Darby Lloyd Rains may be the ultimate Rialto Report golden age actress. She was part of the initial group of ‘porn pioneers’ in New York, together with Marc Stevens, Tina Russell, Georgina Spelvin, Jamie Gillis et al, starting in the early days of cheap 8mm loops before graduating to low-rent one day wonders and starring in some of the biggest and best-known films of the 1970s. She was a talented actor – and singer – who could have enjoyed a mainstream career if she’d had the breaks.
She was adept at playing the full range of blue personas: from young girl, older woman, housewife, mistress, mother, or madame, and her comedic ability and sexually frustrated flirtatiousness steal the show time and again in films by the likes of Radley Metzger, Joe Sarno, the Amero brothers, and Gerard Damiano. Take her lead role in Naked Came The Stranger (1975) for example: she sizzles with sex whilst being funny too – whether engaging in a slap-stick attempt to seduce an inexperienced partner with an array of S&M equipment, or her mimed shock when she catches her husband in flagrante with his secretary.
After years of searching, The Rialto Report tracked Darby down – living a very different life far from her days as a New York sex film queen. At first her memories were vague, for the simple reason that she hadn’t thought back to her life in New York since she left the city in the late 1970s. The reason for the departure was traumatic, and is still something that haunts her to this day. After several conversations, memories started to return, and together we pieced together Darby’s story.
This is the second part of that tale. You can read the first part here.
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You did a fair share of promotional events in person at theaters: did you enjoy doing them and meeting your fans?
Yes, people were very respectful. And knowledgeable too! They’d ask how Tina Russell was doing, or Andrea True, and they treated you like stars, but also like members of their families.
You mentioned that there was a risk inherent in making sex films. Were you ever arrested?
I did get arrested once. Marc (Stevens) persuaded me to go out to Elizabeth in New Jersey to make a personal appearance at a new theater. Or at least, not a new theater, but a theater that a friend of his had just taken over, called the Liberty.
Newspaper promotion for Darby Lloyd Rains’s personal appearance at the Liberty Cinema
What happened?
Nothing much. The theater was showing a film called Lady on a Couch (1974). We weren’t doing this as a favor to the filmmaker because we hated him: this was to help the new theater operator, a guy called Allen.
Anyway, we turned up and started signing autographs for the fans. Then the cops turned up, and arrested the three of us: Marc, Allen, and myself.
What was the charge?
There was supposedly an ordinance in Elizabeth prohibiting the exhibition of adult films. It was dumb, because Marc and I had nothing to do with showing the film. We were just showing up to be friendly.
I told the cops, “We’re not exhibiting anything!”
And he replied, “I can see you exhibiting yourself on the screen right now!”
Which was indeed true (laughs).
I assume that nothing came of the charges?
Well, it became complicated: they wanted to drop the charges, but then they became afraid that we might sue the police for false arrest… so in the end, they let us go free on condition that we sign a document absolving them of all blame.
I was angry, but it costs too much to fight sometimes, so I let it drop. It was annoying – it was in all the newspapers too.
How much were you earning for acting in the films?
It started out at $75 for a day, then it was $100 for the longest time, before finally some directors offered the women $125. The men always earned less, which always surprised me. By the time I finished making films it was $150. But even then, some the guys were still just getting something like $50…
People who remember you from these days have told me that you were a big believer in what you were doing. You became an advocate for the films.
That’s just me. I always throw myself into anything that I do. But it’s true, at times I felt like a crusader. I knew that many were terrible, but I felt strongly that we were creating a new art form. Something that no one else had ever done before, and I wanted people to realize that we were serious about what we were doing.
But even though you believed in adult film entertainment, you made sure that you guarded a certain anonymity though.
Of course! I always jealously protected my real name. I was smart enough never to use it, and consequently it was much easy to be anonymous in the business. In fact, I don’t think anyone in the business ever knew my real name either. I never signed any releases with my real name, and my private life and sex film life never crossed over.
