Lost Boys: Vintage Images of Dave Connors

Lost Boys: 

Vintage Images of Dave Connors

Because we've been concentrating on porn stars from a certain era (the late 1970's to mid 1980's), it may appear to some that the life of a gay porn star was short-lived... doomed, in fact. But that's a common misconception. In reality, they were merely a very well-documented bunch of men who had sex with other men, and their deaths due to AIDS are not so much indicative of their choice of livelihood, but rather a sign of the times. 

Make no mistake; AIDS devastated the gay population. And because the U.S. government was so slow to respond, so reticent to make the world aware... we lost a great number of people and, as many argue, a great number more than we should have. 

Why did this happen? 

The answer's quite simple: the resurgence of the Republican party.

You see, just as the AIDS crisis was gaining force, the Republicans came back into favor. They promised their moral high ground would safely guide the country back to 'family values'. They had simply had enough. Enough of the sexual revolution, and women's lib and all the freedoms gained and explored. 

Among their many woes? Gay people were becoming more visible. And vocal. And the Republicans? Why they wanted to return to a safer time - a time when they felt safe; the tight-lipped, tamped-down 1950's. They wanted to go back to a way of life where they didn't have to deal with women's rights, or sexual freedom or, for goodness sake, Ozzy and Harriet! - 'those' gay people. 

So, when AIDS came along? Well... who were they to intervene? They saw it as a sort of divine intervention. Who were they to interfere? They saw it as a win-win. 

Because nothing silences like death.

Sadly, today's subject, Dave Connors, is yet another casualty of the AIDS crisis (yes, yet another pandemic the Republicans failed to handle correctly, humanely or with any sort of common sense or decency. Gee... who could have seen it coming?).

But, back to the subject at hand. 

Alias: David Connors, Dave Conners, David, Dave Johnson, Floyd David Johnson

Height: 6'

Weight: 175

Born: August 31, 1945
Years Active: 1975-1985

Died: February 8, 1985

Dave Connors was fortunate enough to enjoy a ten-year run as a gay porn star, celebrated because of his rather large appendage. But also because he had the right look for the times. His career would climax at the height of the reign of the yuppie. In some ways, he embodied that look: clean-cut, chiseled jaw - a dirty blond with just a hint of frat boy who now dominated board rooms the way he used to rule the tennis courts.

Now, Dave was a little older than your average porn star. But that... worked to his advantage. 

Until... it didn't.

Dave Connors was born Floyd David Johnson on August 31, 1945 in Sarasota, Florida. A fifth generation Floridian, he grew up on a ranch, working with horses and cattle. Self-admittedly, he was very inhibited as a child. As he moved toward adulthood, he shied away from sexual situations due to the size of his penis. 

He was afraid he'd hurt someone. 

"I spent fifteen years of my life hiding from the fact that I'm heavily endowed..."

When he finally came out of the closet in 1966, he was 21 years old - and a Marine. And by then, he'd learned to appreciate his size.

“I finally came out at twenty-one in the Marine Corps. I had a lot of friends and I could never understand why. Now, I know. At least I know what I missed... although I did have some very nice encounters in the service.”

After being discharged from the marines, Connors found his way to New York where his hefty assets were greatly appreciated. His gay porn career began in 1975.  Initially, he appeared in vintage gay loops - the kind that played in the booths at adult bookstores. Magazine spreads followed. And soon, the major studios came calling. He would make his first appearance in a full-length film, Dirt Bikes, in 1978.

Yes, things seemed to be looking up for Connors. Unfortunately, all that success went to his head and he quickly lost sight of all the "self-discipline" he'd picked up in the service. The problem? Drugs. They eventually got the best of him and at the end of his rather swift fall was a jail cell. 

It turned out to be just the wake up call he needed. 

After being released from jail, healthy, focused and rejuvenated, Connors came in contact with Al Parker, who had an idea for a film to kickstart the second half of Connors' porn career. At the age of 37, Connors had already made several porn movies, but his experience in One in a Billion was enlightening, as it was his first experience with sync'd sound. This excited, inspired and seemed to free him. 

He would go on to work with all the top studios: Falcon, Bijou, L.A. Video, HIS, Surge and Midnight Video, while his directors would include the likes of porn legends Wakefield Poole and Al Parker.

1978

Dirt Bikes

1984

One in a Billion 
The Biggest One I Ever Saw!

1985

Boys in the Sand II

One, Two, Three... 1984

But, the ride back up was not smooth. In fact, it got very, very bumpy, indeed.   

Wakefield Poole’s Boys In The Sand II  (the much-anticipated sequel to the porn phenomena Boys In The Sand) was filmed in 1984, but was mired in legal troubles for a good 18 months. It wouldn't be  released until 1985, but that didn't stop Connors from receiving a great deal of press and a number of photo spreads in the gay porno magazines throughout 1984.

Poole's next venture, One, Two, Three…was a film actually inspired by an idea by Dave Connors, himself. It was made in 1985, and released at the same time as Boys in the Sand II.

Happy days are here again... right? 

Nope.

Dave Connors died on February 8, 1985 in Manhattan, NY. He was 39 years old.

Before the movies were released, Dave Connors was diagnosed with AIDS and died rather quickly. In fact, the movies would open some time after his death. The exact cause? Well, there has been speculation that he committed suicide a few days after learning the diagnosis, however, most sources simply attribute his death to the virus. 

One such source?

I found this, written in 2016, by Matt Ebert, who claims to have been living with Dave Connors at the time of his death. These are his words:

 

"Three decades ago, I was living in NYC. I was eighteen, and I was co-habituating with a gay porn star named David Connors. He was hung, star of The Biggest One I Ever Saw. And when we walked down Christopher Street, every passerby eyed his bulge; his cock was a magnet stroking the iron filings from men's eyes.

David made one last film while I was with him: One, Two, Three... The production of this film in the mid-eighties destroyed the company that created it.

Its reputation was ruined because it was rumored to have known that David was sick and to have paid players to have sex with him anyway, at a time when our community's majority was just coming to the conclusion that sex had something to do with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. There was a lot of cocaine involved in the production, and the drugs fueled the filmmakers, who took incredible risks with their cast. Not long after the shooting stopped David Connors died, very quickly."

Ebert's account would seem credible, because, as it turned out, director Wakefield Poole would later admit to having quite the cocaine habit. In fact, he credits it with his survival - he was too messed up on coke to have sex, thus, saving him from the very thing that would claim the lives of those who starred in his films.

As for Connors?

Well, the official line is that Dave Connors died very quickly from AIDS shortly after his final film,  One, Two, Three..., was completed. 

And as for Wakefield Poole? 

He reportedly, took a lot of heat for Connors' death... and never made another film because of it. 

--- ---

I had the skin rag for Connor's film The Biggest One I Ever Saw. I had no idea who he was or what his name might be. But I loved the idea of him... stoic, masculine, in charge. Living a life of assured power from behind his mirrored ray bans. He seemed untouchable, the stuff of legend. 

Except he wasn't... untouchable.

He turned out to be yet another paper boyfriend who met a rather tragic end.

But one that lives on forever... in our memories. 

That's all for now.

Thanks for reading. 

The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall - Cher

Big Shot - Billy Joel