Hyapatia Lee

Hyapatia Lee (born November 11, 1960) is the stage name of a former American exotic dancer and pornographic actress. As a one-quarter Cherokee, she was the only Native American in the adult business during her tenure; this contributed to her becoming one of the most prolific pornographic actresses of the Golden Age of Porn.^[1] Lee is an AVN and XRCO Hall of Fame inductee. She is an online columnist for High Times.^[3]

Early life and education

Lee was born as Victoria Lynch^[1] in Haughville, Indiana, to teenaged parents and is of Cherokee and Irish descent. She attended the local high school, where she performed in several musicals. In her teenage years she developed dissociative identity disorder following reported sexual abuse from her stepfather.^[1]

Career

After winning the Miss Nude Galaxy contest in Roselawn, Indiana, in 1979 (and again in 1981),^[2] its owner cast Lee in The Young Like It Hot (1983). Her movie debut happened in Naughty Girls Need Love Too,^[4] also from 1983.

In 1984 she appeared in Sweet Young Foxes.^[1] In that same year she appeared in Penthouse magazine, in the same September record-breaking best-selling issue that exposed Miss America 1984, Vanessa Williams (although it became illegal to own since its Penthouse Pet was Traci Lords, who turned out to be a minor at the time).^[1]

Over time her husband Bud Lee joined the cast and crew of her films. Together they created the second-most-expensive pornographic film (at the time), The Ribald Tales of Canterbury (1985),^[1] with Bud directing and Hyapatia starring and screenwriting a version of Geoffrey Chaucer's classic The Canterbury Tales.^[5]

Lee had difficulties coping with the fame and recognition she received, and she had increasing problems with mental illness. In 1993 she was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder and blacked out after having left the set of Native Tongue, following a confrontation with the director.

Also in 1993 she was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame,^[1][6] and the XRCO Hall of Fame in 1994.^[7] She was also given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Free Speech Coalition in 1995.^[8]

In 1998 members of her fan club had received word of her death due to diabetes.^[9] It was later revealed by porn journalist Luke Ford to be a hoax that she herself started, in an effort to sell merchandise.^[10]

Appearances

Lee has appeared on a variety of television shows such as The Robin Byrd Show^[11] in 1977, the Howard Stern Show^[12] in 1991, and more recently The Bill Cunningham Show^[13] in 2011. She has appeared in minor roles such as the 1994 thriller Killing Obsession^[14] In 2013 she appeared in an episode of the television series Gigolos under her real first name, Vicki.^[15]

Music

In 1994 Lee recorded the album Double Euphoric with her band W4IK.^[16] She toured with the same band, which was based in Los Angeles, and also with another band, based in Indiana, called Vision Quest.

In 1999 one of Lee's tracks from her 1994 release appeared on the music CD Porn to Rock.^[17] In 2000 she self-published an autobiography,^[1][18] but she has largely tried to distance herself from her past career.^[1] Like many performers, she retained no rights to her films, and she does not earn royalties and chooses not to sue to reclaim cybersquatting entities that use her alias in their domain names.^[1]

Double Euphoric was re-released in September 2010, both in physical and digital versions,^[16] via outlets such as CD Baby, Amazon and Apple iTunes.

Awards

• 1991 AVN Best Actress – Film for The Masseuse^[19]
• 1993 F.O.X.E Female Fan Favorite^[20]
• 1993 AVN Hall of Fame Inductee^[1][21]
• 1994 XRCO Hall of Fame Inductee^[7]
• 1995 Free Speech Coalition – Lifetime Achievement Award^[8]

Personal life

She views Hyapatia as a particular personality that allowed her to perform.^[1] She met and married Bud Lee, with whom she bought land in rural southern Indiana, where she has lived since.^[1] The couple had two children, whom she homeschooled at their Indiana home.^[1] In 1993 she retired from the industry and separated from Bud the same year. She has since remarried and had another child.^[1]

In 2013 she attempted to fund a documentary on Kickstarter in which she intended to discuss her dissociative identity disorder and her coming to terms with it. She claimed to have six personalities.^[22][23] In an interview, she was asked if she is still affected by alternative personalities, she answered "Yes, I do still deal with the alter egos, but not quite as much anymore. However when I am under stress, they do tend to rescue me. The have helped me to deal with life and I think that is why the mind splits, to help cope with situations that otherwise would be too overwhelming."^[24] In the same interview, she also contended that her divorce from Bud Lee had been acrimonious and that he had been abusive towards her. She also accused Lee of owing her $20,000 in back child support.

References

• Rosemary Skinner Keller, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Marie Cantlon (2006). Encyclopedia of women and religion. Indiana University Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-253-34686-5. Retrieved 2009-11-13. 

External links

• Official website
• Hyapatia Lee at the Internet Movie Database
• Hyapatia Lee at the Internet Adult Film Database
• Hyapatia Lee at the Adult Film Database