Lost Boys: Vintage Images of Kurt Marshall

Lost Boys: 

Vintage Images of Kurt Marshall

I died for Beauty – but was scarce
Adjusted in the Tomb
When One who died for Truth was lain
In an adjoining Room –

He questioned softly ‘Why I failed’?
‘For Beauty’, I replied –
‘And I – for Truth – Themself are one –
We Brethren are’, He said –

And so, as Kinsmen, met a Night –
We talked between the Rooms –
Until the Moss had reached our lips –
And covered up – our names –

- Emily Dickinson

I don't believe the truth regarding Kurt Marshall can ever be known. Facts are scarce. As stories go, there isn't much to tell, really, for his is a short one. 

His beauty, on the other hand? Well, thanks to the internet, it remains as tangible and accessible as his place in the history of gay porn. 

And, it turns out that beauty was not only on the outside. As his friend, Shawn Mayotte, would later write, "Of the many people I’ve met who are beautiful on the outside, their real beauty comes from within. Jim Rideout was one of those people."

Of all the vintage gay porn stars I have profiled, I have never come across one for whom so many tributes have been written. Marshall may have only appeared in four films, but his impact? It's undeniable.

The gay porn trade magazine, Unzipped, named him one of the top 100 gay porn stars of all time in 2006, calling the films he appeared in "noteworthy." Author Leigh Rutledge listed him as the ninth most influential gay porn star of all time in 2000, and adult film magazine editor John Erich called him one of the "most beautiful" gay adult film stars of the 1980s.

So who was this beautiful creature that so briefly walked among us? 

And why did he meet such an ugly end?

AKA: James Allen Rideout, Bambi
Birthday: November 13, 1965
Birthplace: Waterville, ME
Death: October 10, 1988

Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5' 10"
Endowment: 8" cut

Years Active: 1984-1986

Studios: Falcon, and Huge

4 Films
3 Compilations

James Allen Rideout was born on November 13, 1965 in Waterville, ME. The Rideout family was large, with James being the youngest of fifteen children. He attended Waterville High School, where he lettered as part of the swim and track teams. After graduation, he enrolled at San Francisco State, but did not attend long. As a means of paying for school, he decided to dip his toes into the world of gay porn. 

And so, at the age of 18, Kurt Marshall was born.

In 1984, Marshall began work on his first film, Matt Sterling's film, Sizing Up. Cast opposite established gay porn star Mark Miller, Marshall would play a role he had some experience with; that of a track and field star. The film has been noted as a "superior example of (a) gay porn video which make(s) gay men visible in places where they have mostly been invisible." 

The film was well-received, with Marshall earning a lot of praise for his performance and stunning good looks. It was enough to get the attention of Falcon Films, who cast him in his next film, Splash Shots: Memories of Summer.  The film was not only a huge success, but is also credited with the creation of pool-side sex as a gay trope. 

Yes, it would appear that Marshall had found his calling.

1984
Sizing Up

Splash Shots: Memories of Summer

1985
Other Side of Aspen II

1986 
Night Flight

Marshall was also popular at parties. Shawn Mayotte recalls meeting Marshall at an industry party thrown after the making of Sterling's Sizing Up. Mayotte found the young up and comer to possess an "outgoing, cheerful personality. He was smart, funny and talkative."

One of the reasons he was so outgoing and talkative? 

Marshall had developed an almost instantaneous taste for cocaine. 

His next film, and the only one for that year, Falcon Studio's The Other Side of Aspen II, would prove a bit difficult, rife with issues and poor behavior. Marshall was quickly earning a reputation for being difficult to work with and something of a diva. As Falcon Studios photographer Fred Bisonnes recalls:

"(Marshall was) 'high-maintenance' before that was a concept. While filming The Other Side of Aspen II, Kurt adamantly refused to go down on Giorgio Canali and Tony Bravo, because they both were uncut. Called ‘Bambi’ behind his back. He was easier to work with when I shot him later in L.A. for A-Men magazine, however.”

1985's The Other Side of Aspen II is notable because it was Falcon's first film to be shot entirely on video. In it, Marshall has a scene with Scott O'Hara and Tony Bravo. O'Hara would later write in his autobiography that he was not in the least bit attracted to Marshall, and much of the film was later edited to make it appear as if he was having an intense sexual experience with him.

Another huge success, Adult Video News (AVN), the adult film industry trade publication, would  rate The Other Side of Aspen II as the ninth most innovative and influential gay porn film of all time in 2005.

It was then that Marshall took on a new role, or at least talked about it; that of an advocate for gay rights. As Shawn Mayotte recalls, "Jim wasn’t hiding in any closet. He was comfortable in his own gay skin. He had plans to do something grand and make fighting for gay rights his priority in life. I had tremendous respect for him." 

Marshall shared his thoughts on the subject to anyone who would listen, stating "I think to be gay is to be blessed. We have so much freedom, so many choices. This isn't our moment to party or to think we're going to stay young forever. Maybe it's our time to find someone to be safe with? To be happy with."

Cast in yet another Falcon Film, 1986's Night Flight, more bad behavior became apparent on set. However, this time, cocaine alone was not to blame.

Marshall tested positive for HIV. This, in turn, led him to come out to his family. With their help and prodding, he would enter a drug rehabilitation program to clean up his act. After completing treatment in 1987, he moved to San Diego, but didn't live there long, choosing instead to return to Los Angeles. There, he found work as a construction worker. 

As for his career in gay porn? It was over. He'd never make another film. His young body was completely ravaged by the effects of the HIV virus and his prior drug use. By early 1988, Marshall's health began deteriorating rapidly.

In the fall of that year, Marshall was admitted to  Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. His friend, Shawn Mayotte, visited him there and recalls, "Though he knew he was dying, Jim still lived and laughed until the end. He didn’t condemn himself for every foolish mistake or blunder he made. He didn’t brood about bygone days or daydream about a tomorrow he knew would never come." 

On October 10, 1988, Kurt Marshall passed away. The official cause of death was listed as kidney failure due to substance abuse and AIDS. 

His body was returned to Maine, and buried at Pine Grove Cemetery in his hometown of Waterville.

He was only 22 years-old.

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I have to say, my last desire was to tell yet another tragic gay porn star story.

But, this one?

This one made me cry. It still does. 

He was so young. So much of his life, unlived.

Beautiful? Well, that's in the eye of the beholder. I remember him from the cover of the video box for The Other Side of Aspen II, but was never intrigued enough to actually watch it. He was just another cute blonde, as far as I was concerned. I did admire the dimple in his chin and his curly blond locks.

I had no idea he'd met such a tragic end... and at such a young age.

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That's all for this week. Thanks for reading.

I leave you with a snippet from Leonard Cohen's classic, Came So Far For Beauty.

I came so far for beauty

I left so much behind

My patience and my family

My masterpiece unsigned...

For Beauty's Sake - Marianne Faithfull

Came So Far For Beauty - Jennifer Warnes