Who is John Holmes?
John Curtis Holmes is was a famous American Pornographic film actor who died in March 1988 from complications caused by AIDS. John was active in the pornographic industry for about two decades, from 1967 to 1987.
John Holmes was considered one of the best pornographic film actors and was heavily promoted for his sexual parts. John was also involved in the July 1981 Wonderland murders.
John Holmes’s net worth was estimated to be around $1,000 at the time of his death in 1988.
his profile
| Full Name | John Curtis Estes |
| Other Names | John Duval, John Estes, Big John Holmes, John C. Holmes, John Curtis, and many others. |
| Date Of Birth | August 8, 1944 |
| Birth Place | Ashville, Ohio, U.s |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Pornographic film actor |
| Years Active | 1967 – 1987 |
| Net Worth | $1,000 |
early life and biography
John Curtis Holmes was born on August 8, 1944, in the small town of Ashville, Ohio. John was the youngest of four children born to 26-year-old Mary June Holmes, but the name of his father, Carl Estes was left blank on his birth certificate. Mary changed John’s surname to Holmes, her new husband’s surname when he was a little boy.
Later, around 1986, his mother provided him with a handwritten copy of his original birth certificate and Holmes discovered the name of his biological father, Carl Estes.
John Holmes had a rough childhood. His mother was religious whiles his stepfather was an abusive alcoholic. Mary later divorced Edgar when Holmes was just a toddler and moved with her children to Columbus, where they lived in a low-income housing project with a friend of Mary’s and her own two children. The two women worked as clerks and waitresses in order to support their children.
At the age of 15, John Holmes left home and joined the United States Army, with the permission of his mother. He spent most of the three years of his military service in the Signal Corps in West Germany until he was honorably discharged. He moved to Los Angeles and took a string of jobs, selling things door-to-door, operating a forklift, and working at a Coffee Nips factory. He met a nurse named Sharon when he was working as an ambulance driver, and they married in 1965.
career
John Holmes began his pornographic movie career in the late 1960s while he was unemployed. In 1967 Holmes was going to a men’s card-playing club in Gardena when a photographer for an underground magazine saw his large Penis while standing next to him at a urinal and gave Holmes his business card, telling him he could make money posing for magazines. From 1969, Holmes did nude modeling for underground adult magazines as well as an occasional ‘loop’ or ‘stag film’.
John Holmes’s career started in 1970 when he starred in Bob Chinn’s adult series about a private investigator named Johnny Wadd. Johnny Wadd became a success and this inspired Bob Chinn to follow that up the same year with Flesh of the Lotus. Holmes had sparked an adult franchise and most of the Johnny Wadd films were written and directed by Bob Chinn.
With the success of Deep Throat (1972), Behind the Green Door (1972), and The Devil in Miss Jones (1973), porn became chic even though its legality was still hotly contested. Holmes was arrested during this time for pimping and pandering, but he avoided prison time by reputedly becoming an informant for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
drugs and wonderland murders
By the late 1970s, when Holmes was taking home around $3,000 per day, his drug habit was becoming a serious problem. It made him impotent, which obviously affected his work and his finances. To support himself and his drug habit, Holmes started selling drugs, prostituting himself, and committing credit card fraud and petty theft. In 1976, he met teenager Dawn Schiller, who became his girlfriend.
In late 1980, a mutual friend introduced Holmes to Chris Coxx, who owned the Odyssey nightclub. In turn, Coxx introduced Holmes to Eddie Nash, a drug dealer who owned several nightclubs, including the Starwood in West Hollywood. Holmes was also associated with the Wonderland Gang, a group of heroin-addicted cocaine dealers who lived in a row house located on Wonderland Avenue in Los Angeles. He worked for the gang, often selling drugs. Holmes was falling out of the gang’s favor when he started using more than his share of the Wonderland Gang’s drugs.
In June 1981, Holmes told Launius and Lind about a large stash of drugs, money, and jewelry Nash had in his house. Holmes helped to set up a home invasion and armed robbery committed on the morning of June 29, 1981.
Nash, a formidable and dangerous figure, suspected that Holmes had a part in the robbery. He had his bodyguard drag Holmes to his house and got Holmes to confess. Nash then threatened Holmes’ life and that of Holmes’ family and plotted revenge against the Wonderland Gang. In the early hours of July 1, 1981, four of the gang’s members were found brutally murdered in their house. Holmes was allegedly there during the murders, but it is unclear if he participated in the killings.
Holmes was questioned, but due to a lack of evidence, he was released. After spending several months on the run with Schiller, he was arrested in Florida on December 1981 by former LAPD homicide detectives and returned to Los Angeles. Holmes was charged with personally committing all four murders. Later, Holmes was acquitted of all charges except contempt of court.
death
In February 1986, five or six months after testing negative, Holmes was diagnosed as HIV-positive. According to his second wife Laurie Holmes, he claimed that he never used hypodermic needles and that he was deathly afraid of them. Gebenini and friend/former colleague Bill Amerson separately confirmed later that Holmes could not have contracted HIV from intravenous drug use because he never used needles.
Holmes married Laurie Rose on January 23, 1987, in Las Vegas, Nevada after telling her that he had AIDS.
During the last few months of his life, Holmes stayed in the VA hospital in Los Angeles. Holmes died from AIDS-related complications on March 13, 1988. Before his death, in 1985, he won the X-Rated Critics Organizations Hall of Fame award. While Ron Jeremy and James Deen both made millions as adult film stars, Holmes squandered away his potential fortune. If you want to see a fictionalized account of his life, check out Boogie Nights. The real-life story isn’t quite as glitzy.
net worth
John Holmes’ net worth was estimated to be around $1,000 at the time of his death. Holmes squandered away his potential fortune due to his drug addiction and other problems.
FAQs about John Holmes.
What was John Holmes’ real surname?
John Holmes’ real surname is Estes. He found out when his mother provided him with a hand-written copy of his original birth certificate
How old was john holmes when he died?
John Holmes was 43 years old at the time of his death.
at what age did holmes join the us army?
At the age of 15, Holmes left home and joined the United States Army, with hand-written permission from his mother.
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