Karen Lancaume (born Karine Bach, 19 January 1973 – 28 January 2005) was a French
pornographic film 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 dis ...
. She appeared in over 83
pornographic film
Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include eroticall ...
s between 1996 and 2000. She starred as Nadine in the 2000 film, ''
Baise-moi
''Baise-moi'' is a 2000 French crime thriller film written and directed by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi and starring Karen Lancaume and Raffaëla Anderson. It is based on the novel by Despentes, first published in 1993. The film recei ...
'', a mainstream film in which she performed unsimulated penetration and fellatio.
She was a nominee for the Best French Actress
Hot d'Or
Hot d'Or ( en, Golden Hot) was an adult film industry pornographic award, awarded annually from 1992 to 2001 in Cannes, France[Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...]
, France, into a wealthy family. Her father was German and her mother was Moroccan. She spent her childhood in the Lyon countryside and completed her studies in communications.
She stated that she had her first sexual experience at the age of 17, just before embarking on her university course, and that she worked weekends at a nightclub to pay for her studies. At the nightclub, she met Franck Ceronne, a disc jockey, whom she married. The couple divorced in 1997.
Career
In 1996, to escape their crippling debts, at Franck's suggestion, the couple began working as a couple in
pornographic film
Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include eroticall ...
s.
[ In the film ''L'Indécente aux enfer'' (1997) she for the first time performed ]unsimulated sex
In the film industry, unsimulated sex is the presentation of sex scenes in which actors genuinely perform the depicted sex acts, rather than simulating them. Although it is ubiquitous in films intended as pornographic, it is very uncommon in o ...
scenes with other partners. The couple divorced shortly after. Following their divorce, Franck quit the pornographic film industry but Karen continued to appear in pornographic films both in Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Lancaume's debut in the United States was in ''Private Gold 25 - When the Night Falls''.
She later worked with European porn film directors, including Mario Salieri
Mario Salieri (born 29 November 1957 in Naples) is an Italian pornographic film director and producer.
Career
Salieri started his adult film career with semi-amateur films shot in Amsterdam for the Italian market. Since the early 1990s, he has ...
, Alain Payet
Alain Payet (17 January 1947 – 13 December 2007 in Paris as a result of cancer), also known under the pseudonyms John Pardaillan, John and Frederick Brasil Amor, James Gardner, James Gartner and Alain Garnier, was a film director of Fren ...
and Luca Damiano
Luca Damiano (born Franco Lo Cascio; 29 August 1946) is an Italian film director.
Born in Rome, Lo Cascio started his career as the assistant director of Fernando Di Leo in almost all the films he directed between 1967 and 1974. In 1974, he ...
, whose films highlighted oral
The word oral may refer to:
Relating to the mouth
* Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid
**Oral administration of medicines
** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or oral ...
and anal sex, double penetration
Double penetration (sometimes called DP for short) is a sexual practice that consists of a person being simultaneously penetrated either in multiple orifices or in a single orifice by multiple body parts or other objects. Most commonly, it refers ...
s, lesbianism
A lesbian is a homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with fema ...
and orgies
In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party consisting of at least five members where guests freely engage in open and unrestrained sexual activity or group sex.
Swingers' parties do not always conform to this designation, because at many swin ...
.
Her appearances alternated between the two continents, working with producers Elegant Angel
Elegant Angel Productions is a pornographic film studio located in Canoga Park, California and owned by Patrick Collins. The company is considered one of the early pioneers of gonzo pornography, and its films have won numerous awards.
History
El ...
, Wicked Pictures
Wicked Pictures is an American pornographic movie studio headquartered in Canoga Park, California. Between 2004 and 2021, it was one of the only heterosexual studios to maintain a condoms-only policy.
Company history
Steve Orenstein founded Wi ...
and Sin City
''Sin City'' is a series of neo-noir comics by American comic book writer-artist Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in ''Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special'' (April 1991), and continued in ''Dark Horse Presents'' #51â ...
, and directors Marc Dorcel
Marc Dorcel (born in March 1934) is a French-Hungarian producer of adult erotic films who founded the company Video Marc Dorcel (or simply Marc Dorcel). Besides producing films by himself, he also produces films in partnership with people like ...
, Mario Salieri, Andrew Blake, Alain Payet, Alessandro Del Mar
Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include:
People with the given name Alessandro
* Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter
* Alessandro Baricco ...
, and Luca Damiano.
She appeared in ''Exhibitions 1999'' (John B. Root
Jean Guilloré, known professionally as John B. Root, is a French director and producer of pornographic films, born on November 28, 1958.
Education and early career
Jean Guilloré was born in Chambéry. Both his parents were teachers. He spent pa ...
, 1998), a pornographic film shot as a documentary on the porn scene, which combined interviews with the protagonists. Lancaume came to feel distaste for her work, saying in an interview: "I was covered in spunk, wet, freezing to death and no one even offered me a towel. When the scene ends, you are worthless."
In 1999, she exhibited at the Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
, and met Virginie Despentes
Virginie Despentes (; born 13 June 1969) is a French writer, novelist, and filmmaker. She is known for her work exploring gender, sexuality, and people who live in poverty or other marginalised conditions.
Work
Despentes' work is an inventory of ...
