John "Johnny Wadd" Holmes 1944 - 1988

John "Johnny Wadd" Holmes 1944 - 1988

Legend has it that John Holmes plopped cock in front of porn producer Bob Chinn and Chinn saw dollar signs. Sort of true, but John had been doing porn for a while, so the legendary appendage had already appeared on film. But Chinn (the Burt Reynolds character in Boogie Nights) was impressed and did think up the Johnny Wadd detective character, which made Holmes a superstar and the first male porn star to feature on the posters.

During the 70’s porn heyday, it was not illegal to make or possess porn. What was illegal was the actual payment of the actors, which qualified as pimping and pandering. During one such bust where John paid the girls himself, he was arrested. The arresting officer, Tom Blake, gave Holmes a choice: go to prison, or get parole and become an informant. Detective Johnny Wadd became a snitch for the porn industry.

Long story short, John made a ton of money. He started doing drugs. He started really screwing up and pissing people off. A lot of people didn’t want to work with him anymore. During his drug period, he hooked up with some loser dealers that lived in a house on Wonderland, in the Hollywood Hills. 4 people were brutally (blunt force trauma to the head and body) murdered in this house on June 29, 1981, and John was accused and tried for the murders, but acquitted. Interesting bit of trivia, if you rent the movie about the murders, Wonderland, for your entertainment the actual crime scene video footage is there.

On a recent trip to Wonderland Drive, we actually had access to the building. Be warned, there is extremely graphic crime scene footage in this video.



He was diagnosed HIV Positive in 1985. After having sex on video with thousands of women and a few men (For Pay).He did contact his old associate Bob Chinn and asked Bob if he wouldn’t mind if John used the Johnny Wadd character for another film. Chinn said no prob. John also mentioned to Chinn that he was dying of colon cancer.A month before he died, John married his long-term girlfriend Laurie. In February of 1988, John was admitted to the Veterans Nursing Home Care Unit in nearby Sepulveda. Where he died.

Rumor has it that John was afraid his dick would be pickled and put on display after his death, but his widow Laurie made sure he was cremated in one piece, and apparently scattered his ashes in San Francisco. At the time of his death, John had only two possessions. His 10k ring worth 65 bucks and his memoirs, worth $35.00. His wife Laurie flogs the book on her website, as well as her dirty underwear, sealed in plastic, for freshness. Lovely.