Jessie St James

Jessie St. James was born Jessie Chandler, in California in 1954. Little is known of her early years, but in 1975 she began appearing in cheaply shot porn loops. It wasn’t until 1977 that she made her first full-length film, and after this her rise was nothing short of meteoric. Her status as one of the top stars in the U.S. industry was confirmed when she took the lead role in Anthony Spinelli’s ‘Easy’ (1979), considered by many to be one of his best. This was followed by a string of films now regarded as classics of their time: ‘Insatiable’ (1980), ‘Talk Dirty To Me’ (1980), ‘Vista Valley PTA’ (1981), ‘The Filthy Rich’ (1981), ‘Centerspread Girls’ (1982) and ‘Nurses Of The 407th’ (1983).

Despite having small breasts, Jessie was a stunningly beautiful, elegant and extremely sexual woman, often co-starring with the biggest names of her time: Annette Haven, Marilyn Chambers, Samantha Fox, Serena, Vanessa Del Rio, Desiree Cousteau and Georgina Spelvin. She would often portray slightly more mature women – teachers, married wives – that would begin as conservative, slightly restrained characters, only to end up seducing high-school boys. Jessie could play this role par excellence! Nevertheless, despite being passionate and enjoying sex in front of the camera, she did have her limits: “I don’t do anal sex. I’ve never had it privately and it’s not something that I’d be willing to do for the camera…. I enjoy oral sex and a man’s come isn’t offensive to me.” In a similar manner, although she often had sex with women on-screen, she was completely heterosexual in her private life.

Jessie was not only popular with the audience, but also with her male co-stars. John Seeman worked with her both as an actor and director: “Jessie St. James was a beautiful blonde. Like the girl next door. Sweet. She liked to sew. She did a great bump-and-grind dance for me in ‘Blondes Have More Fun’ (1979)."

Despite being a successful porn star though, she had trouble understanding male sexuality and this negatively affected her private life. By 1980 it was rumoured she had been engaged six times and endured over twenty serious, yet flawed, relationships. She once claimed: “It disturbs me when I feel that someone is on the set using the situation to get himself off… If I go to see a sex film, I want it to appeal to what I like. And what I like is to be in control. If a man goes to an X-rated film, he wants to see the man in control. He’s got this gorgeous woman who’s deprived of sex and will do anything to have sex with him and he doesn’t have to do a thing. So it’s appealing to a male audience.”

Jessie St. James was never a prolific actress and extremely selective with the roles she took. As a result she only made about 40 films before she retired in 1984. One of the reasons she left the industry was her inability to deal with the falling standards of the adult industry with the advent of video. In the 1970’s porn films were plot-driven movies with sex in them; now the plots were becoming merely something to wrap around the sex scenes. “People come to see X films to be teased. They come to be stimulated instead of just – boom – throwing it all out there in the beginning… I’d like to see more sensuality and eroticism. More foreplay – which can be erotic, building up to a climax.”

Following her departure from porn, Jessie worked in Berkley as a sex surrogate. "Let's say a man is coming in for counselling. If his wife will go through it with him, she'll enter the program too. If he doesn't have a wife or girl friend or someone who will make the commitment of going through several months of therapy with him, then they hire a surrogate like myself. I go through sexual counselling with the patient as though I were his girl friend or partner - but only on a sexual level. I am not a girl friend. They make it clear that there is a separation so that there is no emotional involvement. Their success rate is high. Rather than going to a psychiatrist and talking out that kind of problem - you can talk about it only so long - there's got to be action. A surrogate is a stepping-stone to going out into the mainstream again with other ladies. It gives a man a safe place to start."

By the mid-1980’s, Jessie St. James had faded into anonymity. Nevertheless, she remains one of the most popular and attractive U.S. porn stars of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Despite some of her later work, such as ‘Silk, Satin And Lace’ (1983) being very mediocre affairs, her films were usually well made, with high production values and very erotic.

Real Name: Jessie Chandler
Date of Birth: 1954
Place of Birth: California, USA
Film Career: 1975-1984