New York City hairdresser Gerard Damiano Sr. never dreamed he could become a filmmaker. Yet the first time he stepped onto a film set at age 39, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. Within four years he was a celebrated auteur, having produced, written, directed, and edited, the most popular film of the day.

Damiano never saw the vast profits from Deep Throat, having learned too late that the backers of the film were connected to the Mob. He considered himself lucky to escape with his life. He embraced sexual themes and focused on making better movies. His later films, such as The Devil in Miss Jones, would garner critical acclaim. His most successful work featured female protagonists and aimed to tell stories from a woman’s perspective.

The term “Porno Chic” was coined in The New York Times during an interview with Damiano, to describe the artistic merits and new-found acceptance of adult fare. The notion that “porn” and Hollywood movies would merge together was short-lived, as the advent of videotape glutted the market with cheap, poor quality product. He left New York for California to find work, but could never get used to shooting “one day wonders” on videotape and subsequently retired.

Vilified by Nixon and targeted by the Religious Right, Damiano used his forum to speak out against censorship and defended First Amendment rights in court. He is still widely considered to be the best director of the “Golden Age of Porn.”