Ron Jeremy is the most iconic porn star who ever lived, with very good reason. The man is still currently active, has starred in over two thousand adult films, and is one of the few straight male performers who has a face and not just a name. For someone who bears the number one spot on AVN's "The 50 Top Porn Stars of All Time," Jeremy is not exactly what'd you expect. He is a short, hairy, rotund little man, yet he has proved that size matters in the industry, and you're height isn't what it is.Jeremy states in Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy that he began his career during "the golden age of the adult industry," which was from roughly 1975 to 1983 we're told. Other adult film directors, such as Jim Holliday state that during that time, adult films were professionally made and could compete with any B-movie production from Hollywood. They had talent, they had a script, they had direction, and they had solid special effects. They weren't just complete porn, but had some inkling of substance, along the lines of the softcore stuff you get on CineMax after 11:00 PM. Now, we're told, the industry is over-glamorized, fake, lacks any form of substance, and due to performance-enhancing drugs like Viagra (which Jeremy is staunchly against, saying he wants to rely on himself rather than a drug), anyone can be a porn star in the current day and age.Jeremy grew up as "Ron Hyatt," but adopted his middle name as his last name upon entering the industry. His father was a physicist, intelligent and supportive, but his mother was gravely ill with Parkinson's Disease, which led to her death shortly after being institutionalized in a nursing home. Jeremy went on to study acting and used education as a fallback career, obtaining a master's degree teaching special education. All he ever wanted to be was a performer, but an acting job is not a stable career, as we all know, and work in 1970 New York was difficult to come by. He feared that he'd never get the break he rightfully deserved because he'd never get the chance to show people he was a good actor since there was an appalling lack of work.After his girlfriend posted a naked picture of him in the new issue of "Playgirl" magazine, Jeremy seriously considered a career in the adult industry and began his odyssey in the 1970's, going on to star in well over two-thousand adult pictures and several mainstream films directed by the likes of Trey Parker, Adam Rifkin, and Troy Duffy. During the course of the documentary, we speak to people like Rifkin and Duffy, who recall working with "The Hedgehog" himself. Other interviews conducted are with industry stars such as Jenna Jameson and Tabitha Stevens, who recalls Jeremy's sweet personality as something light years more attractive than a bodybuilder's arrogant one.For a man seemingly having the job almost any male would want, Jeremy seems to be a rather undesirable man, chubby, hairy, and always appearing dirty, as we're told. Yet he's sweet, charismatic, always funny, cracking jokes, a good actor, and well-built, which is why he's achieved so much likability over the years and been so reliable. Even Holliday states that if you wanted a person to be a diverse actor in an adult film, you'd be hardpressed to find someone more qualified than Ron Jeremy.Yet this is where Jeremy begins to reflect on his career with sadness and the looming idea of feeling unfulfilled. He has always wanted to be a screen performer, and he has rightfully so been on the set of several films, doing little cameos and whatnot, but due to his profession and history, he is often the subject of much ridicule and joke to the point where many question if he can be taken seriously in a mainstream work. I think in even just his cameos he has proved he can. If Jeremy were to make a film tomorrow, I wouldn't hesitate to see it.Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy, at seventy-four minutes, is a complete documentary, revealing, informative, and oddly enough, charming in its own right, examining a controversial industry and one of the most recognized performers in it. It neglects to provide a strong enough commentary on the industry from Jeremy himself, who briefly responds to the public's long-term idea that it degrades women, but having the title character be the concept of a full-length documentary is nonetheless a substantial one and the result is successful and highly entertaining. This is where I'd end with some sex or pornography pun, but it seems to be too low for such an admirably charming man.Starring: Ron Jeremy, Jim Holliday, Tabitha Stevens, and Jenna Jameson. Directed by: Scott J. Gill.

Ron Jeremy was not always the fat, slightly slovenly looking man he is today. When he entered the pornography business in the late 1970s he was reasonably if not uniquely attractive, determined to make a name for himself on stage and screen as a serious actor, and he saw pornography as a way to pay the bills and make contacts in the film industry.The idea was not quite as far-out as it might seem. At the time, pornography was a big screen venue and films came with plots, dialogue, and reasonable budgets. As it happened, Jeremy had what it took to be a porn star and then some: a nine and three-quarters inch endowment and the amazing ability to control it on cue. But he failed to recognize a well-established show business fact that not even such legendary (and comparatively discreet) performers as Gypsy Rose Lee could overcome. Once a stripper, always a stripper. Once a porn star, always a porn star.Twenty years after he made his adult film debut Ron Jeremy is still a porn star, only these days he is a chunky, sloppy one who commands a following largely due to his unlikely appearance and quasi-comic persona and who continues the career thanks to that near-inhuman control. And even as he takes a monthly AIDS test, scrambles for extra and bit work in mainstream film, and makes one porn flick after another he continues to dream of a "legitimate" acting career that will never come.In theory, it is the stuff of both great comedy and great tragedy, but this fairly short documentary is neither; it has a touch of pathos, a touch of humor, but it never goes far enough in its exploration of Jeremy as a human being. I did laugh a little and I did feel a bit sorry for him, but the big questions were never asked and the big issues were never more than indicated. In the end, I feel like I met Jeremy at a party in passing--and when he left the room I knew little more about him than I did when he first came in.GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Yup, Ron Jeremy is, well how would you say, gifted. Somehow, despite not being the most attractive chap, he seems to win the hearts and other parts of ladies who happen to love having sex. This old style porn is almost nostalgic, if sex can be nostalgic that is. I prefer the new age porn and must admit to being a member of one or two adult themed sites (my favorite being www.hardcorehoneyz.com). However, there's something groovy - in a shaft, flower power, natural heaven type way - about this release. Also, it's hilarious. the director is right on target in depicting the mundane yet bizarre inner workings of porn, using Jeremy as the court jester tour guide. But the film really shines when The Hedgehog is center stage, with his unlikely, raunchy, compelling charisma. Highly recommended. Just pass it off as a documentary or tutorial of the perfect, vet very lucky, porn star. Peace.

Ron Jeremy is the biggest (wink wink, nudge nudge) porn star in the world. With over 1600 adult films to his credit, Jeremy has been working in the adult film business for nearly a quarter of a century. One would expect a documentary about his life to be salacious sleazy stuff and while Porn Star does have elements of baseness (how could it not?) it chooses to focus on Ron Jeremy the man, not the movie stud. We learn that he holds a Master Degree in special education, and was once a teacher. All his friends talk about his legendary cheapness. Jeremy is very open in front of the camera, sometimes almost too much so. He can be a charming guy when he wants to, but there is an air of desperation that bleeds through his well constructed public persona. Director Scott J. Gill humanizes Jeremy and somehow makes you feel pity for a man who says he has slept with over 4000 women.