Rhonda Jo Petty (born March 30, 1955) is an American

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 ...

. She is a member of 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.XRCO Hall of Fame The XRCO Hall of Fame lists well-known adult entertainment works and workers. The list is managed by X-Rated Critics Organization and inducted annually during the XRCO Award The XRCO Awards are given by the American X-Rated Critics Organizati ...

Known life and known career

Petty was born in

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North H ...

and raised in

Chatsworth, California Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...

. Her first lead role was in ''Disco Lady,'' released in 1978, due to her physical resemblance to the at-the-time popular mainstream actress

Farrah Fawcett Farrah Leni Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she playe ...

. (She was, indeed, promoted as "the Farrah Fawcett look-alike," which was also a marketing point of ''Little Orphan Dusty,'' released at the same approximate time.) Suitably, another of her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

s, "Sarah Dawcett," traded off on that resemblance. However, Petty had obviously larger breasts than did the real Fawcett—a physical aspect the "look-alike" promotion glossed over. Petty was popular because she was unique in the industry for her time during the 1970s; she shaved her private parts and she often took part in then unconventional

fisting Fisting, handballing, fist-fucking, brachiovaginal, or brachioproctic insertion is a sexual activity that involves inserting a hand into the vagina or rectum. Once insertion is complete, the fingers are either clenched into a fist or kept straig ...

scenes. She performed in numerous films with early porn icon John Holmes, in addition to performing often in

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, 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 n ...

scenes. Her career was at its height in the late 1970s and the early to middle 1980s. Petty starred in the film which debuted Holmes's future wife, Laurie Rose, who was then using the

Misty Dawn Misty Dawn (also known as Marla Lee Gardner, Lori Holmes, Lori Rose, or Laurie Holmes; born May 15, 1963) is a former adult industry performer. Dawn acted in pornographic films and videos, and was an exotic dancer. She married fellow pornographi ...

; this was ''The Greatest Little Cathouse in Las Vegas,'' released in 1982. Petty "became one of aurie'sfavorite actresses for the longest time." The

Internet Adult Film Database The Internet Adult Film Database (IAFD) is an online database of information pertaining to, in United States, the pornography industry: actors, actresses, directors, studios, distributors and pornographic films. History The predecessor to IAFD ...

notes that Petty brought her adult-film career to a close in 1991.

References

External links

Conversations with Rhonda Jo Petty
(retrieved August 16, 2007) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Petty, Rhonda Jo Living people American pornographic film actresses Pornographic film actors from California 1955 births 21st-century American women People from North Hollywood, Los Angeles