Anybody remember Babylon Pink? Devil In Miss Jones 2? Hothouse Rose? Blame It On Ginger? Taboo American Style? Outlaw Ladies?
What those classics all have in common is their director: Henri Pachard. In the course of a career that’s spanned nearly 30 years, Pachard has directed more than 400 movies for some of the biggest and most highly respected companies in the history of the industry: Vivid, VCA, Command, Caballero, Metro, Sin City, Video-X-Pix, Essex – you name it, Pachard’s probably got a credit there.
So it was with the greatest dismay that we’ve learned that Pachard is losing his battle with cancer, the disease that’s kept him all but sidelined for the past three years, and unable to support himself and his wife, Deloras.
“We have about 23 years of friendship,” writer/photographer Raven Touchstone said in an email today. “There was a brief romance in there somewhere but it wasn’t a patch on the depth of the friendship over the years and the many terrific movies we made together. I was supposed to go visit again today but he’s not feeling well right now… lots of nausea from the morphine. He has fought like a gladiator the past 2-1/2 years, but this cancer has chopped at him bit by bit till there’s no strength left in him. It’s really tragic to see this one time ego-driven, gifted, intelligent man felled by some runaway cells.”
With Pachard unable to work, the support of the family has fallen to Deloras, who’s often served as Pachard’s cameraperson over the past decade, shooting both sex scenes and behind-the-scenes footage – she has her own camera – and even editing Pachard’s movies.
Deloras is Pachard’s sole means of support, but with Pachard house-bound, the family has no income, and with the mounting medical bills, that’s a problem.
Touchstone has put out a call to the industry to give Deloras Pachard some camera and/or editing work to help her and her legendary husband survive.
He has nausea, the usual cancer stuff,” she said. “Pot doesn’t help him; we tried that, but he’s never been a pot guy, so he kind of gets freaked out a little bit, plus he’s on some pretty heavy narcotics: The Fentanyl patch, a time-release morphine patch, and Dilaudid, stuff like that. He tries to kind of stay quiet, but recently, he’s been very touched by the responses that people have given and made since [AVN’s] article. “In other words, he’s dying - and in the meantime, he and his wife (who’s also served as his cameraperson and editor over the years) are living pretty much hand-to-mouth.
But fortunately, there are people in the adult community who want to do something about it. Several have already sent checks to the Sullivans, but veteran actress Amber Lynn wants to do more.
“At first, I just went ‘Oh, my God,’ and then, ‘What’s the solution and the action?’” she explained. “And that is that he needs money; they obviously need some help.”
“So my idea is just this - and I got Ron Jeremy on the phone, and I’m waiting for a call back from Nina [Hartley] - but it’s just about the actors showing up to offer their services for a scene together, and pairing off and doing some really great scenes, for a project that we’re going to title, ‘That’s What Friends Are For.’”
“We’re thinking about a satire/comedy, keep it light and comedic and sexy and we wanted to reach out to the industry and say, ‘Who’s on board? Who wants to do this project with us? We need some actors, obviously - it takes more than me and Ronny and Nina to shoot a scene, and we’ll need a location, and someone put it together - we’ve been told we already have a promise to find a company to back it - and who doesn’t want to buy a movie with a lot of superstars in it?”
Deloras Sullivan agreed. “I thought maybe we could get music,” she said, “and the project could look something like Amber directing; maybe some other directors who wanted to take part in it could direct some too; plus background interviews, documentary interviews, say with Georgina Spelvin, Raven Touchstone, maybe John Leslie, Nina Hartley - also some people who are not doing scenes, maybe Paul Thomas, who wouldn’t mind giving us a cameo or interview, and also musical contributions and art with Justice Howard or Raven Touchstone, and I see Georgina has a new book out there as well. Mr. Marcus has volunteered to do something as well. Also I want to mention Lynn LeMay; she has a studio and her boyfriend is also a good photographer as well. One thing Amber wanted to stress to those people who do make contact, this is all voluntary.”
Indeed, this would be a non-paying gig, with all the money collected from sales to be donated to the Sullivans (which might also mean tax breaks for those who volunteer their time; check with your accountants).
“We’d like to include crew as well, because Ron’s affected a lot of people both in front and behind the camera, and I think we might get a really great response there,” Deloras added. “I think it could be a really great project, something people could be proud of.”
When Vivid director (and veteran actor) Paul Thomas heard about the project, his support was immediate.
“As far as I’m concerned, everything we can do for him, we should do,” Thomas said. “Any dispensation, any favors, any appearances of anyone from Jenna Jameson to Ginger Lynn to Harry Reems, anybody who would help up the cachet of an event, I think you’ll get. Let Amber know - I don’t know if cameos by Joey [Silvera] or John Leslie or me would help sell the thing, so what I’m suggesting to you is, think high. This is not just another guy who’s passing away here. Don’t hesitate to ask anyone, because you wouldn’t be imposing on anyone.”
Henri Pachard has indeed touched many lives in this industry, as a quick look at his curriculum vitae on the Internet Adult Film Database reveals. For instance, Keisha may remember being directed by Pachard in 1987’s Adultery; Sharon Kane, in 1988’s Art of Passion and several others; Ginger Lynn, in 1986’s Blame It on Ginger; Amber Lynn, in 1985’s Hot Wire; Nina Hartley, in 1989’s Call Girls In Action and several others; Sharon Mitchell, in 1985’s Showdown; Kylie Ireland, in 1994’s Heartbreaker; Kelly Nichols, in 1985’s Hot Licks; Lynn LeMay in 1988’s Kink; Candida Royalle, in 1980’s October Silk; Skye Blue, in 1993’s Panties; Aurora Snow, in 2000’s Pigtails; Francesca Le, in 1992’s Girls of Summer; Tina Tyler and Phyllisha Ann, in 1992’s True Hooker Stories; Anna Mills, in 2003’s Contortionist; Stephen St. Croix, in 2002’s Body; Joey Silvera and Randy Spears, in 1990’s The New Barbarians; and Tom Byron and Paul Thomas in 1987’s On The Loose - and those are just some of the ones that are still working in the industry in one capacity or another!
One thing that all agree with about Pachard: He’s a fighter!
“He just soldiers through everything,” Amber said. “He’s a very proud man and I’ve known him since I was 18 years old. He directed a scene with Jamie [Gillis] and I back in the day in New York.”
X-Play has joined Bill Margold’s Protecting Adult Welfare (PAW) and performer Amber Lynn in a fundraising effort to help ailing adult director Henri Pachard, who is battling throat cancer.
X-Play will donate one dollar for each Not the Bradys XXX DVD sold between now and June 20 to PAW’s Henri Pachard Cancer Fund. Producer/director Jeff Mullen of X-Play encourages distributors, stores and customers to purchase copies of the movie to help Pachard and his family.
“Sometimes we forget that our troubles are minor compared to what others are going through,” Mullen told AVN. “Henri Pachard has had kind words for me every time I have seen him and if we can help out a person who was one of the men that helped pave the way for our business, it is the least we can do. I encourage everybody to pick up a DVD copy of our Bradys XXX so that we can generate a nice donation for his cancer fund.
Mullen’s PR agency All Media Play is additionally donating its services to promote Amber Lynn’s video benefit for Pachard.
Articles courtesy of AVN.com and Mark Kernes.
Please do what you can to raise money for one of this industry’s true pioneers and good guys.
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