Star of stage, screen and TV, Model, Columnist, Marlene Willoughby is all of the above and more. She’s acted in over 50 X-rated/adult films with titles such as “Outlaw Ladies,” “Foxtrot.” “Glitter,” and “Insider Jennifer Welles.” Marlene has also appeared in major films like “Shaft” and “Trading Places.” She is also a regular contributor to both High Society and Velvet Magazines. Marlene Willoughby is considered by The Book of Lists and Adult Movies to be one of the Top 10 Porno Actresses around today.
Outspoken, Intelligent, Controversial. That’s Marlene Willoughby.
Q – Awhile back you posed for “Penthouse” Magazine. What were you expecting that to do for your career?
A – I felt that Penthouse would give me more exposure and get me more acting jobs by people who read it, I had already, prior to Penthouse, done centerfold work for practically every other men’s magazine on the stands. So, Penthouse would be considered the final, big baby for me, Since Penthouse is an internationally sold magazine, 1 was hoping that by my interview inside, and I was interviewed as an actress not as a body bimbo type, that I would get work from possibly European or international directors, or producers, or European people with finances who would back my own projects. Unfortunately the magazine never did bother to mail me any letters I might have gotten. They sent me absolutely no mail at all I have always gotten a lot of mail. I realized Penthouse wasn’t bothering to forward it or collect it, or anything else. So, I was kind of disappointed about that.
Q – It almost seems that after a woman is featured as a centerfold in a publication such as Penthouse, we never see or hear from her again. What happens to the majority of these women?
A – I can’t answer that question I can only speak from my own career, I just know that certain magazines like “High Society” has certainly shown old photographs of actresses who have been nude in their past and went on to become stars I think Marilyn Monroe and her nude calendar shot is a perfect example of that one. If you pick up a copy of “High Society” or call their office, I’m sure they could give you the names of 50 or more stars that have been nude in their past and managed to make it.
Q – When you showed up on the set of the first adult film you were to make, and told what to do, did you ever think to yourself, this is not for me?
A – I worked for years off Broadway, summer stock, showcases. Repertory Theatre, no paying jobs. It was very difficult, I was in cattle calls when I waited on stairways with 600 other people so that I could run on stage and sing the last eight bars of a tune. Those are humiliating situations. I didn’t get into porno in those years. I managed to hold out for a good 10 or 12 years. I tried to do just straight stuff without having to go all the way. What happened is that you have more bills to pay, so 1 had to start giving up on some of my morals. I was raised as a Catholic, so I certainly grew up believing that 1 could make it on my talent. But I found out that in the real world, that’s not always how you make it. When I gave up on some of my principles, I also matured as a person. It was a very freeing experience. I learned a great deal about sex.
Q – Why do you feel you are qualified to give advice to people on sex-related problems?
A – If you’ve had sexual relations with many people, and if you’ve worked with sex therapists and have been in every possible sexual situation in life, over the last 15 years, I certainly think I’m qualified to give sexual advice to people
Q – When someone asks you what you do for a living, what do you tell them?
A – I tell them I’m a porn star.
Q – What does your mother think of what you’re doing?
A – She sees me as an actress doing sexual roles, which is what I am. She would like me to be a star in non-sexual type movies, but then I would like to be a star in non-sexual type movies also I’m not offered the roles that Meryl Streep is offered at this time But, I am working, and that’s more than 85% of the Actor’s Equity Union is doing.
Q – What accounts for the great interest in Adult films?
A – That’s easy. People in real life have sex and naturally they’re going to want to watch it on screen.
Q – How does a woman get to be known as one of the Top 10 Porno Actresses?
A – By a lot of hard work, a lot of knowing what you’re doing up there, by being a professional.
Q – What separates you from other women who make these kinds of films?
A – I’m a trooper and I keep at it. Some of the other women are fly by nights. They come in, work real cheap, make one movie, and they never work again. They also don’t know what they’re doing up there. They’re usually some kind of bimbo, who really isn’t an actress to start with. _
Q – How long does it take to shoot one of these films?
A – In the old days, they used to shoot them in one day. They were called “One Day Wonders.” Now it takes about nine days. but you have to realize, most actors only work one day in a movie
Q – You told one reporter, ‘”There’s a casting couch everywhere in life for a woman. A woman has to learn, unfortunately, how to deal with it.” How does Marlene Willoughbv deal with it?
A – No one ever propositions you on a porno set. You go in for the job, tell them you can do it. They give you the job They never get fresh with you. You only have sex on screen when you’re doing your job. None at the producers, directors, none of the people in the X-rated industry bother you.
Q – In one interview you complain about some of the mail you receive; “They’re some of the most vulgar things you’ve ever read in your life. Half of them are just totally perverted and it makes you wonder what’s happening with the male population.” What is a man to think of a woman like yourself, who uses in a black corset with a whip? Don’t you in fact, invite these kinds of comments?
A – What would they think if they saw Lash LaRue which was a famous television series in the 1950’s9 That was a man in a black outfit who used to pose with a bullwhip. He managed to do it. And then we also saw Waller Mathau in a movie called “The Kentuckian” who played the villain opposite Burt Lancaster and he had a black whip. I did say that what men were writing to me was vulgar and perverted yes, but I didn’t say that it was a negative point. You’re making this a negative point. I said these lines with a sense of humor and as a reality.
Q – How long can you go on doing X-rated films?
A – I guess I can just go on forever, as long as I’m a woman, a sexual woman, I can do sexual films.
