2000|title=XXXL: The John Holmes Story|author=Hills, David (Director)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/xxxl-the-john-holmes-story|access-date=August 17, 2016|archive-date=October 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011061325/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/xxxl-the-john-holmes-story|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''John Holmes: The Man, the Myth, the Legend'' (2004)<ref>{{cite book|title=John Holmes: The Man, the Myth, the Legend|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/john_holmes_the_man_the_myth_the_legend|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|date=2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011054034/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/john_holmes_the_man_the_myth_the_legend|archive-date=October 11, 2016}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Erotica and pornography|Biography}}
* [[Golden Age of Porn]]
{{clear}}
== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite news|url=http://gettingit.com/article/214 |title=Inside John Holmes: Filmmaker probes the infamous porn star |author=Braunstein, Peter |date=October 20, 1999 |work=Dirt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021230140307/http://gettingit.com/article/214 |archive-date=December 30, 2002}}

== External links ==

* {{afdb name|id=4246|gender=male|name=John C. Holmes}}
* {{iafd name|id=JHolmes|gender=male|name=John C. Holmes}}
* {{IMDb name|0001360|John C. Holmes}}
* [http://thefreaky.net/real-dirk-diggler-john-holmes/ Transcript of 2004 documentary "The Real Dirk Diggler"]

{{Authority control}}

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