Billy Herrington

William Glen Harold Herrington (July 14, 1969 – March 2, 2018), known professionally as Billy Herrington, was an American model and pornographic film actor. In the late 2000s, his appearances in various gay pornography movies led him to become a popular Internet meme on video-sharing websites such as Japan's Nico Nico Dōga, where he was referred to by the sobriquet . Since then, at least 110,000 short mash-up parodies of his clips—known as "Gachimuchi Pants Wrestling" (ガチムチパンツレスリング ''Gachimuchi Pantsu Resuringu'')—have been produced by fans.

Early life and career

Herrington was born in North Babylon, New York. Herrington grew up in Long Island learning karate from his father, a sensei. He had interests in boxing, wrestling and martial arts, but did not start bodybuilding until he was 24 years old, after moving to New York City.

Herrington began his erotic career when his then girlfriend surreptitiously submitted his nude pictures to ''Playgirl'' magazine. The photographs won him a "Real Men of the Month" contest and a $500 prize. His appearance in the magazine caught the eye of famed photographer Jim French, but it was two years before Herrington posed for his first Colt calendars for French. Soon after, Herrington was filming hardcore gay adult films for All Worlds Video, and appearing on mainstream TV programs such as ''Love Connection'' and the ''Ricki Lake'' talk show. In 2002, Herrington said the adult film industry helped him to understand his bisexuality.

Among his starring roles is the Roman emperor in the Danish feature film ''HotMen CoolBoyz'' (2000). Herrington's scene in ''Conquered'' (2001) with Nino Bacci, Colton Ford, Blake Harper, and Jay Ross won the "Best Group Sex Scene" at the 2002 Adult Erotic Gay Video Awards ("Grabbys"). Occasionally, Herrington performed striptease acts at gay clubs in the United States.

Internet meme

Herrington gained fame in Japan as an Internet meme, after a clip from one of his videos, ''Workout: Muscle Fantasies 3'', was posted on Niconico, a Japanese video sharing website, on August 10, 2007. Thousands of mash-up parody videos of him have been made, many of which utilize deliberate mishearings (''soramimi'') of lines from his films. He is affectionately called among the Nico Nico Douga community, and most of his videos are deliberately mistagged with , , , or all three.Billy Herrington on Nico Nico Douga

The three most notable soramimi from Billy Herrington that comes from ''Workout: Muscle Fantasies 3'', that would later make up the tag, are "Huh? Like embarrassing me, huh?" (あぁん？最近だらしねぇな？, ''aan? saikin darashi nee na?'' "What? You are slacking off these days?"); "You got me mad now." (歪みねぇな, ''yugami nee na'', "You are not distorted."); and "That's not right, man." (仕方ないね, ''shikata nai ne'', "It can't be helped.").Billy Herrington on Nico Nico Douga

In February 2009, Herrington visited Japan to attend a live online event hosted by Niconico and garage kit maker Good Smile Company. Herrington said that he is flattered and humbled by his fans' creativity. A limited-edition Herrington figure was announced for a July 2009 release. Two other limited-editions Herrington action figures were announced for the Halloween and Christmas holiday. The Halloween figure was released in October 2009 and the Christmas one was released in December 2009; both are Nico Nico Chyokuhan exclusives.

As of March 2018, over 110,000 Gachimuchi Pants Wrestling videos had been uploaded on YouTube alone.

In July 2022, amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a petition to the President of Ukraine regarding the replacement of the Monument to the founders of Odessa (also known as the monument to Empress Catherine the Great) with a monument to Billy Herrington received more than 25,000 votes. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to the petition and asked the Odesa City Council to discuss the demolition of the monument.

Death

During the evening of March 1, 2018, Herrington was involved in a car accident on California State Route 111 in Rancho Mirage. He was found trapped in the wreckage and was brought to a Palm Springs hospital, where he died the next day. News broke of his death one day later. Fans responded with hundreds of tributes across video sharing sites and message boards. One tribute video uploaded on Niconico accumulated over 80,000 views in less than one week. Services for Herrington were held at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City, California.

Videography

* ''9½ Inches'' (1998) (Thor Productions)
* ''Wrestlers: Muscle Fantasies 2'' (1998) (Can-Am Productions)
* ''Workout: Muscle Fantasies 3'' (1999) (Can-Am Productions)
* ''Minute Man 17'' (1999) (Colt Studios)
* ''Minute Man 18'' (1999) (Colt Studios)
* ''Body Shop'' (1999) (All Worlds)
* ''Summer Trophies'' (1999) (Pacific Sun Entertainment)
* ''Tales from the Foxhole'' (1999) (All Worlds)
* '' Lords Of The Locker Room'' (1999) (Can-Am Productions)
* ''Playing with Fire 2'' (2000) (All Worlds)
* ''The Final Link'' (2000) (All Worlds)
* ''HotMen CoolBoyz'' (2000) (Zentropa)
* ''Conquered'' (2001) (All Worlds)
* ''Flesh Trap'' (2001) (Fox Studios)
* ''Naked Muscles'' (2002) (Colt Studios)
* ''Ryker's Web'' (2003) (Arena)
* ''Minute Man Solo 27: Big Shots'' (2006) (Colt Studios)

Awards and nominations

*2000 – Colt Man of the Year
Adult Erotic Gay Video Awards
*2002 – Winner – Best Group Sex Scene (for ''Conquered'')
*2002 – Nominated – Best Actor (for ''Conquered'')
*2002 – Nominated – Best Three-Way Sex Scene (for ''Conquered'')
GayVN Awards
*2002 – Nominated – Best Actor (for ''Conquered'')
*2002 – Nominated – Best Group Scene (for ''Conquered'')

See also

*List of male performers in gay porn films

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Herrington, Billy
1969 births
2018 deaths
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American male erotic dancers
American male pornographic film actors
Bisexual male pornographic film actors
Burials at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Cathedral City)
Internet memes
LGBT dancers
American LGBT actors
LGBT people from New York (state)
Pornographic film actors from New York (state)
People from North Babylon, New York
Road incident deaths in California
21st-century LGBT people