John Holmes
John Holmes, also known as John C. Holmes, Johnny Wadd and The King of Porn, was one of the most famous male porn stars of the 1970s and 1980s. Born John Curtis Estes on August 8, 1944, Holmes became famous for his porn movies, thousands of sexual partners and especially his enormous penis.
Accounts of John Holmes' penis size give wildly different numbers. There was never an official confirmed measurement. Holmes' longtime friend and business associate Bill Amerson said he had seen Holmes measure it several times at about 13½ inches (34 cm). Holmes himself and porn advertising sometimes claimed even bigger measurements.
Holmes' huge dick became his main selling point in the porn industry and was used to promote movies even when he was not in them. Stories about his penis, sex life, hookers, thousands of women and wild drug use eventually became almost as famous as his actual porn films.
Holmes appeared in hundreds of documented porn movies and loops and became particularly famous playing private detective Johnny Wadd. Near the end of his life he became notorious for his connection with the 1981 Wonderland murders. He was charged with the murders but was acquitted.
Holmes died from AIDS-related complications on March 13, 1988 at the age of 43.
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Porn Career
John Holmes entered the adult business during the late 1960s and became one of the biggest stars of the Golden Age of Porn.
In the early years he appeared in short porn loops and underground adult films, sometimes under different names.
His breakthrough came in 1971 when he began playing private investigator Johnny Wadd.
The first Johnny Wadd movie became successful enough that numerous sequels followed. The character turned Holmes into one of the first male porn stars who could actually sell a movie with his name.
During the 1970s, pornography became increasingly mainstream after movies such as Deep Throat, Behind the Green Door and The Devil in Miss Jones became famous outside traditional porn audiences.
Holmes was arrested during this period for pimping and pandering. He later became an informant for the Los Angeles Police Department.
By the late 1970s Holmes was reportedly making thousands of dollars a day from porn.
His career was built not only around his huge penis but also around the fact that he could actually act better than many of the men appearing in porn at the time.
How Big Was John Holmes' Penis?
Holmes' most famous asset was his exceptionally large penis.
There is no confirmed official measurement of John Holmes' penis.
His longtime friend and business associate Bill Amerson said Holmes measured about 13½ inches (34 cm).
This became the measurement most commonly associated with Holmes.
Like many stories surrounding Holmes, the size of his dick became part fact and part porn mythology.
Holmes enjoyed exaggerating stories about himself and the adult industry happily used his penis as a marketing tool.
Porn actress Seka described Holmes as having the biggest penis in the business.
Other porn stars had different opinions about how useful that enormous dick actually was. Annette Haven famously said his penis was not always particularly hard during sex.
A popular porn-industry joke claimed Holmes could not get completely hard because if all the blood went from his head into his dick he would pass out.
Whatever the exact measurement, Holmes unquestionably had an unusually large penis and it became one of the most famous dicks in pornography.
How Many Women Did John Holmes Have Sex With?
Holmes also became famous for claiming an enormous number of sexual partners.
In 1981 he began claiming that he had fucked around 10,000 women.
Another estimate put his lifetime number of sexual partners at around 3,000.
The true number of women and men Holmes had sex with will never be known.
His porn career alone involved sexual intercourse with hundreds of performers, while Holmes also had a large private sex life outside the cameras.
Holmes also performed in some gay porn, including The Private Pleasures of John C. Holmes.
Drugs, Hookers and Crime
By the late 1970s Holmes had developed a serious cocaine and freebasing habit.
The drugs began destroying both his porn career and his ability to maintain an erection.
As his addiction became worse, Holmes became involved in crime to get money and drugs.
He sold drugs, committed credit-card fraud and petty theft and reportedly prostituted himself to both men and women.
Holmes also became involved with prostitutes, hookers and pimping during different periods of his life.
Later Years and AIDS
In 1986 Holmes was diagnosed as HIV positive.
Despite knowing that he had HIV, Holmes travelled to Italy and performed in his final porn movies without telling some of his co-stars about his HIV status.
John Holmes died from AIDS-related complications on March 13, 1988.
See Also
- Penis | Penis size | Erection
- Prostitution | Prostitute | Hooker | Pimp
- Gay porn | Gay | Bisexuality | Sex and drugs
- North America | South America | Europe | Africa | Asia | Oceania
