Tanya Mercado (born February 15, 1974), known professionally as Gina Lynn, is an American former

pornographic actress A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts in video that is usually characterized as a pornographic movie. Such videos tend to be made in a number of dist ...

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...

, and

stripper A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor party or other private event. M ...

. She was inducted into the

AVN Hall of Fame The ''AVN'' (''Adult Video News'') Hall of Fame has honored people for their work in the adult entertainment industry since 1995.Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

'' magazine

Penthouse Pet This is a list of the models who have appeared in the American edition of ''Penthouse'' magazine and were either named Pet of the Month or Pet of the Year from September 1969 to the present. Pet of the Year names are in bold type and are typica ...

for April 2012. She is also known for appearing with

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

in the music video for "

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

Early life

Lynn was born in Puerto Rico, and moved to

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

at age five. She was raised in

Jackson Township, New Jersey Jackson Township is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the township population was 58,544. A portion of the township is located within the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Roughly equidistant be ...

. Gussow, Mel
"Photographing Celebrities, Even Those of an X-Rated World"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', July 29, 2003. Accessed July 22, 2008. "Over lunch Ms. Lynn, who is in her late 20s, spoke about her entry into the business. She was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Basking Ridge, N.J.

Career

In June 2000, Lynn signed a one-year exclusive performing contract with Pleasure Productions. In 2002, she made a cameo in ''

Analyze That ''Analyze That'' is a 2002 American mafia comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and produced by Paula Weinstein and Jane Rosenthal. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film ''Analyze This''. The film starred Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal who res ...

'' as a stripper. That same year, she appeared with Eminem in the music video for "Superman". From the fourth season of ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

'', Lynn made periodic appearances as a stripper in the "

Bada Bing Bada Bing! is a fictional strip club from the HBO drama television series ''The Sopranos.'' It was a key location for events in the series, named for the catchphrase "bada bing", a phrase popularized by James Caan's character Sonny Corleone in ''T ...

" strip club, scenes for which were filmed in Satin Dolls. As of 2009, she continued to make movies for the company, as well as for her own studio, Gina Lynn Productions. She also directs and has over 20 films to her credit. In 2003, Lynn appeared as the love interest of American rapper

in the music video for "

". In 2006 Lynn was the subject of an interview by the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

newspaper ''

Metro Times The ''Detroit Metro Times'' is a progressive alternative weekly located in Detroit, Michigan. It is the largest circulating weekly newspaper in the metro Detroit area. History and content Supported entirely by advertising, it is distributed f ...

''. The article compared Lynn to fellow porn actors such as

Jewel De'Nyle Jewel De'Nyle (born Stephany Schwartz on August 5, 1976) is an American former pornographic actress and director, active from late 1996 until at least 2008. She is a member of the NightMoves, AVN, and XRCO Halls of Fame. De'Nyle has directed ov ...

, Belladonna,

Taylor St. Claire Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) **List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) Plac ...

and

John Stagliano John Stagliano (born November 29, 1951), also known as Buttman, is an American entrepreneur, former pornographic film actor, producer and director who founded and owns the Evil Angel pornographic film studio. Early life and career Stagliano gr ...

. In 2009 starred in movie Minghags where she played half sister of main character Lenny (Bam Margera). In March 2012, Lynn was announced by ''

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

'' to be their

for April 2012. In 2012, Lynn announced that she had retired from the porn industry, but continues to appear on webcams.

Awards

References

External links

* * *
AVN: "Gina Lynn Hurt in Motorcycle Stunt"
Dan Miller, August 29, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynn, Gina 1974 births American female adult models American female erotic dancers American erotic dancers American pornographic film actresses American people of Dutch descent American people of Italian descent American people of Puerto Rican descent Living people Penthouse Pets People from Jackson Township, New Jersey People from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Pornographic film actors from New Jersey Pornographic film actors from Puerto Rico Puerto Rican people of Dutch descent Puerto Rican people of Italian descent