Colleen Applegate's high school yearbook was one of a very few personal possessions she kept with her. It is really a sad and moving story, well directed and acted. Colleen was so incredibly young and naive. Far more interesting are outtakes from her films and some eerily candid footage that WCCO obtained of Applegate, still new to Hollywood, answering an ad and first interviewing with the agent who would introduce her to the world of nude modeling and erotic films. And if PBS ever wanted to attract more than the upper crust, the ''cultured'' or the snobs, then one way to do it would be with sex, or the promise of such. They have also lived in Liberty Lake, WA and Staten Island, NY. Applegate's story became the basis of a 1988 TV movie called "Shattered Innocence." The Los Angeles Times in 1994 examined the deaths of three porn actresses, and noted that, at the . (Hicks' work was frequently featured in Penthouse. After lingering for two days on life support Colleen finally passed away on March 23 1984 just two months shy of her 21th birthday. Colleen was a cheerleader in high school and graduated from Farmington High in 1981. She graduated from Farmington Senior high school in 1981. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. With Jonna Lee, Melinda Dillon, John Pleshette, Kris Kamm. Without stunts or theatrics, Death of a Porn Queen delivers a powerful message about the environment of drugs and exhibitionist sex that attracted, briefly enriched and ultimately destroyed Applegate, as gossip about her careening life shocked and titillated the folks back home. But to correctly remember the American porno, or even modeling, business back in the early 80's, before excessive silicone implanting, collagen injecting and wide-spread plastic surgery use, one must remember that a woman WAS judged beautiful based on her natural features and attributes, not to mention actually being expected to "act" as well as perform sexually in the films. You let me be Colleen; you didnt expect me to be anyone else, she says about Erlich on an audio tape discovered in his house. When Applegate was barred from a Minnesota friend`s wedding because of her new career, it hurt her deeply. Marcell then saw an ad for the World Modeling Agency in Van Nuys, which sought recruits for "figure modeling". Los Angeles, Randall Emmett, Ambyr Childers settle domestic violence restraining order dispute, Column: Supreme Court conservatives may want to block student loan forgiveness. 2. This of course takes her life further into deeper dark places, from which there is only one escape. This only leads one to imagine an even harsher world for girls in pornography today (and is evidenced in the fact that several others have also taken their own lives since this story originally took place). Miss Applegate first answered a newspaper advertisement for ''models.'' There are a lot of kids who come from Farmington, Minnesota, or Banning, Kansas. [7][8], On March 14, 1984, she was a multiple nominee and presenter (with John Leslie) at the 8th Annual Adult Film Association Awards show at the Coconut Grove Ambassador Hotel. But it was made well. When mother Melinda Dillon discovers this, she is repulsed, even more so when Lee returns home for Christmas, boasting about her real work, of course leaving out the fact that she is doing drugs. In the light of porn-glamourizing films such as "Boogie Nights", this tepidness accentuates the intent of "Shattered Innocence". The first way to ensure ratings success is the disclaimer, which warns adults to lock the kids in their rooms, for they are about to see a program that contains sexually explicit language and scenes. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. If it helps somebody else, thats the whole idea of it, Applegate said. Shortly after 7 p.m. she lay down, placed the gun horizontally against her head, and pulled the trigger. When she got to Hollywood, she found no work until she answered an ad for nude models. She ran away from her small town in Minnesota and proceeded to appear in over 30 pornographic films, earning up to $100,000 in her two-year career. Instead, they contributed flowers and letters. In one year, she made 30 X-rated films, had sex with 37 men on camera, contracted herpes, had an abortion and made $100,000, most of which she spent on cocaine. Card. The glimpse of the workings of the pornography business, however, is revealing, if not pretty. Very forgettable stuff. She left her small-town home of Farmington, Minn., at age 18 to chase a dream in Hollywood. Coleen's birth date was listed as 06.01.47. While the name and hometown have been changed, the film depicts the final years of Colleen Applegate, who left her Farmington home in March 1982, posed nude for magazine photos and soon became porn movie star Shauna Grant. Her parents offered to pay for her college expenses, but she believed she would no longer be comfortable at home in Minnesota. