Caramel's Girls

Nina Hartley is one of my all-time favorite pornstars. Hartley was born in Berkeley, California to a Lutheran father and a Jewish mother whose family was from Alabama. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. After graduating from high school in 1977, she attended San Francisco State University’s undergraduate nursing school and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1985. She is a registered nurse.   

She stated in an interview that she chose the name “Nina” because it was easy for Japanese tourists to say during the time she was a dancer in San Francisco; “Hartley” was chosen as it was close to her own real last name and because she “wanted a name that sounded like that of a real person”. She has said that when she got into the adult business, she was blessed with two popular fetish items: “big, baby-blue eyes and that round butt with a high, small waist”, with her buttocks becoming her trademark.

Politically, Hartley currently considers herself a liberal and an outspoken sex-positive feminist, although for a time she was a socialist activist. Addressing other women, she said “Sex isn’t something men do to you. It isn’t something men get out of you. Sex is something you dive into with gusto and like it every bit as much as he does.” Hartley has been an advocate for the adult film industry’s right to exist, and, before the rise to stardom of Jenna Jameson, had often been called on when television news programs and talk shows required an articulate, leading adult film actress to support the pro side.

She appeared most notably on The Oprah Winfrey Show with fellow porn actress Ona Zee. The two came under hard scrutiny from the mostly female audience, but refused to back down and were outspoken in their support of the industry. She and Ona Zee also spoke out strongly against illegal drugs in the industry. Hartley crossed over into mainstream Hollywood with an appearance in the 1997 film Boogie Nights, in which she played William H. Macy’s serially unfaithful wife. She also appeared in the 1996 Canadian film Bubbles Galore.

Hartley is openly bisexual in her private life and describes herself as an atheist. She married Ira Levine (aka Ernest Greene), a director of porn films, particularly BDSM films.  They sometimes work together, as in The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women, directed by Tristan Taormino and Greene, and O: the Power of Submission, directed by Greene. In both of these films, Hartley plays supporting roles. The couple consider themselves polyamourous.

Hartley remains active as of 2012. Appearing primarily in “mature”-themed pornography, she also has a line of instructional videos which are marketed under the Nina Hartley’s Guide brand covering the entire sexual spectrum, from basic sexual intercourse and foreplay, to anal sex and bondage. In 2006 she published her first book Nina Hartley’s Guide to Total Sex.[16] In 2010, she quipped “Now I work with women who are younger than my breast implants”.

Hartley played the part of Hillary Rodham Clinton in the film Who’s Nailin’ Paylin?, a pornographic parody of vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin with Lisa Ann in the role of Palin. Hartley has won numerous awards throughout her career, from various critic and fan organizations. The following is a list of her Adult Video News Awards:

Best Non-Sex Performance for Not Bewitched XXX (2009)
Best Specialty Tape – BDSM for Nina Hartley’s Private Sessions 13 (2005)
Best Specialty Tape – Spanking for Nina Hartley’s Guide To Spanking (2005)
Best Supporting Actress – Video for The Last X-Rated Movie (1991)
Best Couples Sex Scene Film for Amanda By Night II (1987)
Best Couples Sex Scene – Video for Sensual Escape (1989)
Best Supporting Actress – Film for Portrait of an Affair (1989)
Best Actress – Video for Debbie Duz Dishes (1987)

Visit The Official Nina Hartley Website