Seka (actress) explained

Seka
Birth Name:Dorothiea Ivonniea Hundley
Birth Place:Radford, Virginia, U.S.
Spouse:Francis "Frank" Patton
(1972; by 1977)
Other Names:Dorothea Hundley Patton

Seka (born Dorothiea Ivonniea Hundley,) is an American pornographic actress who was known in the 1980s as the Platinum Princess of Porn. In 2013, she released an autobiography about her life and career, titled Inside Seka.

Early life

Seka was born in 1954 in Radford, Virginia.[1] She recalled having "a plain, normal childhood" with two siblings, a brother and sister.[2] Her family later moved to Hopewell, Virginia, where, nicknamed "Dottie", she won a beauty pageant at Hopewell High School. She was later crowned Miss Southside Virginia.[1]

She married Francis "Frank" Patton on April 21, 1972, a week after her 18th birthday. She worked for Reynolds Metals Company, maker of Reynolds Wrap household aluminum. She later became a clerk at an adult bookstore, where she began dating the owner.[3]

Career

Beginnings: 1970sā€“1990s

After briefly operating a chain of seven adult bookstores in Virginia, Seka sold her interest in the business and moved to Las Vegas, where she did her first erotic modeling for a magazine. She later moved to Los Angeles, where she appeared in her first pornographic film. She told an interviewer in 2006:

Seka used the stage name "Linda Grasser" early in her career.[4] She eventually adopted the name "Seka" after a female blackjack dealer she knew in Las Vegas.[5] By the mid-1980s, she was writing and directing adult films, as well as starring in them.

She stopped performing in pornography in 1992 because of what she saw as the adult film industry's poor response to the AIDS epidemic, including an unwillingness to require condom use or routine HIV screening. She would go on to model for Club magazine and release videos through the website AEBN, as well as performing striptease on tour.

Later appearances

For several years beginning in 1994, Seka hosted a talk show called Let's Talk About Sex on Chicago FM radio station WLUP.[6]

In 2005, she moved from Chicago to Kansas City, operating her fan club through her own website. In February 2007 she announced her first hardcore scene in nearly 15 years, distributed via online pay-per-view.[7]

Seka has appeared on various television talk shows including The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Phil Donahue Show, and The Morton Downey Jr. Show.[8] She appeared on Saturday Night Live in the 1980s and was interviewed for the documentary After Porn Ends (2012).

Reception and legacy

PopMatters describes Seka as "one of the adult industry's most recognizable superstars". She was known as the adult film world's "Platinum Princess"[9] whom the magazine High Society called the "Marilyn Monroe of porn". Pornographic film actor Jamie Gillis, who performed with her numerous times, said "Seka was porn, but a little above itsort of a white trash queen in a way".[10] Director Brian DePalma stated Seka had genuine acting talent.[11]

In the DVD commentary for the film Boogie Nights (1997), director Paul Thomas Anderson stated that she was the main inspiration for his character of Amber Waves due to her involvement in a documentary about pornographic film actor John Holmes.[12]

Personal life

Seka was married to Frank Patton from 1972, to no later than 1977. She dated comedian Sam Kinison in the mid-1980s, crediting him for arranging her appearance on Saturday Night Live.[3]

Awards

Seka is a member of the AVN Hall of Fame,[1] XRCO Hall of Fame, and Urban X Hall of Fame.[13]

Partial filmography

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: . Seka Recalls Salad Days of Porn in Autobiography . AVN . 20 July 2024 . 24 May 2006 . interview.
  2. Web site: Seka, A Chiller Theatre Interview . John . Skerchock . n.d. . OfficialSeka.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20110514092243/http://www.officialseka.com/articles/chiller.html . May 14, 2011 . interview.
  3. Web site: Seka, Raising Penises For Three Generations . 2014-10-04 . John . Reed . July 26, 2012 . Vice . July 28, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120728061851/http://www.vice.com/read/seka-raising-penises-for-three-generations . live . interview.
  4. Web site: Desperately Seeking Seka . March 31, 2005 . Bill . Gibron . PopMatters . https://web.archive.org/web/20090821105120/http://www.popmatters.com/film/reviews/d/desperately-seeking-seka.shtml . August 21, 2009.
  5. Web site: Seka . Joanne . Cachapero . December 11, 2007 . Eros Zine . Oakland, Calif. . https://web.archive.org/web/20071213233410/http://www.eros-ny.com/articles/2007-12-11/seka/ . December 13, 2007 . interview.
  6. Web site: Legendary Adult Movie Star Seka Sits Down with RSR to Talk about Her Career and Love for the Sport of Boxing Part I . RingSideReport . July 22, 2010 . April 11, 2010 . Brad . Berkwitt . October 7, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141007140445/http://ringsidereport.com/?p=2015 . live . interview.
  7. News: Hardcore at 52 . Peter . Rugg . 2007-02-08 . . Kansas City . interview . https://archive.today/20120906200214/http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/hardcore-at-52/Content?oid=2184372 . September 6, 2012 . dead . mdy-all.
  8. News: Saxon . Wolfgang . Morton Downey Jr., 67, Combative TV Host . The New York Times . March 14, 2001 . limited . https://web.archive.org/web/20140819090539/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/14/arts/morton-downey-jr-67-combative-tv-host.html . August 19, 2014 . live.
  9. Book: Levine . Barry . El-Faizy . Monique . All the President's Women: Donald Trump and the Making of a Predator . 2019 . Hachette Books . New York . 978-0-316-49267-6 . A third star from that time, who was known as 'Seka,' called 'the Platinum Princess of Porn' [...].
  10. Book: Legs McNeil

    . The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film Industry . Legs McNeil . Legs . McNeil . Jennifer . Osborne . 978-0-06-009659-5 . 231 . . 2006.

  11. Book: Brian De Palma: interviews. University Press of Mississippi. Brian De Palma. Laurence F. Knapp. 2003. 1-57806-516-X. 91.
  12. Anderson, Paul Thomas . Boogie Nights . 2007 . Director's commentary . DVD video . New Line Home Entertainment . Los Angeles . 978-0-7806-5761-8.
  13. "The XRCO Hall of Fame," Adam Film World Guide 1992 Directory of Adult Films, pp. 284ā€“85
  14. News: . Seka releases a new book about the pornography industry and her experiences in it . 20 July 2024 . Daily News . 15 September 2013 . New York . subscription.