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Left on her own and reluctant to go back to making porn flicks, Miss Applegate apparently went to pieces, using up all the cocaine she could find in the process. You are using an out of date browser. Dr. Packett says there's allergies. I had no idea that this was based on a true story, but it's a pretty believable premise. This biopic shows us the tragic story of Colleen Applegate, who at a very young age moved to Hollywood from the midwest and became porn star Shauna Grant. ''DEATH OF A PORN QUEEN'' is an account of the short, sad career of an 18-year-old who fled her Minnesota home in 1982, found success in Hollywood's pornography industry, developed a taste for cocaine and killed herself at the age of 20. Like many, she came from the rural midwest and was attracted to the bright lights of LA hoping to make it as a legit model only to pose nude and end up in porn. The young woman whose innocence is shattered is based on real-life porn-star Shauna Grant. She stayed in the town, working first as a cashier and then as a repair clerk with the phone company. It is also about children and parents, small-town life and the lure of bright lights in the big city. But Hicks advised Applegate to get out of nude modeling quickly, because when all of the magazines had used her, the only thing left for her would be hardcore movies. The producers originally had a dramatization closer to the gritty details, but it had to be softened because of prime-time television, production representative Karen Ocamb said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles. Applegate attempted suicide in December, 1981 by overdosing on prescription sinus pills. The film doesn't have the theatrical style of something like "Star 80", but it's actually a much better film. Reported for Frontline by Al Austin, Death of a Porn Queen unfolds through the eyes of Applegates parents, friends and colleagues, some of them shady and apparently destructive influences who pass through her life in a gauzy twilight. Though the names have been changed, it is her story. on the Internet. A drug addict, Grant killed herself after the arrest of her partner in March, 1984. ", Christian Congregations (Christians Only). Weeks after the event, police were still awaiting results of toxicological and gun-residue tests. No matter how many times I see this film I'm moved by the way it unfolds relentlessly toward its inevitable tragic end. The film is well-acted, especially by Melinda Dillon, who plays the girl's mother. ''We always got high before we did it,'' says a porn star who taught Applegate the ropes. The only other movie I saw her in was "Making the Grade." The film was due to begin filming in eight days in San Francisco, California. Warmer storms could cause problems, Dramatic before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, Gloria Vanderbilt told Anderson Cooper not to expect a trust fund. His picture resonates with a sad, gritty truth that is tough to fathom but well-portrayed for our benefit. The program keeps insisting there's a lesson of some sort here, but it can't quite figure out what it is, other than that 18-year-olds who run away to Hollywood and answer advertisements for models are asking for trouble. An agent, Jim South, took pictures and sent them to a Penthouse magazine photographer, Steve Hicks. She then started using cocaine to lose weight. This Lorimar TV flick must have been ahead of its time in 1988, as the story of 17-year-old Pauleen Anderson, who, wanting to grow up faster than she knows how, leaves home and becomes in turn a centerfold, a porn star, a cocaine abuser and finally a suicide when things go wrong. That set the dream in motion. Smith, who co-starred with Grant in several movies (including Suzie Superstar, The Young Like It Hot, and Bad Girls IV), also became Grant's best friend and fellow cocaine user during that period. We see the frank-talking man who runs the agency explaining to a new applicant that she will be expected to pose in the nude and, if she doesn't object, in ''simulations,'' pretending to be engaged in sexual activities. Simply, movingly, effectively and unsensationally, this 60-minute production from WCCO-TV in Minneapolis retraces the route of a wholesome ex-cheerleader from her tiny hometown of Farmington, Minn., to the sewers of Hollywood porn films and cocaine addiction, a route that led ultimately to her suicide in the Palm Springs home of her 44-year-old lover. All in all this movie is well made because it shows the family background of Pauleen and the psychological tensions and the reason why she leaves her family whereas she is young and beautiful and innocent and the slow but sad destitution of her image and life.It ends with a shooting and we learn that Pauleen killed herself with a long trifle. Her personal possessions left behind could fit in a large envelope. While her desire to act in mainstream films had generated no offers, she was so prestigious