Harry Reems: The Mr. Skin Interview

Before Inside Deep Throat, it seems like we--the public in general and your fans specifically--hadn't heard from you for a while. What brought you back?
Well, I don't know if you know the story of my personal life from about 1985 to 1989.

I do. You battled severe alcoholism.
Yes, I stopped making movies in 1985 and became a terrible, low-bottom drunk--sleeping in doorways, wandering around--really the worst kind of alcoholic nightmare.

In 1989 I entered a recovery program and got sober. I worked hard at it. I did a lot of service work, and, in doing so, became a very private person. I also joined a church and eventually became an elder of the church.

Public life was very dangerous for me--a lot of parties and such. So, really, I valued my privacy.

I turned down requests for interviews for years. I even turned down requests from Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato--the writers, producers, and directors of Inside Deep Throat--repeatedly! They pursued me for a couple of years.

How did they finally get you?
Well, they were coming to town for the Sundance Film Festival, and I live in Park City, Utah, where the festival is held. I decided that I could at least meet with them.

Fenton and Randy had an air of credibility. My wife and I saw some of their previous documentaries and we were very impressed. They made me feel very comfortable.

I said, "If all you're interested in is sex, drugs, and partying, then I'm not for you. My story is one of redemption and recovery. Because nobody knows how bad it gets, and I want to make it clear that you can turn it around. Not only did I turn it around, but I made it into a triumph."

The filmmakers made it clear that they had the same take on my life as I did. So that was great.

And Universal paid me a very generous honorarium for my participation.

What's your overall opinion of Inside Deep Throat?
It's a fun and informative piece. It could have been more objective. It could have shown more of the conservative side. The movie shows how the social pendulum swings, from the '70s to today. Things change on a cyclical basis. Right now, we're in a more conservative period. That was the main thrust of the film for me.

The movie also depicts well how wrong it was for me to be on trial with Mafiosos in front of a jury of Southern Baptists. I was on trial to get some ink for the prosecution. And along the way, I learned the law. I learned it well enough to debate it afterward at law schools with people like Roy Cohn. I did many, many debates.

But is this movie the definitive piece on the pioneering days of adult films? I don't think so.

Who were your best friends in the adult industry?
I was never into the social scene. They partied after a shoot; I went on my own way. I was able to perform very fast, which the ladies appreciated.

I'd have to say that the guy I was closest to was Jamie Gillis. We'd get together and read the New York Times and eat fine cheeses. In terms of sexual focus, Jamie and I were very different. But we remain friends. I just saw him in D.C. last month. He lives in New York now, so when I'm there, I'll give him a call.

Are you from New York?
My mom is from Brooklyn; my dad is from the Bronx. I was born in Manhattan, but I grew up in Harrison, New York, a suburb up in Westchester. We were a nice Jewish family.

I went to school there and then dropped out of college. When my number came up for the draft, I joined the Marine Corps. I was in for two years, then used my benefits to go to drama school. I started acting in the theater in New York City. And then once the movies started, I stopped doing theater.

In light of the success of the Traci Lords and Jenna Jameson biographies, will you write a book?
Yes! I have been in touch with a great writer who's worked on a lot of "as told to" books and we're working on mine now.

Is there an aspect of your adult film career that we might not know about?
After a while, I got bored with the sex in these movies and I got interested in working behind the camera. I was actually hired as a technician on Deep Throat for five days at fifty dollars a day, and when the actor who was supposed to play the doctor didn't show up I stepped in.

You've been in so many historically important adult and exploitation films. I'd like to bounce some titles off you for a reaction. Let's start with Let Me Die a Woman.
Never heard of it. Sometimes they say I was in a movie and I never was. But then I was in so many that I don't always know the title right away. What was special about this one?

It's a classic sex-change shock-documentary. Lots of graphic surgery footage. It played for a long time on 42nd Street in New York. They gave out a promotional book at the box office with each ticket.
I think I do remember that! It was what we called "a white coater". By that I mean that these movies would always feature some guy in a white coat who said he was a doctor to explain what was going on. I played a doctor in some of them. Deep Throat, in fact, was a spoof of the "white coaters".

Sometime Sweet Susan.
Interesting film. Sometime Sweet Susan is the adult movie approved by the Screen Actors Guild [SAG]. Before that, all I had ever been in was non-union productions and we were starting to get headaches from Mayor Lindsay's office. So I said, "Well, let's go to SAG and get approval. I was initially supposed to debate actor Dennis Weaver about the validity of the movie, but he never showed up. After that we got the approval!

Are you aware that that's the movie Robert De Niro takes Cybill Shepherd to see in Taxi Driver?
You know, I do remember seeing that on the marquee.

Someone claims to have recently found the hardcore print of Deep Throat Part II.
But it wasn't hardcore! We shot it as an R-rated comedy. It's very broad slapstick. The last twenty minutes is a long pie fight. I think if they have a hardcore version, it contains insert footage that was placed there later.

Forced Entry.
Ah, yes! Directed by Sean Cunningham! I played a psychotic war veteran in that movie, and I based the performance on what I saw while I was in the Marines. I didn't go to Vietnam. I caught pneumonia and I saw a lot of guys who came back before they had been reconditioned. They were missing limbs and in very rough shape. One guy in particular seemed so far gone as to be evil. I used that experience in Forced Entry. Usually I came off as a PG kind of guy, but I tried something different in that movie. I'd love to see that movie now.

Any parting thoughts?
Buy Inside Deep Throat on DVD! The disc has so much more information than the theatrical version. It has interviews with the prosecution, with FBI agent Bill Kelly. You'll get much more objective insight into the era. It's a great experience.