Asia Carrera Lemmon (born Jessica Steinhauser, August 6, 1973) 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 dis ...

Early life

Asia Carrera was born Jessica Steinhauser in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to a German mother and Japanese father, the oldest of four siblings. She was raised on Lippincott Road in

Little Silver, New Jersey Little Silver is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,131, an increase of 181 (+3.0%) from the 2010 census count of 5,950, which in turn reflected a drop ...

, attending

Red Bank Regional High School Red Bank Regional High School (often abbreviated RBR) is a comprehensive regional four-year public high school and school district that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the boroughs of Little Silver, Red Bank and Shrewsbur ...

. She performed piano at Carnegie Hall at age 13 and 14. At the age of 16, she taught English at Tsuruga College in

Tsuruga, Fukui is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 66,123 in 28,604 households and the population density of 260 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Tsuruga is located in centra ...

, Japan."The Women of Porn", ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

'', March 2002, page 128 Carrera won a

National Merit Scholarship The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded, not-for-profit organizati ...

and scored over 1440 on the

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

, as well as a Garden State Scholarship for her grades. She attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

on full academic scholarship, where she majored in Japanese and business, but did not graduate. Carrera is a member of Mensa, with an IQ of 156.

Career

Adult film career

Carrera's adult film career started in 1993. In 1995, she became the first

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

performer ever to win the AVN Female Performer of the Year Award. Carrera retired from the film industry in 2003, following her marriage to Don Lemmon. Carrera lent her voice to several erotic hentai OVAs for publisher

Pink Pineapple Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

, such as ''Inmu'' (2001) and ''Shusaku'' (1999). In October 2001, Carrera attended the

Big Apple Anime Fest The Big Apple Anime Fest (BAAF) was an anime convention which was held annually between 2001 and 2003 and supported by a consortium of anime and manga companies. History Event history Cancellations Despite confirmed dates for 2004, Big Appl ...

in New York City for her voice roles and along with

Kobe Tai Kobe Tai is an American pornographic actress. Pornographic film career Tai was a contract performer with Vivid Entertainment. In 2011, ''Complex'' ranked her first on its list of "The Top 50 Hottest Asian Porn Stars of All Time". Mainstream ap ...

was an Opening Night Guest of Honor at the fest's Midnight Anime Concourse. Carrera was also in the 2012 documentary ''

After Porn Ends ''After Porn Ends'' is a 2012 American documentary film about the pornography industry. It features interviews with Asia Carrera, Nina Hartley, Mary Carey, Randy West, Richard Pacheco, John Leslie, Amber Lynn, Seka, Raylene, Bill Margold, Sh ...

'', which documents the lives of actors after they leave the adult film industry. In the documentary, she discusses her membership in Mensa. Despite being a

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

member of the group, the organization refused to link to her website because it contained pornographic elements.

Other work

In 1998, she appeared in an uncredited cameo role in the film ''

The Big Lebowski ''The Big Lebowski'' () is a 1998 crime comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler. He is assaulted as a result of mistaken ...

'' in the faux pornographic movie ''Logjammin within the film. Carrera was a guest reviewer for ''

Maximum PC ''Maximum PC'', formerly known as ''boot'', is an American magazine and website published by Future US. It focuses on cutting-edge PC hardware, with an emphasis on product reviews, step-by-step tutorials, and in-depth technical briefs. Component ...

'' magazine.

Personal life

Carrera is an atheist. As of November 2014, she wore a

colander A colander (or cullender) is a kitchen utensil used to strain foods such as pasta or to rinse vegetables. The perforated nature of the colander allows liquid to drain through while retaining the solids inside. It is sometimes also called a past ...

on her head for her Utah driver's license photograph. State law normally prohibits the wearing of hats in driver license photos, but there is an exception for religious headwear and Carerra's colander was worn in honor of the religion of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. She is one of about a dozen "Pastafarian" Utahns who have worn a colander in their official state ID photos. In September 1995, Carrera married adult film director

Bud Lee Bud Lee (born as Cameron Lyndon Bennett in September 1955 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American adult film director who is an AVN Hall of Fame member and also works as an agent fo101 Modeling, Inc Lee was married to adult film actresses Hya ...

. They divorced in 2003, but remain good friends. She married

nutritionist A nutritionist is a person who advises others on matters of food and nutrition and their impacts on health. Some people specialize in particular areas, such as sports nutrition, public health, or animal nutrition, among other disciplines. In many ...

and author Don Lemmon on December 19, 2003. The couple moved to

St. George, Utah St. George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona border, it is the principal city of the St. George Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The city lies in the northe ...

, where she gave birth to a daughter on March 4, 2005. On June 10, 2006, Lemmon was killed in a car accident outside of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Seven weeks later, on July 31, Carrera gave birth to the couple's second child. In June 2012, she gave birth to a boy whom she later placed for adoption. In 2015, she was arrested for

DUI Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

with "a reported blood alcohol content of .254 percent – more than three times Utah’s .08 legal limit." She pleaded

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neith ...

in exchange for avoiding jail time and was sentenced to house arrest. She identified investor

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net ...

as her hero on her website, which Buffett was pleased to learn. In 2017, Carrera began studies at

Dixie State University Utah Tech University (UT), formerly known as Dixie State University (DSU) and similar names, is a public university in St. George, Utah. The university offers about 240 programs (4 master's degrees, 53 bachelor's degrees, 18 associate degrees, 4 ...

with her daughter. At 11 years old, Carrera's daughter was the youngest student to ever attend college at Dixie State University and the youngest full-time college student in the state of Utah at the time.

Awards and nominations

* 1995 AVN Female Performer of the Year * 2000 AVN Best Couples Sex Scene – Film (''Search for the Snow Leopard'') * 2000 AVN Award nominee - Best Actress – Film * 2001

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 Organizat ...

inductee – XRCO Members' Choice

References

Citations

Sources

* Nakamura, Eric (1999)
"Big Money Shot: Asia Carrera"
Giant Robot. * Pollard, Nate (2011)
"Interview: Asia Carrera"
Verbicide.

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carrera, Asia 1973 births Living people Actresses from New York City American women bloggers American bloggers American female adult models American pornographic film actresses American people of German descent American pornographic film actors of Japanese descent American film actors of Asian descent People from Little Silver, New Jersey People from St. George, Utah Pornographic film actors from New Jersey Pornographic film actors from New York (state) Rutgers University alumni American atheists 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American actresses of Japanese descent Red Bank Regional High School alumni Mensans