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Gloria Leonard (11)

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Gloria Leonard, born Gale Sandra Klinetsky on August 28, 1940, in the Bronx, New York, began her career in the 1960s as a Wall Street brokerage firm worker and public relations specialist, including copywriting for Elektra Records. Unaware the role was for adult films, she entered the industry in 1974 after being cast by agent Dorothy Palmer. She appeared in about 40 projects from 1976 to 1984, including Odyssey: The Ultimate Trip (1977), All About Gloria Leonard, and The Opening of Misty Beethoven, directed by Radley Metzger.

In 1977, she became publisher of High Society magazine for 14 years, pioneering nude celebrity photos via Celebrity Skin (1986) and phone sex lines using 976 numbers. An advocate for free speech, she co-founded Club 90 (1984), served as administrative director of the Adult Film and Video Association (1989–1992), and was president of the Free Speech Coalition (1998). A feminist, she debated censorship at colleges.

Awards include Best Actress for Taboo: American Style (AFAA), XRCO and AVN Hall of Fame inductee, and Porn Block of Fame (2002). She died on February 3, 2014, in Waimea, Hawaii, aged 73, after a stroke.