Paul Barresi

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Paul Barresi in 2002.

Paul Barresi (born 1949[1]) is an American actor, pornographic film director, a former private investigator,[2][3] and media personality.

Early life and military career

Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, when Barresi was 12 his family moved to Annapolis, Maryland for his father's job at the United States Naval Academy. Barresi was offered a wrestling scholarship to the University of Maryland but opted to instead enlist in the United States Air Force during the height of the Vietnam War. Barresi served at bases in the United States and the Philippines, and he was honorably discharged as a sergeant in 1973 after completing his tour at March Air Force Base.[4] Upon returning to civilian life, he soon began working as a fitness trainer at a gym in nearby Riverside, California.[4]

Work in modeling, theater and film

Barresi appeared in the 1972 experimental porn film LA Plays Itself. In March 1974, Barresi appeared with Cassandra Peterson in a Playgirl pictorial. Barresi was selected by Rip Colt as an early Colt model,[5] and was featured on the cover of the November 1975 Mandate. During filming in Riverside, Barresi worked as an production assistant for Raquel Welch[6] and had a small role as a bartender in The Wild Party, released in 1975. Barresi was featured on the December 1978 cover of Hustler, making him "the first man ever to appear on the cover of Hustler."[7]

The print modeling led to dozens of appearances in adult film,[8] starting with L.A. Tool & Die in 1979.[4][9][10]

Barresi wrote, produced and directed award-winning adult films. In 1992 Barresi, using the name "Joe Hammer", won the Gay Video Guide Award in the Best Specialty Release category for the fetish video, "Razor Close".[11] Barresi has been nominated for several other AVN Awards, including 8 nominations for the 1998 gay mafia epic which he wrote, directed, and produced, titled GoodFellas/BadFellas, and featuring him in a non-sexual role.[citation needed] Barresi earned a 2003 GayVN Awards nomination for "Best Non-Sex Performance — Gay or Bi" for Long Strokes, noting he got the nod "just for taking my shirt off; if I knew they wanted more, I'd have done more."[12][13] Barresi also won the 2007 GayVN award and a 2007 Grabby award for "Best Non-Sex Performance" for his work in Velvet Mafia (parts 1 and 2).[14][15] And in 2008, Barresi was inducted into the GayVN Hall of Fame.[16]

Barresi continued to direct adult films, including several popular titles for the gay market, and was particularly noted for his military themes. Adult Video News has said Barresi's directorial efforts make him "undisputedly the king of military-themed videos."[5]

In addition to his work in pornographic film and video, Barresi toured in a 1980 summer stock suite of scenes from Neil Simon plays, headlined by Paul Lynde.[17] Barresi had several roles in mainstream film and television projects, including Perfect,[18] Spontaneous Combustion,[19] JAG and Father Dowling Mysteries. Barresi told Entertainment Tonight of the difficulty crossing over into mainstream film: "No one really takes a porn actor seriously ... and no one really respects a porn actor."[20]

Involvement with tabloids and celebrity scandals

John Travolta claim and retractions

In 1990, The National Enquirer ran a front-page story describing Barresi's claim that he'd had a two-year love affair with John Travolta.[21][22][23] Barresi told the tabloid he'd met Travolta in 1982 when the actor followed him into the shower room of an L.A. health club.[22] Barresi received $100,000 from The Enquirer in exchange for the details of his relationship with Travolta.[24] Several months later, Barresi retracted his story, saying in a letter to Travolta's attorney that he had never engaged in homosexual activity with Travolta.[22]

Michael Jackson allegations

In the wake of 1993 child sexual abuse accusations against Michael Jackson, Barresi tried to sell tabloid gossip in 1994 after secretly taping two accusers in order to scoop them.[25][26] Barresi said he met and dated Stella LeMarque, then surnamed "Marcroft," before she and husband Philippe married. The LeMarques tried to sell their story after being dismissed in 1991 as workers at Jackson's Neverland Ranch, saying they had witnessed Jackson inappropriately touching Macaulay Culkin.[27] When their asking price was $100,000, Barresi said "'the hand was outside the kid's pants' ... As soon as their price went up to $500,000, the hand went inside the pants."[28]

Barresi appeared in a PBS Frontline documentary about the incident and described his involvement:

