Biography of Marie Louise Hartman (a.k.a.: Nina Hartley)
Nina Hartley (born Marie Louise Hartman on March 11, 1959 in Berkeley, California)
is an American pornographic actress, pornographic film director and sex educator.
Hartley was born to a Jewish family and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.
She is the youngest of four children, with an older sister and two older brothers.
Her parents converted to Buddhism when she was young. After graduating high school
in 1977, she attended San Francisco State University's undergraduate nursing school
and graduated magna cum laude in 1985. She is a registered nurse.
In 1982, during her sophomore year of nursing school, she started working as
a stripper at Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater.
She made her foray into the world of pornographic movies during her junior
year, in 1984. Her debut performance was in the film Educating Nina, which was
produced by the veteran porn star Juliet Anderson (better known as "Aunt
Peg"), and this proved to be a massive hit. Since then she has gone on
to feature in over 400 first-run adult films, and has become one of the most
enduring and recognizable performers in the industry.
She said in an interview that she chose the name "Nina" because it
was easy for Japanese tourists to say during the time she was a dancer in San
Francisco. She chose "Hartley" because she liked the popular camera
commercials Mariette Hartley was making with James Garner at the time.
Politically, Hartley considers herself a liberal and an outspoken sex-positive
feminist. Addressing other women, she said "Sex isn't something men do
to you. It isn't something men get out of you. Sex is something you dive into
with gusto and like it every bit as much as he does." Hartley has been
an advocate for the adult film industry's right to exist, and, before the rise
to stardom of Jenna Jameson, had often been called on when television news programs
and talk shows required an articulate, leading adult film actress to support
the pro side. She appeared most notably on The Oprah Winfrey Show with fellow
porn actress Ona Zee. The two came under hard scrutiny from the mostly female
audience, but refused to back down and were outspoken in their support of the
industry. She and Ona Zee also spoke out strongly against illegal drugs in the
industry.
In addition to her more traditional roles in porn films, she has also produced,
directed, and starred in a series of Guide to... films covering the entire sexual
spectrum, from basic sexual intercourse and foreplay, to anal sex and bondage.
Hartley crossed over into mainstream Hollywood with an appearance in the 1997
film Boogie Nights, in which she played William H. Macy's serially unfaithful
wife. She also appeared in the 1996 Canadian film Bubbles Galore.
Hartley is openly bisexual in her private life, and had what has been described
as the longest stable relationship in the adult business, living in a ménage
à trois with her husband Dave (whom she met when she was 19), and "wife"
Bobby Lilly for 20 years. Hartley has since left that relationship, saying "I
was too immature and he was too possessive. It didn't work... It ended up ending
because it was the wrong three people involved." She has since married
Ira Levine (aka Ernest Greene), a director of porn films, particularly BDSM
films. They sometimes work together, as in The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for
Women, directed by Tristan Taormino and Greene, and O: the Power of Submission,
directed by Greene. In both of these films, Hartley plays supporting roles.
Hartley does not have any children due to a combination of a lack of interest
and fibroid tumors, though she does have eight nieces and nephews.
Full name: Marie Louise Hartman Birthdate: March 11, 1959 Birthplace: Berkeley, California, USA