And then, in later years… when I eventually wanted to disappear, it was easy. No one knew how to find me. So they didn’t.
Where did your stage name come from?
Darby came from the English horse race, ‘The Derby’. My family and I were big Anglophiles.
And Rains came from Claude Rains, the actor, who I always liked when I was growing up.
And what about ‘Lloyd’?
Lloyds of London, of course! I told you I’m an Anglophile!
Did you tell your parents about your film career?
My mom would come and stay with me in New York. My father would never come with her. Eventually, I decided to take her to see one of my movies.
That must’ve been nerve-wracking?
(laughs) I was reasonably confident that she wouldn’t have a bad reaction. But something unexpected happened… and she opened up to me about her love life in a way that she never had done previously. People think that sexual liberation was just a young woman’s thing in the 1960s and 70s, but women of all ages were discovering themselves.
What did she think to the film?
She said it was boring! To be honest, it wasn’t one of my finest.
Can you remember which film it was that she saw?
I think it may have been another film that I did for Roberta, this time with Walter Sear (Fringe Benefits (1974)). Later I took her to see ‘Naked Came The Stranger’ which she though was better but she complained to Radley that I should have more chance to act. I think Radley was bemused by her criticism!
Darby Lloyd Rains, in ‘Fringe Benefits’ (1973)
And your father never knew of your film career?
Oh, he knew. I don’t know how he found out, but my mother told me that he saw me being interviewed on TV once. He told my mother, and referred to what I did as “bedroom films”.
He didn’t show any interest in me, or in reaching out to me, so it was no big deal.
Were you close to you sister?
Not when I was growing up, but strangely, when I started making a bit of a ‘name’ for myself, we became closer. At first we corresponded, then we spoke more.
You went back and worked for Gerard Damiano on Memories Within Miss Aggie (1974).
Yes, that was a good production – and the movie turned out well. We shot in the snow-covered countryside of Pennsylvania. I just went out there for one scene that was shot one afternoon. I did it as a favor for Gerry because he pleaded with me, saying that he didn’t know anyone else who could play a madame in a whorehouse like me… I guess that was a complement!
Darby, in ‘Memories Within Miss Aggie’ (1974)
How much would you get paid for an appearance like that?
Funny you should ask about that because it was more than usual: I received $250, and I remember that because I was challenged by my tax accountant who refused to believe that I could have received so little money for a film that was one of the year’s biggest earners!
How did you come into contact with Radley Metzger?
I’d heard of him because he made some well-regarded erotic films in the 1960s, so I was excited when he cast me in a scene in his first hardcore sex film, The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (1974). I got on great with him and we had a meal together, and I think I mentioned that I’d read this sex novel called ‘Naked Came The Stranger.’ Even though it was a satire, I told him I thought it would make a good sex film. I always wondered if that was what gave him the idea.
Then a few months later, he called me up and offered me the lead in his next film – which turned out to be Naked Came The Stranger (1975).
Darby in ‘The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann’ (1974)
What was Radley like to work with?
Oh, he was the best. He worked hard to make his leading women look great – from the lighting to the costumes and make-up, it was wonderful to finally feel like I was going to look good up on the screen. Unlike some of the cheap one-day-wonder directors. I don’t think that I ever looked better than in Radley’s films.
Darby in ‘Naked Came the Stranger’ (1975)
Do you have a favorite scene that you remember?
He shot a ballroom dancing scene in black and white in that film that was one of the most beautiful and poignant film scenes I’ve ever seen. He wanted me to be like Jean Harlow. I did that scene with Gerald Grant, he was such a sweet man too.
Darby and Gerald Grant in ‘Naked Came The Stranger’ (1975)
What did you think of Radley’s films?
His films were light, love stories – except with the sex left in. That was all we actors ever wanted. We’d seen big hits like Emmanuelle (1974) and Last Tango In Paris (1972) which were bewildering to us… they were films about sex – but they didn’t want to actually show the sex. That seemed dishonest to us. I thought Radley’s films were infinitely more interesting. ‘Naked Came The Stranger’ was my favorite film.