at the time that famed director Francis Ford Coppola was seated at her table. As a landlady sifts through some abandoned belongings of Colleen Applegate's--old Valentines, a high school diploma--you're overwhelmed by sadness. She moved back to California in 1982 and fell into the adult movie industry. Her lover, distressed by her disorderly habits, made it clear that she would have to leave his apartment. Template:Multiple issuesShauna Grant (ne Colleen Marie Applegate; May 30, 1963 - March 23, 1984) was an American nude model and pornographic performer. Shattered Innocence: Directed by Sandor Stern. Brain dead, Grant was rushed to Desert Hospital, where life support systems were disconnected after two days. (She was the subject of a Calendar cover story May 6, 1984, and her story also is being made into a TV movie for next season). The film ends with Pauline, the character based on Colleen Applegate (known professionally as Shauna Grant), dying of a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head. As we know, they wind up on the streets, Ocamb said. [citation needed], On March 23, 1984, Grant died by suicide in Palm Springs by shooting herself with an AR-15 style .22 caliber rifle.[11]. She stayed in the small town, working first as a cashier and then as a repair clerk with the phone company. I vaguely remember of this TV movie i watched long ago in France because i am french and found it on the net in American..poor Pauleen! The movie was made because Colleen Applegates story is representative of so many young people, Ocamb said. The whole mess is true. The desert air dries up my membranes. Ratterfat McWhiskers She retired from adult films in 1983. '', Hicks, who does not consider himself an opportunist, advised Applegate. At the same time Jake Ehrlich, another boyfriend and cocaine supplier for Grant, telephoned from prison informing her that their relationship was over and that Grant had to move out of his home in Palm Springs. It's a sad story, but throughout the whole thing, you just want the lead character to get a freaking clue! The question worried on tonight's ''Frontline'' offering, on Channel 13 at 10 o'clock, is how a nice girl like Colleen Applegate could have been transformed into Shauna Grant, star of ''Flesh and Lace,'' and why she should have committed suicide. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Judy Woodruff, Alan Austin, WGBH (Television station : Boston, Mass. Scenes such as the one where Shauna goes back home for Christmas, proudly showing off a scrapbook of nude photos to her family and then getting rebuffed by her appalled mother, are both tender and sad, and Shauna's fight to reclaim her life at the finale is quite gripping. Everyone in every family needs to ask this question. The gun was discharged from such close range that the bullet left virtually star-shaped holes. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. Born in Southern California but grew up in Minnesota. It was kind of hard to feel sorry for her. After news spread around Farmington about her suicide attempt, Applegate left town with her boyfriend,[1] Mike Marcell, and moved to California in March, 1982. This is a movie that could have been tawdry and exploitative, and indeed, I recall reading that the parents of Colleen Applegate (whose life this is loosely based on) were displeased with it, saying it made the pornographers look like they were just running a business and Colleen got into trouble on her own. I also might mention that admirers of the big-screen films "Star 80", "Hardcore" or "Boogie Nights" (in particular, the comparison between the Adult Film Awards ceremony in Shattered Innocence and Boogie Nights is interesting) might like this film, or vice versa 7/10 Sad, but worthwhile watching. She died on 21 March 1984 in Palm Springs, California, USA. He even tracked down some of her belongings she had left behind when she changed identities. [citation needed]), Her first pictorial's theme featured a mock camping set and was published by Club. She was an actress. ''I photograph women in an attempt to bring beauty out of their bodies,'' says one of them, who then tells of his concern over the perils facing kids in women's bodies. She was born in California but moved with her family to Minnesota in 1973. Her high school diploma, her cheerleading letters, her confirmation certificate and a copy of Hustler magazine with her picture on the cover. Before his induction, he informed some residents of her small town that Applegate was involved with pornography, which caused her family much embarrassment. In 1982 she ran away from home and moved to California where she soon got involved in making adult films under the stage name Shauna Grant. Related To Kenneth Nale, Morgan Nale, Lilly Nale, Eric Nale. The short, tragic odyssey of Colleen Applegate, who left Minnesota at 18, became porn star Shauna Grant, and killed herself at age 20. Oh yes, they made a BIG deal about "the pornography