Barresi: So I called the editor at The Globe and I said, 'I have a tape, I'm on the way down town to hand it to the District Attorney.' And his words were, 'let us come with you.' And then I knew I had him. The next thought in my mind was I'm going to ask for $30,000. You always ask for twice as much as what you hope to get. He put me on hold, and within less than a minute he came back and he said 'well, we can't give you thirty, we'll give you ten.' I said 'make if fifteen,' he said 'you have a deal.'
Reporter: Could you see the headlines coming?
Barresi: Oh yeah, sure, and I could see that money coming too.[29]

According to Maureen Orth of Vanity Fair, Barresi had arranged the $15,000 deal with The Globe, but he got impatient and contracted tabloid broker Kevin Smith of Splash News Service, who placed it with The Daily Mirror for $2,400. When the Globe deal came through, Smith could not undo the Mirror deal, and the Mirror scoop kept Barresi from getting paid by The Globe. Smith claims Barresi came to his office "with a gun and a huge bodyguard," and Smith arranged for Barresi to get $1,000.[30] In the end, the DA decided that the stories of the LeMarques and that of the Quindoys (who also sold their story to the tabloids) could not be used. Barresi ended up making $30,000 in total on the Jackson story.[29]

Involvement with Anthony Pellicano

Barresi told ABC News about his work with Pellicano, "Whenever there was a damaging story involving a celebrity client that involved sex, then I was involved." Barresi said that Pellicano hired him to "get dirt on" Pellicano's former client Sylvester Stallone.[2] The actor's phone was allegedly bugged by Pellicano during a lawsuit over Planet Hollywood.[31] Barresi told Vanity Fair that Pellicano had a vendetta against Stallone after the two had a falling-out: "Pellicano hired me on two occasions to find dirt on Stallone.The first time was in 1995 or '96 and then again in late 2001."[32]

Barresi told LA Weekly that Pellicano hired him when Arnold Schwarzenegger was considering running for governor in 2001, "to look for information that may be of good use to Schwarzenegger’s detractors," so Schwartzenegger's team could prepare for any damage control.[2][33] Barresi submitted 27 pages but could not say who requested the probe.[34]

Barresi also says that he was sought out for comment by the press as the 2002-2008 Pellicano criminal-defense case unfolded. Barresi told the New York Times he has been aiding the defense team for entertainment lawyer Bertram Fields, a long-term client of Pellicano's who is now under investigation, in hopes of a later payday.[35] Barresi also reportedly worked with attorneys for producer Jules Nasso in 2006. As part of a lawsuit, they seek Pellicano's wiretapped calls for any evidence that Steven Seagal ordered Pellicano to terrorize former Variety reporter Anita Busch[36] In May 2006, Barresi turned over tapes from Mitteager with transcriptions to the FBI.[37]

Pellicano was sentenced in December 2008 to 15 additional years in prison for wire taping and racketeering. He had previously served for illegal firearms and homemade grenades. Pelicano was further ordered (with two other defendants) to forfeit $2 million.[38][39][40]