How did he direct his actors?
He had quiet conversations with us, giving little examples of what he wanted to see. Mostly he focused on facial expressions. He described your motivation and then acted the dialogue with you. He told me once that he was a frustrated actor, and that made sense.
Plus his films weren’t rushed like the others. Most other people’s films were shot over a long weekend. Radley took a couple of weeks. That made everyone much more relaxed… and so you did a better job.
Darby, and Levi Richards in ‘Naked Came The Stranger’ (1975)
Do you remember any scene in particular where he gave you specific instructions?
In one scene, I had to break the fourth wall and speak to the camera while masturbating. Radley told me to exaggerate everything. He said: “Think of Betty Boop!”
What sort of rehearsals did you do with him?
Only rehearsals on the day of the shoot. Radley sent us the script a week or two beforehand, so I learned all my lines in advance.
There was one memorable scene in ‘Naked came The Stranger’ – shot on the upper floor of a London double decker bus while it drives around midtown…
That was a hoot! Radley told me the bus had come from a Manhattan restaurant who used it for their publicity – so he hired it! I was skeptical…
Skeptical, why?
Are you crazy..? (laughs) People would be walking down Fifth Avenue and they might see us! Then I couldn’t figure out how the cameraman would be able to get a steady sequence on a moving vehicle. It wasn’t easy!
It worked out ok, though.
I remember that scene was one of my only scenes that turned me on afterwards when I watched it! (laughs)
The actor’s line was, “Do you wanna get off on Fifth Avenue?” (laughs)
Darby, and Alan Marlow in ‘Naked Came The Stranger’ (1975)
When I interviewed Radley, he remembered you with great affection, not just for your performance, but also for your sensitivity and caring nature. He told me his mother was rushed into emergency surgery on the day of the shoot in Central Park which caused him to be distracted. You took him aside and offered constant support throughout the day.
Oh yes, I’d forgotten that. I knew how much Radley’s mother meant to him, but also how serious he was about his film.
Did many of the films have proper premieres?
Some did. ‘Naked Came The Stranger’ had a big event, because the book had been so famous. The press were all there, and Radley invited all the Newsday journalists who had collaborated together to write the book.
That felt a little strange: I’m up there on a giant screen, having sex…and then I’m shaking everyone’s hands in the lobby afterwards… (laughs)
Did stay in touch with Radley after that?
For a while. We had a monthly meal at a club where he was a member. It was funny. He was terrified that his fellow club members would find out about his sex films because he cultivated this image as a suave, dignified gentleman. But I knew he had this darker side…
He introduced me to a writer friend, Jerry Douglas, who had written one of Radley’s earlier films (Score (1973)). Jerry fancied himself as a filmmaker in the same vein as Radley – but he wanted to explore bi-sexual themes more. So he cast me in Both Ways (1975) around that time. It was a brave attempt, but Jerry was no Radley, and the world wasn’t ready for bi-sexual couplings in the same movie. Still isn’t really.
By the mid-1970s, you’d established yourself as one of the main names in New York adult films. What do you think made you a successful actress in these movies?
I thought a lot about this – and I think that in part, it was because I could act.
What about your appearance?
Well, I wasn’t a traditionally sexually attractive women. But I could play many different parts – from a housewife to a whore to a hippy to an old lady, and I could find something sexual in each.
Also, I remember a Gay Talese quote: sexually aggressive women are what sell films the best… and I was always a little aggressive.
You certainly embodied many different types of women in films.
I did have a problem with my weight. I could gain or lose weight very easily, and sometimes I was heavier than others.
Did that bother you?
Of course! If I went to see myself in a film – say, at a premiere, or something – and noticed a roll of fat, I would be so tough on myself. I can only imagine what it is like for actresses nowadays. It certainly made me self-conscious, and I beat myself up for it.
Did your success, and higher profile, enable you to exert more influence on the films, or on your pay?
