PURE IS HERE!
Desire personified. A star unraveled.
The untold story of the world’s most famous X-rated star, who rose to fame as the face of Ivory Snow and the star of Behind the Green Door but struggled to find her true self in a world of sex, scandal, and shattered dreams.
Marilyn Chambers was the embodiment of the free-spirited Seventies, the world’s most famous X-rated star, and an unappreciated talent whose work in adult films hindered her dreams of becoming a serious actress. Raised in an affluent Connecticut suburb, Marilyn catapulted to fame when it was learned that not only had she starred in the groundbreaking X-rated film, Behind the Green Door but was also the model on the box of Ivory Snow laundry detergent (product tagline: “99 44/100% Pure.”)
Marilyn was the first woman known primarily for her work in adult films to cross over to mainstream entertainment. She sustained a versatile three-decade career in entertainment, including roles in dramatic plays, a Broadway musical revue, her own television show, and the lead role in David Cronenberg’s film Rabid. But her success in adult films also proved to be her undoing. Marred by a violent relationship with her abusive husband-manager, Chuck Traynor, she developed the persona of a twenty-four-hour-a-day sex star. In the process, she lost her sense of self and spent much of her life searching for her true identity. With recollections from family and friends, many of whom have never spoken publicly, along with Marilyn’s own words, and never-before-published photos, Jared Stearns vividly captures the revolutionary career of one of the twentieth century’s most misunderstood icons.
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“Fasten your seatbelts for this long overdue biography of the legendary adult film icon Marilyn Chambers. Meticulously researched, Pure is an empathetic tribute to a woman who defied convention and symbolized sexual liberation on the screen. Jared Stearns has chronicled the triumphs and tragedies of Marilyn’s life for longtime fans as well as anyone insatiable for a great read!”
— Jeffrey Schwarz, award-winning filmmaker (Tab Hunter Confidential, I Am Divine!, The Fabulous Allan Carr)
“A touching, insightful, and unvarnished look at the X-rated 'porno chic' subculture of the Seventies and its reigning fresh-faced blonde queen, the late Marilyn Chambers. In Jared Stearns’s sensitive and empathetic telling, Marilyn emerges for the first time as a multi-dimensional woman with both dreams and damage—and surprisingly, as the title tells, as someone who managed to retain a central purity despite the challenges of her world. Stearns takes a hard look at her exploitation and abuse by various reptilian business associates and, especially, by her sadistic, manipulative husband/manager Chuck Traynor. In Pure, Marilyn has finally found the understanding and appreciation that so often eluded her in life.”
— Vanda Krefft, author (The Man Who Made the Movies) and entertainment journalist
“From the innocent-looking girl smiling on the front of the Ivory Snow detergent box to the raunchy blonde goddess in some of the most successful adult movies of all time, Marilyn Chambers was an insatiable force to be reckoned with. Jared Stearns' illuminating and addictive biography follows Chambers' incredible journey from respectable Westport to the neon lights of Hollywood and exposes the excesses of her short and hedonistic life. Sex, money, drugs, and tragedy, Stearns' book has it all. It is the perfect allegory of the American Dream.”
— Simon Sheridan, writer, broadcaster, and filmmaker (Come Play with Me: The Life and Films of Mary Millington; Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema)