- Born
- Died
- Birth nameGale Sandra Klinetsky
- Nicknames
- Gail Leonard
- Gayle Leonard
- Height5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
- Gloria Leonard, the doyenne of the erotic film industry, was born Gail Sandra Leonardi on August 28, 1940 in The Bronx, New York. Blessed with a 40-33-37 figure and 5' 9", the brown-haired, brown-eyed porn star from porn's "Golden Age" (1972 until the advent of video tape) made movies under her own name as well as the alias(es) C. Gale Leonard and Gail (or Gayle) Leonard.
She appeared in approximately 70 adult films before taking over "High Society" magazine in 1979. In her 14 years as publisher of "High Society", she created the genre of "Celebrity Skin". The magazine also was a pioneer in the phone sex industry.
Miss Leonard served as the administrative director of the Adult Film Association from 1989 to 1992, until the AFA merged with the Free Speech Coalition. Gloria returned to the porn industry in 1997 and was elected president of the Free Speech Coalition in 1998.
She was married to the fabled porn producer Bobby Hollander. They divorced in 1990.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jon C. Hopwood
- SpousesBobby Hollander(March 21, 1981 - 1990) (divorced)Ronald Kaplan(September 3, 1973 - ?) (divorced)Charles Leonardi(1963 - ?) (divorced, 1 child)
- Children
- Miss. Exotic Erotic
- Grew up in New York. She worked on Wall Street for three years as a registered representative of the now-defunct Schweickart and Company. Also worked for various PR firms. She started out as a copywriter for Elektra Records when they were "just a little one-room office in Greenwich Village.".
- Served as administrative director of the now-defunct Adult Film Association, the pornographic film industry trade association, from 1989-92. She was kicked out after the merger of the AFA with the Free Speech Coalition (FSC), as FSC board members didn't want an outspoken former porn star to be the face of the new organization, and they objected to her demand that the term "Adult" be retained for the new organization's title. She replied,"Many of us are motivated by passion and principle rather than just profits." Ironically, after leaving the industry for several years in the 1990s, she was elected president of the FSC in 1998, one year after her return to porn production.
- "High Society" magazine owner Carl Ruderman hired her to be the publisher of the men's magazine to give it the unique twist of having a woman as the head of its editorial operation. As publisher from 1977-91, she pioneered the (un)coverage of celebrities (in its "Celebrity Skin" features and stand-alone magazines) and telephone sex.
- Profiled in the book "Golden Goddesses: 25 Legendary Women of Classic Erotic Cinema, 1968-1985" by Jill C. Nelson.
- Mother of Robin Leonardi.
- [on her 14-year stint as publisher of "High Society" magazine] I started supervising layouts, shoots, writing a lion's share of the copy, including cover lines. I went out on the road and visited many of our wholesalers. There were 400-500. They in turn distributed to the retail level. I met with everyone from the truck drivers to the company principals. I examined bulk records to see how many copies an agency was getting. How many magazines they were returning. I did four to seven media interviews a day at times, depending on what "High Society" wanted to promote.
- The difference between pornography and erotica is lighting.
- Being accused of being a sex object is all right. It has to be in context, nurtured along with other aspects of our lives. But it's perfectly divine to be a sex object when it's part of the total picture -- when it's only one element of an otherwise well-rounded life.
- I like being a semi-helpless female, having a man take care of little things for me, but I could never live in the shadow of a man. I need to have input and some dominance in my relationship with a man. I need both strong and passive elements in my sexuality and relationships in order for them to work. I refuse to lock into a submissive or dominant role. So many of us get locked into traditional roles. The man is supposed to go mow the lawn. The woman is supposed to arrange flowers. Bullshit! If I can bring home the bread, and he's better at cooking and arranging flowers, then fuck it, that's fine with me. Once we drop these character roles and explore our androgynous nature more, we'll all be a lot happier.
- I enjoy manipulating my own body to orgasm.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content