Pffft… No, and that really irritated me. These films were reviewed in Variety next to ‘The Godfather’ or ‘Taxi Driver’, and they were listed in the Top 50 highest grossing films. But our pay stayed more or less the same. Whoever was making money from them… it certainly wasn’t us.
I had conversations with some of the other women – like Andrea True, Georgina (Spelvin), and Sandi Foxx – about forming a union. We wanted to find a way of negotiating more money.
Did the union idea work?
Marc (Stevens) did form the P.A.G. – Porn Actor’s Guild – which lasted a short while. It made a little difference and got people some extra money for a while.
The problem by then was that there were many more women who were willing to come in and replace anyone who didn’t play ball. It was sad because they came in on our coattails, and we were being aged out. I got into a few arguments with producers, and they probably thought I was a prima donna. I didn’t care, it just wasn’t fair.
So you formed a casting agency with Sandi?
Yes, Sandi started a agency to provide talent to producers. I helped her with that for a while and we made a little extra money, and took care of our friends.
How successful was it?
It was good for a short while, but then the producers realized that they already knew all the familiar names in the business, so they just approached them directly – and cut us out of the picture.
And that was when you tried to raised money for your own movie?
After I’d seen what could be done on a film like ‘Naked Came the Stranger’, I was disillusioned with the quality of roles that were still being offered to me: I didn’t want to stop but I was just being offered the same old rubbish. So I retired from acting in adult films and developed a script with Joe that was based on my experiences in the industry.
And this would be a film you would make yourself?
Yes, I always wanted to make my own movie. I was convinced that I could do a better job than most of the guys who were doing it.
So, I wrote a script with Joe. It was called ‘Desdemona, Cinzano, and Raw’. We wanted it to be a high quality X-rated film, so we set the budget at $200,000, and Joe and I started to try to raise it. Marc Stevens helped us, and he was always good at publicity – that man was a one-man publicity machine.
And I did a lot of media too… interviews, photo spreads. My God, I was in every magazine, on every TV show, I did the talk show circuit, I was on Tom Snyder’s show.
You also formed your own production company.
Akashic III Associates (laughs). Yes, that was our company through which we planned to make and release films.
What was the plot of ‘Desdemona, Cinzano, and Raw’?
It was semi-autobiographical, and so I was going to play myself: an innocent who comes to New York to be a nightclub singer and instead becomes a porn star. I wanted it to show the way that actors were taken advantage of by the directors and producers.
And you were going to be the star?
Of course! Marc (Stevens) and Joe were going to play the other two leads.
How did you try and raise the money for the film?
We approached some of the producers we’d worked with, then some of the theater owners. Bobby Sumner was a friend and he owned the World Theater and Mature Pictures. He was interested at one stage, but his partner, Sam, thought we were asking for too much money, so that was a bust.
Darby (center) with Joe (right) and Bobby Sumner (left)
How long did you stay retired from acting?
A few months. The break did me good. But then the Amero brothers invited my back to make another film, and so I decided to continue.
That was Every Inch a Lady (1975)?
Yes – and they persuaded Harry (Reems) to come out of semi-retirement as well.
Publicity still for ‘Every Inch a Lady’ – Darby and Harry Reems
Was it a good experience?
That film was really one of my favorites. John and Lem Amero were such darlings. It was like working for golden age Hollywood movie directors. I wore some red shoes that I loved. Does John Amero still have them?
Previously unpublished on-set stills from ‘Every Inch a Lady’
Ha! I asked him once, and sadly they’re long gone. It was another film that had a large about of publicity – including a full-page ad in Variety, featuring yourself.
Yes – those were the days. It got more publicity than nearly all mainstream films of the time.
They had posters announcing, “Reems is Back… and Darby’s got him!” Very sweet guys. Maybe the nicest men I worked with. And the film was very successful!
