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The Devil Made Me Do It
In 1973, short on cash and with the rent due, a Peacenik former Broadway Gypsy living in Manhattan's Meat Packing District signed on to cook for the cast and crew of a new film, The Devil in Miss Jones. She soon found herself cast in the lead role, and her legendary erotic performance launched her on a career that would come to define the era of Porn Chic. This is the story of Georgina Spelvin, a poignant and wholly bawdy memoir of her life before and after porn fame, full of riveting anecdotes and marvelous gossip from time spent among the famous and the infamous. With a storyteller's touch, Georgina takes us to the bright lights of Broadway, the glamour of Manhattan's Latin Quarter, the fervor of the Vietnam Era peace movement, and of course, the so-called Golden Age of Porn. Thirty years in the making and five years in the writing, there are more laughs than tears, but no apologies or excuses. It is not a victim's whine, but a romping good read, filled with the colorful details of a road less traveled.
304 pages, Paperback
First published March 20, 2008
4 people are currently reading
201 people want to read
About the author
Georgina Spelvin
3 books5 followersGeorgina Spelvin was a Broadway Gypsy who appeared in Pajama Game and Cabaret before inadvertently becoming a "porn star" in Gerard Damiano's seminal classic, The Devil in Miss Jones. After the dust from that settled, she hid out in the Hollywood Hills for thirty years, quietly desktop publishing real estate ads. Then she desktop published her book, The Devil Made Me Do It. Now she's doing her best to keep up with requests for interviews and signing events - and not complaining about that one bit! "
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 8, 2012
I lost my virginity in 1991, 10 years after the CDC published news of the emergence of an epidemic among gay men in New York and California, but before effective treatments for HIV/AIDS were developed.
We were all having sex at Checkpoint Charlie back then: “Show me your paperzzz.” There were no rapid HIV tests then, either, so a visit to the clinic to get your blood drawn followed by a two week wait tended to slow down courtship rituals significantly in my circle.
The atmosphere of fear and doubt cannot be underestimated: nobody seemed to know what was going on, but they knew it was bad and would kill you, but not before making you a pariah and a moral object lesson. It was a sex panic of the first order: because unlike previous sex panics, it was about something real, and it really did kill people. (The great heroes of this dark era are, of course, the militant queers of ActUP).
The author of “The Devil Made Me Do It,” Georgina Spelvin, starred in the groundbreaking and much-imitated porn movie “The Devil and Miss Jones.” When I read books like this engaging memoir of Spelvin’s sexual career, both private and public, it seems almost like science fiction to me: a completely different world, with completely different rules, one that I’ll never be able to see or visit.
The people in this book are so carefree with their sexuality! I have an actual on-paper copy of this book, which I picked up at Good Vibrations in Brookline, but there’s a Kindle edition now, and I’m tempted to buy it so I can use the search feature: it’s possible that the word “condom” is mentioned in this book, but if it is, I missed it. (Spelvin does, however, mention Adult Industry Medical (AIM), which administered the testing regime for most porn performers in the US until collapsing in scandal in 2010, late in the book, but that takes place well after she has departed from the industry).
While the dalliances of Ms. Spelvin and her friends seem carefree from the perspective of those of us whose sex lives started in the HIV era, that doesn’t mean that they were in any way cavalier; Georgina leads with her heart, has many crushes, a few divorces, and gets her heart broken on several occasions. This is a wonderful corrective: I think the current sexual climate has given many people a warped view — they think that those freewheeling free-love types must not have cared about each other very much. Ain’t necessarily so.
Spelvin takes us through the rustic setting of the porn industry in those days, well before it had become the big, industrial megaplex it is today. She describes seeing the set where The Devil In Miss Jones is filmed:
If that’s not rustic enough, when Georgina and the crew get inside, they are jubilant to find…
Ms. Spelvin is not only the star of these early productions — she’s also in charge of craft services. That’s $100 a day to perform, and another $25 to cook.
You really have to respect someone who can star in a porn movie and then feed her fellow performers and crew a standing rib roast, as Spelvin does on the set, having snagged food for the entire crew for $56 at wholesalers in her New York City neighborhood.
