And by the time a New York judge ruled the movie obscene the following spring, the publicity surrounding its legal troubles had helped earn Deep Throat nearly $2 million in the city and made pornography a national obsession.
– A Utah realtor born with the unassuming name of Herbert Streicher died this week of pancreatic cancer at age 65, but it's what he did before real estate that makes the obit notable. Streicher took the acting name of Harry Reems and starred in more than 100 adult films, none more memorable than 1972's Deep Throat, reports the New York Daily News. In fact, it was that film that led to Reems' other claim to fame: The feds went after him on obscenity charges—along with the mobsters reputed to have financed the film—and won a conviction. That made Reems the only actor to be convicted of obscenity charges, though famed attorney Alan Dershowitz later got it overturned, notes the Huffington Post. After his porn career, Reems turned into an alcoholic but eventually found sobriety, and his wife, in Park City, Utah, where he became a successful realtor. New York magazine did a profile in 2005 that many of the obituaries on the wires are pulling information from.