Full page ad in Variety announcing ‘Every Inch a Lady’ (November 1974)
Variety list of top-grossing films – showing ‘Every Inch Lady’
Publicity card for ‘Every Inch a Lady’
But even by the mid 1970s, there were still films that were being made cheaply over a couple of days – and you still made your fair share of those. Do you remember any films that didn’t turn out so great?
Plenty, and those are the ones whose names have disappeared from my head! (laughs)
Actually, I remember My Master, My Love (1975) as being one. I think that was shot in a day. Probably just the afternoon. Then there was Night After Night (1975), another clunker.
Oh, and Angel No. 9 (1974).
That was for Roberta Findlay again. ‘Angel Number 9’ wasn’t such a bad movie though.
Anything that was good in that film came from the actors. Jamie and I had some very powerful scenes but we discussed it and agreed what we were going to do in advance. Roberta gave no direction. She was still embarrassed to be doing this. She just shot it, and paid us.
What do remember about Jamie?
Jamie… was a free spirit. He was into whatever he could get away with. So if you were vanilla and conventional, Jamie would give you that.
Darby, with Jamie Gillis in ‘Flying Acquaintances’ (1973)
Which begs the question: what was he like with you then?
Maybe I had a daddy thing that he picked up on, but we always ended up role-playing a male dominant scenario. And sometimes it was on film – like in Angel Number 9 – and that was powerful.
Darby, and Jamie Gillis in ‘Angel Number 9’ (1974)
The early 1970s was a strange period for adult films – because one moment you were making films for experienced people like Gerry Damiano or Radley Metzger, and then there were more casual entrants to the business.
Tell me about it. I remember one film called The $50,000 Climax Show (1975) that had two directors at the same time. And neither one had had any experience before.
How do you deal with that?
In that situation, I took over and told them everything: where to put the lights and cameras, how to shoot close-ups and facial reactions, all the necessary stuff. I was shocked when that film actually got a release!
Did you find people to be honest and trustworthy in the X-rated business?
Oh yes. Incompetence was the biggest crime, not dishonesty.
There were very rare examples of shysters.
Care to name any?
Leonard Kirtman for example. Everyone knew he couldn’t be trusted. He was well-known for stepping in and completing the money shot himself, so I stayed away from him. Then I found that he had used some footage that someone else shot of me, and he used it in one of his movies – and he put me on his posters as if I was the film’s star! I was so mad.
Were you close friends with anyone in the business at this stage?
The business had gotten gradually bigger and so the close relationships we had at the beginning weren’t as strong. We started by living in each other’s pockets. Some were couples like Tina and Jason, or Rob (Eric Edwards) and Kathy (Chris Jordan). I was always close to Joe, so we hung out together.
I became close to Andrea (True) because we both occasionally did some singing in clubs, but then she had a hit single with ‘More, More, More’ and she was gone… touring, publicity, the high life!
Were you still auditioning for mainstream acting roles at this point, or had you given up?
From time to time, but it was always the same old story. By now, I had the stigma of being a sex actress.
How did you know that was the reason?
I was told to my face!
I remember I heard they were auditioning for The Happy Hooker (1975). That was a big mainstream production – and I’d read the book and felt that I was perfect for the lead role.
That was about Xaveria Hollander – the madame who caused a sensation with her tell-all biography?
Yes. I was the right age, I had been in the sex business for a few years, and I even looked like her.
I called up the producer, and he was excited to get me over to his office. He said he was a big fan of mine. So I went over and we chatted for a while and got on well. I asked him about my chances of getting the lead role, and he shocked me with his reply. He said: “Why should I hire someone who everyone can go and see sucking cock in a Times Square movie theater?”
I was astonished. I realized that none of us were ever going to cross over.
Didn’t you start writing an autobiography?
Yes, Joe and I wrote it, and I signed a contract with a well-known literary agent in New York, but nothing came of it.
Had you given up trying to raise money for ‘Desdemona, Cinzano, and Raw’?
No, but we’d under-estimated how difficult it was going to be. The trouble was that I was getting aged out of the acting business. I was 30, and that was really old, so I became very selective about the roles I did.