Of course, being in the porn industry (then or now) doesn’t offer a lot of job security. Spelvin goes on to do musical theater, and encounters the perils of being a sexual outlaw in her era — perils that aren’t medical, but legal:
The ensuing scene — where the play’s producer convinces the two FBI agents to keep an eye on Ms. Spelvin from the audience and take her into custody *after* the show — is priceless. The warrant turns out to be a witness warrant served by a state’s attorney who apparently figures that putting porn stars on the stand would polish up his credentials as a true-blue moral crusader. However, it’s dropped, and Spelvin never has to testify.
After that point, Spelvin seems adrift, casting from place to place in a school bus retrofitted with a woodstove (a vehicle that’s like the Millenium Falcon in the science fictional universe known as America between 1950 and the election of Ronald Reagan), alighting at a clothing optional trailer park in the deserts just outside of San Diego. Her relationship with alcohol accelerates into a real problem; she gets herself sober for jobs that are increasingly more difficult to come by. Spelvin never blames the porn industry for her troubles, nor, indeed, does she seem very troubled by starring in what she and her crowd call “fuckfilms,” – in fact, many of the happiest passages of the book involve the laughter and camraderie of people on the sets of her movies.
Stripping and live performance is another matter, however, and Spelvin armors herself with increasingly large amounts of alcohol before performances. Her mother shows up to shepherd her through a few final performances in Atlantic City before taking her home to Texas to dry out, which she does, after a family friend who shows up at the hospital after her mother’s death asks if she wants to attend an AA meeting.
Ms. Spelvin ends up healthy, happy, and living under the Hollywood sign, bolstered by a long and happy marriage to her husband, John. While there were a few points at which I didn’t quite understand the transitions in this book — wait, what year are we in? Oh! It’s a flashback — this is a lovely, comfortable, funny book. You can find it — on paper and as a Kindle book — at Amazon.
We were all having sex at Checkpoint Charlie back then: “Show me your paperzzz.” There were no rapid HIV tests then, either, so a visit to the clinic to get your blood drawn followed by a two week wait tended to slow down courtship rituals significantly in my circle.
The atmosphere of fear and doubt cannot be underestimated: nobody seemed to know what was going on, but they knew it was bad and would kill you, but not before making you a pariah and a moral object lesson. It was a sex panic of the first order: because unlike previous sex panics, it was about something real, and it really did kill people. (The great heroes of this dark era are, of course, the militant queers of ActUP).
The author of “The Devil Made Me Do It,” Georgina Spelvin, starred in the groundbreaking and much-imitated porn movie “The Devil and Miss Jones.” When I read books like this engaging memoir of Spelvin’s sexual career, both private and public, it seems almost like science fiction to me: a completely different world, with completely different rules, one that I’ll never be able to see or visit.
The people in this book are so carefree with their sexuality! I have an actual on-paper copy of this book, which I picked up at Good Vibrations in Brookline, but there’s a Kindle edition now, and I’m tempted to buy it so I can use the search feature: it’s possible that the word “condom” is mentioned in this book, but if it is, I missed it. (Spelvin does, however, mention Adult Industry Medical (AIM), which administered the testing regime for most porn performers in the US until collapsing in scandal in 2010, late in the book, but that takes place well after she has departed from the industry).
While the dalliances of Ms. Spelvin and her friends seem carefree from the perspective of those of us whose sex lives started in the HIV era, that doesn’t mean that they were in any way cavalier; Georgina leads with her heart, has many crushes, a few divorces, and gets her heart broken on several occasions. This is a wonderful corrective: I think the current sexual climate has given many people a warped view — they think that those freewheeling free-love types must not have cared about each other very much. Ain’t necessarily so.
Spelvin takes us through the rustic setting of the porn industry in those days, well before it had become the big, industrial megaplex it is today. She describes seeing the set where The Devil In Miss Jones is filmed:
Late in the afternoon we pull up before a looming nineteenth-century barn-like structure. It stands in majestic isolation on a slight knoll. The last quarter of our trip had been through towering trees sporting vivid fall colors. The only sign of civilization seen for a half-hour or more, a small roadhouse tucked in among the abundant foliage. Now before us an expansive field of long amber grass stretches to thick woods on three sides.
If that’s not rustic enough, when Georgina and the crew get inside, they are jubilant to find…
“Hallelujah!” I explode. “There is a God. I found a hot water heater. Anyone know how to light this thing?”
Ms. Spelvin is not only the star of these early productions — she’s also in charge of craft services. That’s $100 a day to perform, and another $25 to cook.