, who was seeking actresses to perform explicit unsimulated sex in her first film ''Baise-moi
''Baise-moi'' is a 2000 French crime thriller film written and directed by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi and starring Karen Lancaume and Raffaëla Anderson. It is based on the novel by Despentes, first published in 1993. The film recei ...
'' (Fuck Me, Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi
Coralie Trinh Thi (born 11 April 1976) is a former pornographic actress, also known for writing and directing with Virginie Despentes the film ''Baise-moi'' (2000). During her career as a porn performer, she was generally just credited as Coral ...
, 2000). In addition to Lancaume, Raffaëla Anderson
Raffaëla Anderson (born Malika Amrane on 8 January 1976) is a French former adult film performer. During her porn career, she was often credited as Raphaëlla (also spelled Raphaëla).
Career
Anderson studied to be a secretary. She entered ...
, another French porn actress, was also chosen. The film is based on the novel by Virginie, which narrates the encounter between Nadine (Karen) and Manu (Raffaëla) and her subsequent flight, transformed into an vengeance against society and the male gender.
Despentes described her début as a feminist argument in the style of Thelma and Louise
Thelma is a female given name. It was popularized by Victorian writer Marie Corelli who gave the name to the title character of her 1887 novel ''Thelma''. It may be related to a Greek word meaning "will, volition" see ''thelema''). Note that altho ...
but with real sex scenes, rape and murder. Following the film, Anderson decided to pursue a career in mainstream film, while Lancaume started easing her workload compared to previous years. She eventually abandoned the pornographic industry in 2002, after six years in the business.
Death
Lancaume committed suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
on 28 January 2005, by taking an overdose of temazepam
Temazepam (sold under the brand names Restoril among others) is a medication of the benzodiazepine class which is generally used to treat severe or debilitating insomnia. It is taken by mouth. Temazepam is rapidly absorbed, and significant hypno ...
and alcohol, in her ex-boyfriend's apartment in Paris, France. She was 32.[
]
Filmography
* ''Black Bastard 12'' (video) (2002)
* ''La marionnette'' (video) (2001)
* ''Lady Chérie'' (video) (as Karen Lacome) (2001)
* ''À feu et à sexe sur la Riviera'' (video) (2001)
* ''Alta borghesia'' (video) (as Karen Lacombe) (2000)
* ''Baise-moi
''Baise-moi'' is a 2000 French crime thriller film written and directed by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi and starring Karen Lancaume and Raffaëla Anderson. It is based on the novel by Despentes, first published in 1993. The film recei ...
'' as Nadine (as Karen Bach) (2000)
* ''Harcèlement au féminin'' (video) (2000)
* ''Inferno'' (video) (2000)
* ''Les interdits de la gynéco'' (video) as Le docteur Lancaume (2000)
* ''Niqueurs-nés'' (video) (1999)
* ''L'empreinte du vice'' (video) as Maid in the bordello (1999)
* ''Acteurs porno en analyse'' (video) (1999)
* ''World Sex Tour 21: France'' (video) (1999)
* ''Anal Power 3'' (video) (1999)
* ''Danila Visconti'' (video) (1999)
* ''Hotdorix'' (video) (1999)
* ''Il residence della vergogna'' (video) (1999)
* ''Le château des désirs'' (video) (1999)
* ''L'enjeu du désir'' (video) (1999)
* ''Le principe de plaisir'' (video) (1998)
* ''Cindy'' (video) as Veronica (1998)
* ''Lili'' (video) (1998)
* ''Girl of Casino'' (1998)
* ''Mad Sex'' (video) (1998)
* ''An American Girl in Paris'' (video) (1998)
* ''Bérénice nique'' (video) (1998)
* ''Don Tonino'' (video) (1998)
* ''Exhibition 99'' (1998)
* ''Fuga dall'Albania'' (video) as Helen (1998)
* ''Journal d'une infirmière'' (video) (1998)
* ''Necrofilia'' (video) (1998)
* ''Racconti dall'oltretomba'' (video) (1998)
* ''Le fétichiste'' (video) (1997)
* ''The 5 Beginners'' (video) (1997)
* ''Sacro e profano'' (video) (as Karen Lancoume) (1997)
* ''La maledizione del castello'' (video) (1997)
* ''Antefutura'' (video) (1997)
* ''Bourgeoisie violée'' (video) (1997)
* ''Incest' Air'' (video) as La fille (1997)
* ''La mante religieuse'' (video) (1997)
* ''Papà , ti scopo tua moglie'' (video) (1997)
* ''Sexe en Eaux Troubles'' (video) (1997)
* ''Private Gold 25: When the Night Falls'' (video) (1997)
* ''Teeny Exzesse 48 - Sperma zum Dessert'' (video) (1997)
* ''Teeny Exzesse 51 - Karbol-Mäuschen'' (video) (1997)
* ''Oberstabsärztin'' (video) (as Carene Lancome) (1997)
* ''L'indécente aux enfers'' (video) (1997)
* ''World Sex Tour 15: France'' (video) (1996)
* ''Le Majordome'' (video) (1995)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lancaume, Karen
1973 births
2005 suicides
Drug-related suicides in France
French people of German descent
French people of Moroccan-Berber descent
French pornographic film actresses
French film actresses
Actresses from Lyon
Alcohol-related deaths in France
20th-century French women
2005 deaths