You went over to Sweden to make a couple of films – Ta mej i dalen (1977) and Sex in Sweden (1977).
Yes, I became friends with a distributor there called Kjell Nilsson, who was close friends with the Amero brothers. He invited me over for a working holiday, so I went over there with Rob (Eric Edwards) and Kim (Pope). We had such a good time, and they treated us so well.
As your career was winding down, what were you planning to do?
Joe and I had a number of projects that we were working on, and then Joe died of a cerebral hemorrhage in his apartment. I found him. It was terrible. It was just a few days before his 38th birthday.
What effect did his passing have on you?
It turned my life upside down. Completely. I was through with New York because of that. There was no way that I could continue living there. So I left town, and went west. I never went back.
You turned your back on everything you’d been doing for the previous ten years or so.
It didn’t matter. It was worth nothing without Joe.
You didn’t stay in touch with anyone?
No. Nothing and no one that would remind me of my former life. This interview is the first time I’ve thought of it for many years.
What did you do when you left New York?
All sorts of things, but in recent years, I became a massage therapist. After I retired, I became an artist, and I sell my work locally at county fairs.
Are you interested in seeing any of the films you made?
Not really. What’s past is past. I’ll be happy to crawl back under the rock where you found me.
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A beautiful, albeit very sad conclusion to a moving interview.
Darby’s life is a beautiful, bittersweet microcosm of the rise and fall of the adult business.
A big thank you to Darby for sharing.
I’m even more in love with Darby after reading this than before… what a sweet woman.
Another winner run for this incredible oral history collection…. though to call it ‘oral history’ is to damn it with faint praise. This site is a slice of history and humanity.
We so appreciate that Sarah!
Awesome Article Keep Up Good Work
Well Darby, if you live “under a rock”, so do the rest of us. It’s a place I’m honoured to share with you, and it’s far superior to the intolerant and unnatural wider society we’re all forced to interact with.
Seems a lovely character, tough minded but generous with her recollections.
Clear minded too, knew exactly what she wanted and when she realized she’d done all she could in Adult films she moved on.
I’d so like to hear a bit more about life after the movies, but she gave just enough to satiate the curious. Darby has, I hope, lived a rich full life and surely that’s good enough.
Plus to have her ‘nom de porn’ explained (I happen British myself) was the icing on the cake of another fabulous article. Keep up all the good and, no doubt, hard work.
Thanks Eddie!
I checked out a few of her scenes and she wasn’t lying, her acting is on point. Fascinating as usual. I look forward to these releases.
Thanks so much Sonny!
I, for one, would be very interested in seeing some of Darby Lloyd Raines’ artwork and likely purchasing it. I realize she values (or, rather, insists upon) her privacy, but if the Rialto Report were to serve as a dealer/escrowee, that may be a way for Darby to sell some of her work without revealing her identity/location?
If this is possible, I would love for April, Ashley or anyone else affiliated with the Rialto Report to e-mail me to arrange something like I suggested.
In any event, I really enjoyed hearing Darby Lloyd Raines’ story. I am happy she’s still around and that she is still engaged in art, albeit a different form than what I previously associated with her. I agree with her own assessment – she could act, and that acting ability coupled with her good looks made her a welcome addition to any vintage movie. My personal favorite film of hers (though not discussed in this article) was Teenage Stepmother (1974).
Thank you, love her, she’s fascinating and refreshingly grounded. Beautifully, respectfully executed conversation.
Thanks so much Max!
I don’t find the ending to be sad at all. She accomplished what she wanted and that was to leave that life behind and start over again.
I tried watching that one where she rides the bus. I try watching many of these and can’t. The men always gross me out so I can’t do it. What little I did see was someone with a screen presence who could act. She was a wonderful actress.
I’m sure she’s now a wonderful local artist.
Cheers to her. By the way that picture of her with her back and ass exposed by that unzipped blue piece of clothing is hot. Love a woman’s hiney.