Leo Ford (born Leo John Hilgeford; July 5, 1957 – July 17, 1991) was an American

pornographic actor 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 ...

who appeared in

gay pornographic films ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

and

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

pornographic movies 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 erotical ...

and magazines in the 1980s. He was born in Dayton, Ohio.

Career

In 1989, Ford was crowned King of the Beaux Arts Ball in New York City. His Queen was Melissa Slade. Ford paired with David Alan Reis aka ''"Lance"'' in ''Leo & Lance'' and ''Blonds Do It Best'', Leo and Lance directed by William Higgins; Blonds Do It Best directed by Richard Morgan. In his starring role for the film ''Games'', directed by Steve Scott, Ford played a medal-winning swimmer in the

Gay Games The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was starte ...

competition, with

Al Parker Al Parker (born Andrew Robert Okun; June 25, 1952 – August 17, 1992) was a gay American porn star, producer, and director. He died from complications of AIDS at the age of 40. Early career Parker was born in Natick, Massachusetts. After arriv ...

playing a photographer assigned to take professional portraits of the athlete. In a scene that foreshadowed what happened to Ford in real life, his character had a severe motorcycle accident that left him hospitalized and in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

Private life

Ford had a relationship with cult actor Divine. The two traveled together and he made appearances at clubs in which Divine was contracted to perform. After Divine's death, Ford began a relationship with Craig Markle. Ford and Markle lived together in Los Angeles and Hawaii and raised tropical birds. After Ford's death Markle ran a travel agency and oversaw Ford's collection of pictures from his career.

Death

On July 15th, 1991, while driving his motorcycle, Ford was struck by a truck making an illegal turn onto Sunset Boulevard. Ford suffered massive head trauma and died two days later on July 17th. Craig Markle was riding with him but suffered only minor injuries. Ford was cremated and his ashes sent to San Francisco, where after a wake at Josie's Bar they were scattered near the Golden Gate Bridge.

Selected videography

Gay

*''Best of Leo Ford *''Blondes Do It Best'' (1986) *''Colossal Cocks 5'' *''Flashbacks'' (J. Brian) (1980) *''Games'' (1983) *''Leo & Lance'' (1983) *''New York City Pro'' (1982) *''A Night at Alfies'' *''Sailor in the Wild'' (1983) *''Sex in the Great Outdoors'' (1980–1984) *''Spokes'' (1983) *''Stiff Sentence'' (1986) *''Style'' (1982) *''William Higgins Class Reunion'' (1983) *''Summer Of Scott Noll'' (1981)

Bisexual

*''Best Bi Far #1'' *''Passion by Fire: The Big Switch 2'' *''True Crimes of Passion''

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Leo 1957 births 1991 deaths American male pornographic film actors LGBT pornographic film actors American LGBT actors LGBT people from Ohio Motorcycle road incident deaths Male actors from Dayton, Ohio Pornographic film actors from Ohio Road incident deaths in California 20th-century American male actors 20th-century LGBT people