Christy Canyon (born June 17, 1966) is a retired

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 ...

and American radio personality. She is an inductee of the AVN and XRCO Hall of Fame.

Career

Canyon has performed in over 100 adult films. She retired from performing in front of the camera three times, having shot films from September 1984 to March 1985; June 1989 to December 1992; and 1995 to 1997 (as an exclusive/contract performer for

Vivid Vivid may refer to: Music * Vivid (band), a Japanese rock band * "Vivid" (song), by Electronic, 1999 *"ViViD", a 2016 song by Loona from '' HeeJin'' Albums * ''Vivid'' (Vivian Green album), 2015 * ''Vivid'' (Crystal Kay album), 2012 * ''Vivi ...

). She also appeared in photo spreads for ''

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

'' and '' Swank'' magazine. In her autobiography, Canyon stated that porn actor Greg Rome approached her while she was waiting for a ride in Hollywood, and told her that she would be a terrific figure model. He gave her the business card of adult magazine and film recruiter/agent

Jim South James Marvin Souter, Jr. (September 17, 1939 - August 28, 2020), known professionally as Jim South, was an American recruiter and agent in the pornography industry. Early life South sold insurance in Dallas, Texas for a few years and moved to Lo ...

, of World Modeling Agency. After visiting South's office, Canyon posed for men's magazines and began her video career shortly thereafter. She has stated that her first on-screen performance was with

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 ...

in 1984's ''"Swedish Erotica 57,"'' and that Jeremy soon became a close friend in the business. Christy Canyon at 2005 AEE Sunday 4

From 2005 to March 2011, she was co-host of

Sirius XM Satellite Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius ...

Playboy Radio Playboy Radio was an internet radio station originally launched on XM Satellite Radio on September 1, 2002. Its programming was dedicated to similar topics and celebrity personalities found in its parent publication, Playboy Magazine. It was XM ...

show ''Night Calls.'' As of April 2011 she became co-host of

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

's ''Spice Sex Circus'' with

Ginger Lynn Ginger Lynn Allen (born December 14, 1962), known professionally as Ginger Lynn, is an American pornographic actress and model who was a premier adult-entertainment star of the 1980s. She also had minor roles in various B movies. ''Adult Vide ...

and sole host of

's weekly ''Legends of Porn.'' She co-hosted ''Radio Sex You Porn'' on Sirius/XM Channel 102, until October 2013 when the channel went off the air. In December 2013, she became the host of ''The Christy Canyon Show'' on Vivid Radio on Sirius/XM Channel 102.

Retirement

Canyon is retired from performing in adult films and dancing on the road, but she still has an adult-related career, concentrating on her

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

, working as a host for

Radio, and selling merchandise on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

and ABIBIDS. In 2003, she published her

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, titled ''Lights, Camera, Sex'' (). In November 2005, she appeared as a judge on the first season of ''

Jenna's American Sex Star ''Jenna's American Sex Star'' is an adult pay-per-view reality television series hosted by Jenna Jameson on Playboy TV that ran from 2005 until 2006. Premise In each episode, with Jameson as the host, five contestants competed in a series of sex ...

.'' The

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

show ''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the progra ...

'' featured Canyon in a 2010 interview, in a segment titled ''Porn: When the Camera Stops'' as part of the series ''Modern Sex in America.''

Recognition

Canyon has won several "best female performance"-type awards and is a member of both the

XRCO The X-Rated Critics Organization (XRCO) is a group of writers and editors from the American adult entertainment industry who each year present awards in recognition of achievement within the industry. After the controversy and criticism of the ...

and AVN Halls of Fame. She was namechecked by English

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

band

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Wirral Peninsula, Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboar ...

on their 1993 track " Heaven Is", in the line: ''"Heaven is Christy Canyon falling in love with me." ''

Personal life

Canyon has been married and divorced three times and is the mother of two adopted children.

Awards

*1991

F.O.X.E. Fans of X-Rated Entertainment (F.O.X.E., also known as FOXE) is a United States-based pornography fan organization founded by adult film actor, director, and critic William Margold and actress Viper.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 ...

*1996 AVN Best Tease Performance for ''Comeback'' *1997 AVN Best Group Scene - Film for ''The Show'' *2004

Free Speech Coalition The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) is a non-profit industry trade group, trade association of the pornography and Sex industry, adult entertainment industry in the United States. Founded in 1991, it opposes the passage and enforcement of obscenity l ...

Lifetime Achievement Award *

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.Wild Things'' (1985) *''Hollywood Starlets'' (1985) *''Educating Mandy'' (1985) *''

Black Throat ''Black Throat'' is a 1985 interracial pornographic film directed by one-half of the Dark Brothers "purveyors of fine filth" team, Gregory Dark. It stars Peter North, Christy Canyon, Sahara, Craig Roberts, Purple Passion, Tony Martino, Kevin Ja ...

'' (1985) *''Holly Does Hollywood'' (1985) * ''

Savage Fury ''Savage Fury'' is a 1985 pornographic thriller written and directed by Mark Carriere and co-written by Tina Marie. It was followed by ''Savage Fury 2'' in 1989 and ''Savage Fury 3'' in 1994. Plot Outside a pizzeria, a trio of ne'er-do-wells ...

'' (1985) *''Star 90'' (1990) *''Passages 1-4'' (1991) *''Comeback'' (1995) *''Oral Addiction'' (1996) *''Domination Nation 1 and 2'' (both 1997) *''The Top 25 Adult Stars of All Time'' (1999)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canyon, Christy 1966 births 21st-century American women writers American autobiographers American pornographic film actresses American people of Armenian descent Living people Actresses from Pasadena, California Pornographic film actors from California Radio personalities from California Women autobiographers