Morena Black – Rest in Peace

June 15, 2019 American Starlets 2 Comments

I received the very sad news this morning that performer and friend of many girls in our industry, Morena Black had taken her own life.

 

She’d not been very active in production in the last year but had appeared in a lot of our scenes during 2016 and 2017 as well as productions by other companies including Evil Angel.

Morena was a big presence, with a big beautiful smile and I know of  many other performers whom had been touched by her warmth either in person or across social media where she was active and she was one of the people that once met, was hard to forget.

I can only pass on my sincere condolences to her friends and family.  It’s always tragic when such a young person takes their own life and I believe many people will be affected by her untimely death.

 

Rest in Peace Morena.  I will not forget that smile.

 

 

Danielle Lace – Performer – Dead at 25

January 18, 2019 American Starlets Fallen Angels 3 Comments

It is with sadness that I have to report that performer Danielle Lace was found dead at her home in January 2019.

Danielle worked with us on a number of shoots with producer Jack Flash in Florida for GroobyGirls and Tgirls.xxx and many of us were lucky to meet her when she visited Los Angeles to attend the TEA’s in March 2018.   She was a beautiful girl with a stunning smile.

We pass our thoughts and love to her friends and family.

Danielle Lace – Dead at 25.

RIP

“Briana Meathook” Dies – RIP

June 29, 2016 American Starlets 2 Comments

brianameathook3005

 

We have been notified that Black-Tgirls model ‘Briana Meathook’ died of illness this month.

According to our photographer, Kilakali;

“She caught pneumonia that eventually put her into a coma a few weeks ago. I was told she wasnt going to survive, but she ended up coming out of it. I talked to her about a week and a half ago and that she was going to be ok”

Briana appeared in shoots in 2013/2014 and had recently moved to Dallas for a new job.

Our respects to her friends and family.

Briana was 30 yrs old.

RIP

Kimberly Devine. Superstar. Died Fri 29th Jan aged 40.

February 1, 2016 American Starlets Fallen Angels 13 Comments

Kimberly Devine was a superstar. She was part of that group of girls, who came up at a very special time of the mid-late 1990’s in Los Angeles and helped birth the modern genre of transsexual pornography. Kim was part of a group of performers that included Meghan Chevalier, Gia Darling, Lea Chase, Olivia Love, Lisa Lawrence, Barbie Woods, Gina and Brandy Scott who were appearing in video releases from companies such as Kim Christy, Devil’s Film & Androgeny. She was beautiful, she had a great smile, big boobed on a great body and an eyebrow that raised with sexual enticement, at just the right time.

Kim was probably one of the gateway performers that introduced a lot of people to trans porn and it shouldn’t be under-estimated how much these girls brought to the industry. In an age, when transsexual performers were few and far between, and far more marginalized today, this group of about 15 models made up the total talent pool available to producers. The International Adult Film Database, has Kimberly Devine listed as having 64 videos between 1998 and 2006, it’s virtually impossible for anyone with an interest in transsexual erotica not to have came into contact with her work during that time.

Shemale Yum was barely two years old in 1998, and Bob Maverick (now of Bobs-Tgirls had just started shooting exclusive content for us. He was based in Los Angeles, he was known on the scene and he could shoot quality photos on film, which I then received by mail in order to be scanned and updated onto the website. Exciting times, as through my letter box came envelopes stuffed with 5×4 photos, of performers I’d only ever seen glimpses of, usually on box covers that I’d commissioned. I remember receiving the first Kimberly Devine images, and being excited about getting them onto the site where they were a huge hit. Black stockings, long black hair and those eyes …

In 2000, I was in Los Angeles and producing content for the website. I’d been introduced to Kimberly in Peanut’s and she’d agreed to shoot with me. To be honest, it wasn’t the easiest shoot – she was typically late (almost every model on that shoot was late) and then needed nearly two hours to get ready for the shoot. She was used to turning up to studios with makeup and lighting guys – not some ‘internet’ guy shooting with portable lights and a Sony Mavica on hard discs in a hotel room (the Ramanda on Santa Monica in West Hollywood). However, she was a star and her photos shone. I shot two sets, one in red which was awesome – but for me, the black dress, black stockings and the classy look, was one of my favourite shoots of that period.

Like so many of the aforementioned girls, Kim dropped out of the scene in the mid-2000’s. She made one comeback in 2008, when Buddy Wood met her at a club and managed to secure a shoot – looking older but still great, it was a very popular return.
By the mid-2000’s, there were more models, production values had dropped as the internet allowed producers cheaper and easier access to their customers and that magic time, of going to Peanuts, or the Queen Mary and bumping into one of only a handful of TS pornstars was over. I’m not sure whether Kim or any of the girls of that time appreciate how famous they were worldwide – or if they ever got the true appreciation for it. AVN didn’t have a transsexual performer category until 2006. The Transgender Erotica Awards started in 2008 and although some of the models from that time have been given ‘Lifetime Achievement Awards’, Kimberly Devine has yet to be recognized there.

Kimberly Devine died Fri. 29th January 2016 in Los Angeles.
She was 40.
Our thoughts are with her family

2kimberly00173kimberly0004
3kimberly0014kimberlyout07kimbikini03megankimberlyin01