Ron Jeremy

Ronald Jeremy Hyatt (born March 12, 1953) is an American former pornographic actor.

Nicknamed "The Hedgehog", Jeremy was ranked by AVN at No. 1 in their "50 Top Porn Stars of All Time" list. Jeremy has also made a number of non-pornographic media appearances, and director Scott J. Gill filmed a documentary about him and his legacy, '' Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy'', which was released on November 30, 2001 worldwide and on home media and digital download on March 25, 2003.

Jeremy has been accused of sexual assault more than a dozen times over the years. In June 2020, Jeremy was charged with four counts of rape and sexual assault involving four women, and in August 2020, he was charged with another 20 counts of either rape or sexual assault over a span of 16 years from 2004 to 2020 that involved 12 women and a 15-year-old girl. Upon further investigation he was indicted on 30 sexual-assault counts involving 21 victims, and as of December 2021 was in jail awaiting trial scheduled for May 2022. The trial was postponed due to mental problems, and he was committed in a psychiatric facility in March 2022.

Early life

Ronald Jeremy Hyatt was born in Queens, New York, to a middle-class Jewish family from Russia and Poland. His father, Arnold (born 1918), was a physicist and professor at Queens College, CUNY, and his mother a book editor who had served in the O.S.S. during World War II, as she spoke fluent German and French.

He graduated from Benjamin N. Cardozo High School.Hart, John
"The Hedgehog Shoots For Legit"
, ''The Village Voice'', Accessed December 6, 2007. "Long before Hollywood called, Jeremy was just another Bayside kid who enjoyed afternoons playing on his favorite tree outside his home on Bell Boulevard. He attended Benjamin Cardozo High School, where he appeared in theatrical productions like Oklahoma. One of his fellow cast members was Reginald Vel Johnson, who went on to fame in the ''Die Hard'' movie series and TV's ''Family Matters''." After high school, Jeremy attended Queen's College, CUNY, where he majored in theater and education as an undergraduate and completed a master's degree.

Pornographic film career

Jeremy left the teaching profession (he called it his " ace in the hole") to pursue a legitimate acting career on Broadway. He has said that he learned then what it was like to be broke, making no money as an actor who "starved Off-Broadway". Jeremy soon found work posing for ''Playgirl'' after his then-girlfriend submitted his photo to the magazine. Jeremy utilized this opportunity as a springboard into the adult film industry, which he viewed as a reliable means of supporting himself.

Jeremy had the nickname "The Hedgehog" bestowed upon him by fellow porn actor William Margold in 1979 after a situation on the set of the porn film ''Olympic Fever''. Jeremy flew in from New York to shoot the movie. Expecting warm California weather, he wore only a T-shirt and shorts and brought no additional clothing. During the long motorcycle ride to the set, located near Lake Arrowhead, in the California mountains, the weather deteriorated to blizzard conditions, which chilled him to the point of near hypothermia. Upon arriving at the set, Jeremy was immediately whisked away to thaw out in a hot shower. When he finished, his skin had taken on a pinkish hue from the temperature extremes, and all the many hairs on his body were standing on end. Margold's comment upon seeing Jeremy at that moment was "You are a hedgehog, my friend. A walking, talking hedgehog." Contrary to popular belief, the nickname had nothing to do with his weight, as he was quite physically fit at the time.

Jeremy is listed in the '' Guinness Book of World Records'' for "Most Appearances in Adult Films"; his entry on the Internet Adult Film Database lists more than 2,000 films in which he has performed, and an additional 285 films which he directed. By way of comparison, John Holmes, the next highest-ranked male star on the AVN Top 50 porn stars, has 384 acting credits listed on the IAFD.

One joke that made the rounds within the industry at the time was "the kinkier acts some actresses would not perform were bestiality, sadomasochism, and sex with Jeremy" because he had an atypical appearance for a porn star.

In 2006, Jeremy began a series of debates on pornography opposing Pastor Craig Gross, founder of anti-pornography website XXXchurch.com, visiting various U.S. and Canada college campuses as part of the "Porn Debate Tour".

Non-pornographic appearances

Film

Outside the adult film industry, Jeremy worked as a "special consultant" for the 1986 film ''9½ Weeks''. He appears in the 1996 horror film '' They Bite'' in a role making a film-within-a-film (''Invasion of the Fishfuckers'') – another horror film, both in the same vein as ''Humanoids from the Deep''. He also served as a consultant on the 1997 film '' Boogie Nights''—which chronicled the emergence of the fictional porn star Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg, loosely based on the life of porn star John Holmes, who had been a co-worker of Jeremy's)—and the movie '' The Chase'', in which he has a small cameo as a news cameraman. He played the monster "Blisterface" in ABC's children's show ''Bone Chillers''. He also appeared in the 1999 film ''The Boondock Saints'', played a bartender in 2002's ''Spun'' and acted in 2003's '' Zombiegeddon''. He was an extra in ''Ghostbusters'', played a male strip-club announcer in ''Detroit Rock City'', and had a cameo in ''Killing Zoe'' and in the porn spoof, ''Orgazmo''. In addition, he appeared in several productions released by Troma Entertainment, such as '' Terror Firmer'', '' Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV'' and '' Poultrygeist''.

