Diamond Collection 76 - Expensive Lady

The Diamond Collection series ran from 1979 until 1984, and was probably second only to Swedish Erotica as the most successful loop carier. In total it released over 300 titles. 

Unlike Swedish Erotica which consistently seemed to attract the top porn stars, Diamond Collection would cast second division stars or unknowns. Nevertheless, top porn actresses such as Jessie St. James, Dorothy Le May, Chris Cassidy and Brooke West all made loops for the company. Seka starred in three loops, all shot in 1980. This is the second she made. Her co-stars here are Jesse Adams and an unknown woman.

Jesse Adams came from a broken home in Ohio and was put in an orphanage by his mother. He was later subjected to physical abuse by his adoptive parents. As soon as he turned 17 he joined the U.S. Army to escape. A year later he was sent to Vietnam.

with Valerie Paulson

"I admit there was a little bit of John Wayne in me. I wanted to go to Vietnam, and fight for freedom. Freedom was the most important thing to me... At first it was an adventure, but then the shit started hitting the fan. Things got real very fast. There were always mortars flying everywhere. Guys were killed just 20 feet from where I was standing. When that happens, your adrenaline starts running like a racehorse. I was scared as all hell but excited at the same time. There’s something weird about adrenaline that lets you do things you normally couldn’t... When an attack happens, you have to rely on your training. The guys who didn’t would do stupid things… and they’d suffer the consequences... I made friends, but I lost a lot of them."

Jesse was discharged in 1969 and spent the next few years drifting around the States until he moved to California in 1972.

"I picked up some construction work in Los Angeles, and I thought about going back to college but didn’t get far with that, so I took some acting classes at Warner Brothers Studios – mostly to meet girls but also because I enjoyed it." 

with Samantha Fox
and Vanessa Del Rio

Despite the odd theatre job, his acting career didn't get very far. In 1974 he was struggling to pay the rent and agreed to what he thought was a non-sex part in a short movie.

"When I turned up, I realized immediately it wasn’t a real movie set because there was just a director, a pretty young woman, and a redhead from Simi Valley in her 40s. No other crew… and there was just a single camera on a tripod – not even any lighting or anything. Well, the director said I’d get $100 if I did it, and I was broke. I needed to pay the rent which was $80, so $100 was a lot of money – that would leave $20 for food for the month. You have to understand, I really didn’t want to do it. But… I needed the money so I said yes.

"The next day I got a phone call from a guy wanting me to perform in his film. He said, 'You don’t know me, but my name is Howard and I heard you did pretty good when you shot yesterday.' Then I got three more phone calls from other guys with similar offers. I’d ask them how much they were paying and then I said yes. Before long I was a regular. Sometimes I’d wind up doing four loops in a single day. I kept getting calls ‘cause I could cum a lot. I was working every single day: I’d do a couple of scenes, then I’d cover for guys that couldn’t get a hard-on… and there were a lot of those. I used to stand in for them all."

with Mai Lin

Over the next 20 years Jesse appeared in hundreds of loops and movies. He rarely had the lead role and most of the movies he appeared in are instantly forgettable. But some, like Tangerine (1979), Female Athletes (1979), The Blonde (1980) and Peaches and Cream (1981) are among the best porn films of the time. According to Jesse, video was the beginning of the end for quality porn.

"The early business consisted of a group of people who wanted to make good films. Some of the films were terrible – but that’s not the point. They all wanted to make good product. So in a sense, we all were invested in each other. We all wanted to contribute to make each other do well because that would be good for all of us. When the business switched to videos… anyone could pick up a video camera and shoot something without getting any assistance from anyone else. That was a huge change. It meant that production costs went down and so people were less interested in trying hard anymore. Non one needed to help anyone else. And of course there was less money to go around so we all got paid less. It was less fun. In fact sometimes it was grim."

If you want to know more about Jesse Adams and what happened to him after porn, read this excellent interview by the Rialto Report. It's where all these quotes are from.