business" and how "degrading it is" and how "this always happens" to "those kind of people" when Shauna was found with a self inflicted gunshot wound and later died. Her pay rose from $300 a day to around $1,500. Her family moved there in 1973, when her father took a managerial position with Central Telephone Company of Minnesota. The possibility of a foul play investigation hung in the balance. "In as much . Applegate also died in the same manner and her death was officially ruled a suicide by Palm Springs Police. Born Colleen Marie Applegate, she was sometimes credited as Callie Aimes, Callie Aims, or Colleen Applegate. Shauna Grant. She went scrambling back to Hollywood, where she received plenty of attention as a porn queen. NEW YORK As if PBS didn`t have enough trouble, what with conservatives and liberals moaning about the network`s supposed bias one way or the other, now comes pornography. Sep 17, 2007. In "Shattered Innocence" entry, escape from and re-entry into the porn business leads to tragic, lonely, and hurtful existence. 3. The one-hour documentary is the story of Colleen Applegate, a fresh-scrubbed girl with the peaches-and-cream country look, who perhaps is better known as Shauna Grant, porn queen. She died on March 21, 1984 in Palm Springs, California, USA. His advice was not taken. There are many out there who can relate to it, and those are the ones I hope it helps., Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. She was an angel from a small town, no one knew her name, No one ever thought she'd get caught up in the game, Her momma tired to tell her, it's a cold and lonely world, She was looking for a master, he was looking for a slave, He was headed for the top, she was headed for the grave, She had everything she wanted, but she had to give her, There's no reason, it had to end up that way, Her heart was bleeding for someone to take her away, Trying to be a woman in a mixed up world, She had her name up in lights, she was a brand new queen, She had a tear in her eye, as she looked at the screen, Then she thought about the past, it all happened so fast, She headed out of town for the weekend with a friend, No one ever knew she was headed for the end, They found her on a bed, a revolver in her hand, That didn't want to be a small town girl, But it was not her fault. However, despite these accolades and her beauty, Grant had some difficulty getting work due to her cocaine addiction and lack of "enthusiasm" during sex scenes. ''Death of a Porn Queen,'' shows the porn industry for what it is--people who are willing to exploit other people for cash. Her parents and friends seem perplexed, and the answers ventured by the narrator, Al Austin, who produced the program along with Mike Sullivan and Andy Greenspan, sound as though they were cribbed from teen-age how-not-to books. I give this an 8 out of 10. On March 21st 1984, Grant committed suicide at the age of twenty in Palm Springs by shooting herself with a . Colleen Marie Applegate, known professionally as See production, box office & company info, 7224 N. 47th Street Paradise Valley, Arizona, USA. Search the history of over 797 billion Score two. The Applegates - Colleen had three younger sisters and one younger brother - cooperated with the producers in hopes that the movie might prevent similar tragedies, said Applegate, who is portrayed by actress Melinda Dillon. Segment from the television program Frontline, Closed captioned for the hearing impaired, There are no reviews yet. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. ''It`s unfortunate that Mother Nature put 18-year-old girls on the planet with beautiful bodies,'' Hicks says in the program. Preliminary investigations by Palm Springs police posed questions regarding the circumstances surrounding Grants death. Even the touching opening and closing theme music strikes home. When Pauleen is in Lou Gates' office, one of his boxing poster reads Ben Frankel, a play to Lou's actor, Ben Frank. I'll just move the hell out of here! The film doesn't have the theatrical style of something like "Star 80", but it's actually a much better film. At the time of Grants death, two people were playing pool in Ehrlichs house: Brenda Rosenow, a friend of Colleens, and Cal Ardigo, a friend of Ehrlichs. Referring to her drug habit, he says, ''It's hard for a cocaine dealer to control someone close to you.'' For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. WCCO reporter Al Austin does a fine job of providing a calm and candid look inside the porn business and, through interviews with Applegate`s friends, family and employers, he gives us a peek inside the head of a country girl-turned-porn star. It is known that Grant had received threatening phone calls related to Ehrlichs business affairs. Shauna Grant (Colleen Applegate) and Jamie Gillis interviewed by Bobby Hollander, from 1982 Pauleen Anderson: [attempts to leave] Fine! 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