References

  1. ↑ D'Entremont, Jim (March 1998). "Profiled: Paul Barresi." The Guide
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2
  3. ↑ "Hollywood Confidential Investigations". Private Investigator License Search. California Department of Consumer Affairs. November 17, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2011. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Ebner, Mark and Jack Cheevers (April 26, 2001). The Bagman. New Times LA
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Spencer, Jeremy (October 2002). Reporting for Booty (review). Adult Video News.
  6. ↑ Mardonov, D. (March 2003).Standing Tall with Paul.Adult Video News
  7. ↑ "Page 2: Hollywood 'Fixer' Now Has Some Celebrities Fearing the Worst". ABC News. February 16, 2006. p. 2. Retrieved November 19, 2011. 
  8. ↑ Caruso, Michelle (April 9, 2005). "EX-AIDE: I SAW GROPE. Testifies Jacko went wacko on Culkin". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 2010-10-30. Retrieved November 20, 2011. 
  9. ↑ "Co-Ed Fever". IAFD. Retrieved November 19, 2011. 
  10. ↑ The Advocate, Issues 561-566. Liberation Publications. October 1990. "...appeared in about 50 sex videos, including the very straight Coed Fever..." 
  11. ↑ AVN - Barresi Moves On to Falcon
  12. ↑ Skee, Mickey (July 2003). Bad Boys. Paul Barresi. Sam Tyson and Michael Knight Impersonators? Gay/Bi Gossip column on Adult Video News
  13. ↑ AVN - 2003 GayVN Award Nominations Announced
  14. ↑ "The Velvet Mafia: Part 2 (2006) (V) - Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved November 20, 2011. 
  15. ↑ "Michael Lucas’ ’La Dolce Vita’ Sets GAYVN Record". Edge Boston. February 26, 2007. Retrieved November 20, 2011. 
  16. ↑ "Hall of Fame". Adult Video News. Retrieved November 21, 2011. 
  17. ↑ Barresi played the Borden Eisler role from Plaza Suite. Wilson, Steve and Joe Florenski (2005). Center Square: The Paul Lynde Story. Advocate Books, ISBN 1-55583-793-X, and tribute site
  18. ↑ Scott, Paul (September 8, 2006). Kiss of death for Travolta's career? The Daily Mail
  19. ↑ Lentz, Harris M. (2001). Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits: Filmography. McFarland. p. 1548. ISBN 978-0-7864-0951-8. Retrieved November 20, 2011. 
  20. ↑ Moran, Julie (March 8, 1997). Cover story: Porn. Entertainment Tonight
  21. ↑ People Weekly: Private Lives : The Year in Review : 1991. Oxmoor House, Incorporated. March 1992. pp. 10–. ISBN 978-0-8487-1114-6. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Young, Paul (2002-05-03). L.A. Exposed: Strange Myths and Curious Legends in the City of Angels. Macmillan. pp. 114–. ISBN 978-1-4299-6327-5. Retrieved November 22, 2011. 
  23. ↑ Rutledge, Leigh W. (1992-06-01). The gay decades: from Stonewall to the present : the people and events that shaped gay lives. Plume. pp. 343–. Retrieved November 22, 2011. 
  24. ↑ D'Entremont, Jim (March 1998) Tricking with Travolta. The Guide
  25. ↑ MJEOL (March 31, 2005). DA Got Conned with LeMarque "Witness" Story? MiniBullet #17. Contains embedded clip from Cramer's 1994 Frontline piece.
  26. ↑ Halperin, Ian (2009-10-27). Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson. Simon and Schuster. pp. 82–. ISBN 978-1-4391-8348-9. Retrieved November 22, 2011. 
  27. ↑ Friedman, Roger (April 11, 2005). Jacko 'Major-Domo' Lied About Cashing In. Fox News
  28. ↑ Fischer, Mary A. (October 1994) Was Michael Jackson Framed? The Untold Story. GQ.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Cramer, Richard Ben (February 15, 1994) Tabloid Truth: The Michael Jackson Story. Frontline, PBS
  30. ↑ Orth, Maureen (January 1994). Nightmare in Neverland. Vanity Fair
  31. ↑ ABC News Primetime (February 16, 2006). Hollywood 'Fixer' Now Has Some Celebrities Fearing the Worst.
  32. ↑ Burrough, Bryan, and John Connolly (June 2006). Inside Hollywood's Big Wiretap Scandal. Vanity Fair
  33. ↑ Finke, Nikki (November 20, 2003). Arnold, Pellicano, and Politics. LA Weekly
  34. ↑ Fields-Meyer, Thomas, Champ Clark, Frank Swertlow, and Sam Jemielity (December 8, 2003). L.A. Confidential. People Magazine
  35. ↑ Halbfinger, David M. and Allison Hope Weiner (April 6, 2006). Complex Maneuvering Over Evidence in Hollywood Wiretapping Scandal. New York Times
  36. ↑ Rush, George and Joanna Molloy (February 6, 2006). Exciting testimony on tap? New York Daily News
  37. ↑ Grove, Lloyd (May 9, 2006). Supersnoop had an eye for top talent. New York Daily News
  38. ↑ Barnes, Brooks (2008-12-15). "15 Years for Hollywood Investigator". Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-12-15. 
  39. ↑ Barnes, Brooks (December 16, 2008). "Pellicano Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison". The New York Times. p. 3. Retrieved November 22, 2011. 
  40. ↑ Weinraub, Bernard (January 24, 2004). "Hollywood Investigator Gets 30-Month Term in Weapons Case". New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2011. 

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