Harry Reems

Herbert John Streicher (August 27, 1947 – March 19, 2013), better known by his professional pseudonym Harry Reems, was an American pornographic actor whose most famous roles were as Doctor Young in the 1972 pornographic cult classic Deep Throat and The Teacher in the 1973 classic The Devil in Miss Jones. Throughout the 1970s and into the mid-1980s he was one of the most prolific performers in the adult film industry. He retired from the industry in 1985.

Early life and career
Reems was born Herbert John Streicher into a Jewish family. He attended the University of Pittsburgh for a year before briefly serving in the United States Marine Corps, from which he received an honorable discharge following hardship leave. He then elected to pursue an acting career, principally in off-Broadway theater for La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New York Theater Ensemble and National Shakespeare Company.

Prior to appearing in Deep Throat, Streicher was chosen by filmmaker Eduardo Cemano to do a hardcore scene in a film called The Deviates, which had been released previously as a softcore film. It was a body-painting sex scene that Streicher later described as his most painful sex experience because the tempera paint used began to dry and crack. Cemano then starred him in his first 16 mm feature film, called The Weirdos and the Oddballs, which was later upgraded to 35 mm and released as Zora Knows Best. It was for this film that he changed his name to Peter Long.

Looking for ways to support himself, Streicher appeared in dozens of short silent stag films, often referred to as "loops," during the early 1970s. He eventually went on to appear in approximately 140 feature-length sexploitation and hardcore films between 1971 and 1989, with Deep Throat (1972) and The Devil in Miss Jones (1973) being the best known, as well as grindhouse roughies like Forced Entry (1973) and Sex Wish (1976); in the former he plays a sadistic Vietnam veteran hellbent on rape and murder - later described by Streicher as the one film he regretted appearing in - while in the latter he plays a husband-turned-vigilante seeking revenge over the rape and murder of his wife.

In 1975 he published a memoir, Here Comes Harry Reems, in which he details the early years of his adult film career. Reems also appeared in a couple of mainstream films, such as the sex comedy/horror film Case of the Full Moon Murders (1973), the drama Deadly Weapons (1974), horror films Demented (1980) and To All a Goodnight (1980), the comedy National Lampoon's Movie Madness (1982) and the TV movie The Cartier Affair (1984). He provided narration for the film Mae West (1982). He also appeared in several Swedish-produced porn films, including Justine & Juliette (1975), Bel Ami (1976) and Molly (1977), as well as the mainstream SS Operation Wolf Cub (1983).

For the production of Deep Throat in Miami, Florida in January 1972, Streicher was hired to be part of the lighting crew, but the director was unable to cast one of the roles and asked him to play the part. He was paid $250 for one day of acting work. Streicher was unaware that the director had given him the name "Harry Reems" until he saw the movie.

Reems's appearance in Deep Throat led to his arrest by FBI agents in New York City in July 1974 and his indictment in Memphis, Tennessee, in June 1975 on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute obscenity across state lines. Reems called it forum shopping. He was convicted in April 1976 with 11 other individuals and four corporations.

His conviction was overturned on appeal in April 1977 because his activities in making the film occurred before a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on obscenity in 1973 (Miller v. California), and Reems was granted a new trial. The charges against Reems were dropped in August.

The defense argued he was the first American actor to ever be prosecuted by the federal government merely for appearing in a film, and he received considerable support from established Hollywood and New York celebrities during his trial, including Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Shirley MacLaine, Richard Dreyfuss, Colleen Dewhurst, Rod McKuen, Ben Gazzara, Mike Nichols, Julie Newmar, Dick Cavett, George Plimpton, and Stephen Sondheim. Nicholson, Beatty, and Louise Fletcher were reportedly ready to testify on his behalf at his trial. His successful appeal was handled by Alan Dershowitz.

Reems was cast in the 1978 musical film Grease as Coach Calhoun (he had done legitimate theater before turning to pornography), but out of fear that his notoriety would jeopardize the film's box office in the Southern United States, he was replaced by Sid Caesar.

Reems returned to theater in the 1979 play The Office Murders and the 1981 play What the Butler Saw.

In 1982, after an 8-year hiatus from porn, Reems returned in the porn film Society Affairs, and reportedly received a six-figure salary for doing the film. He retired from performing in porn in 1985.

Later years
After years of drug abuse, Reems began his recovery in 1989. He married and converted from Judaism to Christianity. "Being the low-bottom drunk that I was, I started going around to churches," said Reems. "I called myself a church gypsy." Reems credited his conversion to Reverend Mark Heiss, a former pastor with Park City Community Church in Park City, Utah.

Heiss was abruptly replaced at the church by someone else, for reasons Reems says were never explained; Reems left the congregation because he believed church attendance was "about putting money in the coffers". Outside organized religion, he continued to meditate, pray, and offer gratitude to God. "If I didn't put God in my life, I'd be dead now," he said. "I am not religious. I'm spiritual, 100 percent." He continued to identify himself as "Harry Reems", even using the name while he worked as a real estate agent. He later was a trustee at a local United Methodist church.

He was interviewed in the 2005 documentary Inside Deep Throat. Reems' entrance into the adult entertainment industry, his experience filming Deep Throat and its subsequent infamy and obscenity trials, are the subject of the 2010 play The Deep Throat Sex Scandal. During the Los Angeles run of the play, Reems died in Utah; his death was noted by the production.

In 2014 award winning playwright Craig Hepworth opened his play Porno Chic about Reems and Lovelace and the fall out from Deep Throat in Manchester UK. The play opened to rave reviews and the 2016 production went on to win Best Drama at the GMF Awards. The play is set to return in 2018/19 for a UK Tour.

Death
Reems died of pancreatic cancer on March 19, 2013, aged 65, at the Salt Lake City Veterans Administration Medical Center. He had no children.

See also

 Golden Age of Porn

References

External links
Long interview and retrospective (The Observer)
Bullz-Eye Harry Reems Interview 2005
Harry Reems on Inside Deep Throat, an interview with Channel 4
 
 
N.Y. Times Obituary for Harry Reems
United Methodist Reporter, Reems' Legacy More Than Porn
Interview with Reems in SCREW Magazine, May 20, 1974, reprinted in the August 30, 1976 issue.
findagrave.com

Category:1947 births
Category:2013 deaths
Category:American male pornographic film actors
Category:Converts to Protestantism from Judaism
Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer
Category:Deaths from cancer in Utah
Category:People from the Bronx
Category:United States Marines
Category:Pornographic film actors from New York (state)
Category:American male film actors
Category:University of Pittsburgh alumni
Category:American United Methodists
Category:American male stage actors
Category:People convicted of obscenity