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In a December 1992 interview for ''Manshots'', recalling how he was asked to pick a screen pseudonym for billing, Locke said, "They asked me, 'What name do you want?, 'and I said, ‘My name.‘ I'm very proud of my work and everything I do. An artist signs his name to the canvas, and I sign my name."{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
In a December 1992 interview for ''Manshots'', recalling how he was asked to pick a screen pseudonym for billing, Locke said, "They asked me, 'What name do you want?, 'and I said, ‘My name.‘ I'm very proud of my work and everything I do. An artist signs his name to the canvas, and I sign my name."{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}


Locke's age, musculature, dark hair, and hirsute frame have been credited with contributing to the popularity of "macho gay male" imagery in gay adult cinema and culture of the 1980s and 1990s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mercer|first=John|date=2012-09-01|title=Coming of age: Problematizing gay porn and the eroticized older man|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2012.681187|journal=Journal of Gender Studies|volume=21|issue=3|pages=313–326|doi=10.1080/09589236.2012.681187|issn=0958-9236}}</ref> He is also regarded as having been an integral part of a highly-developed star system in gay adult films, with a filmography and physique that helped define the parameters of gay adult film.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Waugh|first=Thomas|date=March 1985|title=Men's Pornography: Gay vs Straight|url=https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC30folder/PornWaugh.html|journal=Jump Cut|volume=30|pages=30-35}}</ref>
Tall, well built, and ruggedly handsome, Locke became a popular film star before he even realized it, partly because he worked for auteur directors who marketed their movies as if they were mainstream Hollywood productions.


==Filmography==
==Filmography==

Revision as of 19:09, 13 August 2021

Richard Holt Locke
Born(1941-06-11)June 11, 1941
East Oakland, California
DiedSeptember 25, 1996(1996-09-25) (aged 55)
Sacramento, California
Other namesTy Winslow
Occupationpornographic film actor
Years active1975–1983
Height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
FamilyRobert H. Locke

Richard Holt Locke (June 11, 1941 – September 25, 1996) was an actor in gay erotic films of the 1970s and 1980s, who went on to become an AIDS educator and activist.[1] As a performer in adult cinema, Locke has been credited with being one of the "earliest and most widely emulated VCR stars" in gay erotic cinema, as well as someone whose performance and physicality contributed to the evolution of gay sexual behavior in the 1970s and 1980s.[2]

Early life

Born on June 11, 1941, in East Oakland, California, Locke graduated from Pleasant Hill High School at eighteen, and spent the next three years in the army stationed in Germany as a tank mechanic. Returning to California, he earned a degree at Chico State University, majoring in History and Film.[3]

Locke was open about his homosexuality with his family,[4] to which he had close ties. His brother, Robert H. Locke, was also gay and wrote and gave interviews about his life with his Richard. Both parents were ultimately supportive of their sons' homosexuality, with their mother encouraging both to "be who [they] wanted to be."[5]

Career

One of Locke's first roles in adult film was Passing Strangers for the director Arthur Bressan in 1974,[6] and that same year he was featured in Dreamer for the adult film director Jim West. He went on to have a prolific career in erotic cinema, particularly after his recurring lead role as "Hank" in Joe Gage's landmark "Working Man Trilogy" of films: Kansas City Trucking Co. (1976), El Paso Wrecking Corp. (1978), and L.A. Tool & Die (1979).[7][8] His last adult film performance was in 1988, and in 1994, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Gay Erotic Video Awards in Los Angeles.[citation needed] He returned to the screen in 1995 to play a non-sexual role in Jerry Douglas' The Diamond Stud, which was his last appearance in erotic film.[citation needed]

In a December 1992 interview for Manshots, recalling how he was asked to pick a screen pseudonym for billing, Locke said, "They asked me, 'What name do you want?, 'and I said, ‘My name.‘ I'm very proud of my work and everything I do. An artist signs his name to the canvas, and I sign my name."[citation needed]