He was the subject of a feature-length biographical documentary, '' Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy'', released in 2001 and widely distributed on DVD by mainstream retailers. In that same year he is briefly seen on the heavy metal band Fear Factory's DVD '' Digital Connectivity''. In 2003, Jeremy appeared as himself in, and lent his name to, the comedy film ''Being Ron Jeremy'', a parody of ''Being John Malkovich''. Jeremy is a frequent interviewee in documentaries about the porn industry, or related subjects such as '' Fuck: A Fuckumentary''.

He was featured in the music video "The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle" by A Day to Remember in 2007 from their CD entitled ''For Those Who Have Heart''. In 2007, he appeared in the comedy film '' Finishing the Game'' as himself. Jeremy starred in 2008 in the erotic horror film ''I Am Virgin'', which was released in 2010.

Jeremy has a cameo in '' Crank: High Voltage'', playing himself as a protester angry at the low salaries porn stars get. Another 2009 cameo was in "Stripper: Natasha Kizmet". He once again appears as himself in the 2009 release '' One-Eyed Monster'', a horror film parody predicated on the premise that an alien force takes over Jeremy's penis and begins killing people in the woods.

Jeremy is the Lead Antagonist/League Owner in the sports comedy ''Tetherball: The Movie'' and appeared in the western comedy ''Big Money Rustlas'' featuring Insane Clown Posse in 2010.

Television

In 1980, Jeremy competed on the game show ''Wheel of Fortune'', using his real last name, as Ron Hyatt. Among his winnings was a trip to Mazatlán.

Jeremy appeared in the second season of ''The Surreal Life'', during which he developed a close friendship with Tammy Faye Bakker despite her devout Christianity and disapproval of pornography, and returned to the franchise for the ninth season of '' The Surreal Life: Fame Games'', in which he finished second to Traci Bingham on the season finale, which aired on March 25, 2007. Jeremy also appeared in a segment on Comedy Central's ''Chappelle's Show''. Additionally, he made appearances on Penn and Teller's '' Bullshit!'' in episodes regarding penis enlargement and circumcision. In 2005, he appeared on the UK reality TV show, '' The Farm''. Jeremy also made a brief cameo on ''Lewis Black's Root of All Evil'', in the episode "YouTube VS Porn", in a short segment where people on the street were shown a video of hardcore pornography, and Jeremy was the only one disgusted by the video.

Jeremy was seen in the '' Robot Chicken'' episode, "A Piece of the Action", in which he was voiced by Michael Benyaer. In the episode, he and several others parody ''The Surreal Life'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. The segment lampoons his penis size by having his character unseat a knight on horseback using nothing but his erect penis. Jeremy appeared as himself in the 2001 ''Family Guy'' episode " Brian Does Hollywood", in which he is a presenter at an adult industry award show in which Brian Griffin is a nominee. Comedian Kathy Griffin went on a date with him in the third season of her reality show, '' Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List''. Jeremy has also appeared in a part on the Comedy Central show ''Tosh.0.''

In 2003, Jeremy appeared on ''The Frank Skinner Show'' and performed a duet ("I Got You Babe") with former Cabinet minister Mo Mowlam. Jeremy appeared on ''Chappelle's Show'' as himself in a spoof called "What if the Internet was a real place?", in which he asks Dave Chappelle if he would like to see some of his films. Jeremy also appeared as a guest commentator on the Fox News Channel late-night news and comedy talk show ''Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld'' in 2007. In the "Super Karate Monkey Death Car" episode of ''Newsradio'', Jeremy can be seen sitting in the audience at Jimmy James's reading, along with Brian Posehn. Jeremy appeared in ''Tosh.0'' as the falling prom girl's date. Jeremy appeared on '' Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations'', as himself, in Bourdain's "Food Porn" (Season 5) and "Food Porn 2" (Season 6) episodes. Jeremy appeared on '' Silent Library'' in 2010. In the show, he was the "Mystery Creature" that was concealed underneath a sheet in a cage, the contestant has to feed him carrots while being blindfolded.

Music

Jeremy has appeared in videos by Sublime, Mercury Rev

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