Casey Donovan (actor)
- For the Australian Idol winner, see Casey Donovan (singer)
Casey Donovan, also known as John Calvin "Cal" Culver (2 November, 1943 - 10 August, 1987) was an American male pornographic actor (porn star) of the 1970s and 1980s, appearing primarily in adult films and videos catering to gay male audiences. Casey's appeal came largely from his natural good looks, his boy-next-door persona, and especially for his great enthusiasm for sex, both on and off the set. In many ways, he was the epitome of the free love and hedonism of the 1970s and early 80s.
Casey Donovan was born John Calvin Culver on 2 November, 1943, in East Bloomfield, New York. After working for a time as a teacher at the private Ethical Culture Fieldston School on New York City's Central Park West, he began acting in summer stock theater as Cal Culver. He also made money on the side as a male escort. By the late 1960s and early 70's, he was appearing in plays like Captain Brassbound's Conversion with Ingrid Bergman, The Merchant of Venice with Rosemary Harris, and an off-Broadway gay-themed play, Circle in the Water. Cal was also modeling, appearing in numerous ads and magazines.
In 1971, Cal played a supporting role in a low budget sexploitation thriller film, Ginger. This in turn led to an offer to appear in Casey, a gay pornographic film in which Cal played the title role, a gay man visited by his fairy godmother Wanda (Cal playing a dual role in drag), and is granted a series of wishes which make him sexually irresistible to other men. Cal later took the character's name, Casey, and that of popular singer Donovan to create the pseudonym under he would appear in all his other erotic roles.
Cal first appeared as Casey Donovan in Boys in the Sand, directed by Wakefield Poole, in 1972. The film was an instant success, with even big name mainstream celebrities going to the premiere. Today the film is considered one of the great classics of male erotic cinema, although stricter obscenity guidelines in some states forced a change of the title to Men in the Sand. Despite the success and celebrity the film gained for him, Cal/Casey soon realized that the only real doors it opened for him professionally was as a star of still more gay erotic films. These included The Back Row, with George Payne, LA Tool & Die, with Bob Blount and Richard Locke, The Other Side of Aspen, with Al Parker and Dick Fisk, Boys in the Sand II, and Inevitable Love, with Jon King and Jamie Wingo. He also featured in a number of heterosexual porn films, notably The Opening of Misty Beethoven.
Outside his adult film career, Casey had a successful off-Broadway run in the play Tubstrip, written and directed by Jerry Douglas and was involved in a close relationship with former film and television star and author Tom Tryon. He also tried, unsuccessfully, to run a bed and breakfast, Casa Donovan, in Key West.
By 1985, Casey's health had begun to deteriorate, as he had contracted the virus, HIV. He worked with many HIV/AIDS charities, counseled his fans to practice safe sex and get tested for HIV. He performed in a safe sex film for the Gay Men's Health Crisis, although he himself lived in denial that he had the syndrome, even as his health got worse. Cal Culver, aka Casey Donovan, died from an AIDS-related pulmonary infection in Inverness, Florida on 10 August 1987. A biography of Cal Culver's life, Boy in the Sand: Casey Donovan, All-American Sex Star, by Roger Edmonson, was published in 1998.
Filmography
- The Back Row, 1972 & 2001 restored version complied with a new movie. With (1972) George Payne, Robin Anderson, David Knox, Warren Carlton, Chris Villette, Arthur Graham, and Robert Tristan and (2001) Kyle Kennedy, Ryan Zane, Chad Hunt, Ethan Richards, Mark Slade, Dante Foxx, Rob Kirk, Danny Lopez, Thomas Bond, and Tanner Reeves. Directed by Jerry Douglas.
- Casey (Hand in Hand Films/Bijou Classic) with Angelo Waine, Sparrow Guano and Nat Grey.
- L.A. Tool & Die with Richard Locke, Joe Gage, Paul Baressi, Bob Blount, Johnny Falconberg, Michael Kearns and Will Seagers.
- Men & Films interview documentary with Rod Phillips and Daniel Holt.
- Moving with Burt Edwards, Tom Wright, Val Martin, Peter Fisk and Kurt Gerard. Directed by Wakefield Poole.
- Non-Stop with Daniel Holt, Steve Anthony, Steve Collins, Jorge Rodriquez and Eric Ryan. Directed by Steve Scott.
- Other Side of Aspen I (Falcon Studios Videopac #1) with Chad Benson, Dick Fisk, Al Parker, and Jeff Turk.
- The Wakefield Poole Collection compliation of Boys in the Sand (1971), Bijou (1972), and Boys in the Sand 2 (1986), with Cable, Tom Bradford, Peter Fisk, Bill Harrison, Daniel DiCiccicio, Tommy Moore, Pat Allen, Dave Connors, Tony Williams, Paul Irish, Victor Houston, Robert Lewis, Rocco Passalini, Michael Green, Bruce Williams, and Roger.