Locke's age, musculature, dark hair, and hirsute frame have been credited with contributing to the popularity of "macho gay male" imagery in gay adult cinema and culture of the 1980s and 1990s.[9] He is also regarded as having been an integral part of a highly-developed star system in gay adult films, with a filmography and physique that helped define the parameters of gay adult film.[10]

Filmography

  • Pool Party
  • Take One
  • Passing Strangers (1975)
  • Forbidden Letters (1976)
  • Daddy Dearest (1984)
  • Kansas City Trucking Co. (1976)
  • El Paso Wrecking Corp. (1977)
  • L.A. Tool and Die (1979)
  • Gemini (1979)
  • The Sins of Johnny X (1975)
  • Two Days in a Hot Place (1979)
  • Cruisin' the Castro (1981)
  • Sixty Niner
  • Best Of The Superstars (1981)
  • Heatstroke (1982)

Beginning in 1977, apart from his screen work, Locke put together a stage show and made personal appearances at gay theaters throughout the US.

Later life and death

Diagnosed HIV positive in 1983, Locke retired from stage and screen and became an activist against the virus. He took education at the American Red Cross and the Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York City, then used his name and celebrity to make personal appearances at sensible sex seminars around the country. Eventually, Locke moved back to Desert Hot Springs near Palm Springs, California. In 1975 he had settled on an old soldier settlement property and built a geodesic domed home, powered by electricity from his own windmill. He did volunteer work from the Desert AIDS Project and gave weekly messages at the Villa Caprice Hotel in nearby Cathedral City. When his health began failing in February 1996, he moved to an apartment in Sacramento to be close to his family and the medical facilities at UC Davis Medical Center.[11] Locke was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 1994 Gay Erotic Video Awards in Los Angeles. He returned to the screen in 1995 to play a non-sexual role in Jerry Douglas' The Diamond Stud, which was his last appearance.

He also wrote the books Locke Out, In The Heat Of Passion. He was working on two unfinished autobiographies, Living and Dying. His one-act play, Loving, was filmed in 1995 in Toronto for future release.

He died of AIDS complications on September 25, 1996, at UC Davis Medical Center near Sacramento, California.[11] Services were held on September 29, 1996, in Sacramento, with interment at Benicia Cemetery outside Oakland.

Awards

  • 1994 Gay Erotic Video Awards Hall of Fame

See also

References

  1. ^ May, Meredith (2007-10-12). "S.F. library requesting everyday photos from gay community". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  2. ^ McIntosh, David (1995). "Pornutopian premises, positive practices: Michael Balser's video art and activism". Fuse Magazine. 18 (5): 21–27.
  3. ^ Locke, Robert (1978). "My Brother the Porn Star". Retrieved 2021-07-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Escoffier, Jeffrey (2009). Bigger than life : the history of gay porn cinema from beefcake to hardcore. Philadelphia: Running Press. pp. 152–153. ISBN 978-0-7867-4753-5. OCLC 647869684.
  5. ^ May, Meredith (2007-10-12). "S.F. library requesting everyday photos from gay community". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  6. ^ Huston, Johnny Ray (2020-07-17). "New restorations of Arthur Bressan Jr.'s films make for porn reborn". 48hills. Retrieved 2021-07-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ Jones, Brian (June 19, 1986). "Daddy Dearest". Bay Area Reporter. Vol. 16, no. 25. p. 11. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  8. ^ Conkin, Dennis (1996-03-10). "Richard Locke Dies at 55". Bay Area Reporter. Vol. 26, no. 40. p. 28. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  9. ^ Mercer, John (2012-09-01). "Coming of age: Problematizing gay porn and the eroticized older man". Journal of Gender Studies. 21 (3): 313–326. doi:10.1080/09589236.2012.681187. ISSN 0958-9236.
  10. ^ Waugh, Thomas (March 1985). "Men's Pornography: Gay vs Straight". Jump Cut. 30: 30–35.
  11. ^ a b Robert Locke. "Queer Heroes".
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