You really have to respect someone who can star in a porn movie and then feed her fellow performers and crew a standing rib roast, as Spelvin does on the set, having snagged food for the entire crew for $56 at wholesalers in her New York City neighborhood.
Of course, being in the porn industry (then or now) doesn’t offer a lot of job security. Spelvin goes on to do musical theater, and encounters the perils of being a sexual outlaw in her era — perils that aren’t medical, but legal:
Two men in suits — nobody wears suits in the summer in Maine — are walking slowly down the aisle [of the theater] looking very uncomfortable…
“Are you Georgina Spelvin?” asks the taller of the two Suits.
“On occasion,” I reply — not meaning to be sarcastic, just accurate.
“We are here to serve you with a fugitive warrant for your arrest.”
The ensuing scene — where the play’s producer convinces the two FBI agents to keep an eye on Ms. Spelvin from the audience and take her into custody *after* the show — is priceless. The warrant turns out to be a witness warrant served by a state’s attorney who apparently figures that putting porn stars on the stand would polish up his credentials as a true-blue moral crusader. However, it’s dropped, and Spelvin never has to testify.
After that point, Spelvin seems adrift, casting from place to place in a school bus retrofitted with a woodstove (a vehicle that’s like the Millenium Falcon in the science fictional universe known as America between 1950 and the election of Ronald Reagan), alighting at a clothing optional trailer park in the deserts just outside of San Diego. Her relationship with alcohol accelerates into a real problem; she gets herself sober for jobs that are increasingly more difficult to come by. Spelvin never blames the porn industry for her troubles, nor, indeed, does she seem very troubled by starring in what she and her crowd call “fuckfilms,” – in fact, many of the happiest passages of the book involve the laughter and camraderie of people on the sets of her movies.
Stripping and live performance is another matter, however, and Spelvin armors herself with increasingly large amounts of alcohol before performances. Her mother shows up to shepherd her through a few final performances in Atlantic City before taking her home to Texas to dry out, which she does, after a family friend who shows up at the hospital after her mother’s death asks if she wants to attend an AA meeting.
Ms. Spelvin ends up healthy, happy, and living under the Hollywood sign, bolstered by a long and happy marriage to her husband, John. While there were a few points at which I didn’t quite understand the transitions in this book — wait, what year are we in? Oh! It’s a flashback — this is a lovely, comfortable, funny book. You can find it — on paper and as a Kindle book — at Amazon.
November 21, 2021
I've been on the lookout for books that cover the same ground as the underrated HBO show The Deuce and this one caught my eye, about the days of "Porn Chic" in New York in the 70s. Georgina is very likeable and this has some good moments, but mostly I skimmed tedious dialogue between characters I didn't much care about. Wish this had been a short piece in an anthology. The anecdotes with snakes were crazy.
September 4, 2023
I'm in the minority of people who aren't into pornography. Weird, right? I do find the business interesting though, particularly its effects on the participants' lives. Most of what I've learned has been through interviews and documentaries, which eventually led me here.
When I saw Georgina Spelvin appear in a video for Massive Attack's "Heligoland," her honesty and accessibility stayed with me for a long time. She was fascinating. It could have been her character or the benefit of time and thought she put into what she was saying. Maybe both. I was hearing the "why" that brought her into pornography and the emotions that made her commit to it. She was candid about sex and the thrill of being in front of the camera. "We are our own devil," she concludes.
There is less of the "whys" and "hows" in her memoir and more of the "whats," but it has given me a fuller picture of where she came from, what she went through and how she never shied from anything. She lived in a variety of different places, worked countless jobs, traveled from place to place, battled alcoholism (and won) then ultimately found the love of her life, living in the Hollywood Hills with no regrets.
I'll admit I wanted more of the insight I had experienced in her interviews, not only pertaining to her work but her inner life and what emotionally motivated her choices. Perhaps the book was the beginning of that process. When you have such a storied life there is a time where you're inevitably prompted to look back, regardless of whether the devil got you there.
When I saw Georgina Spelvin appear in a video for Massive Attack's "Heligoland," her honesty and accessibility stayed with me for a long time. She was fascinating. It could have been her character or the benefit of time and thought she put into what she was saying. Maybe both. I was hearing the "why" that brought her into pornography and the emotions that made her commit to it. She was candid about sex and the thrill of being in front of the camera. "We are our own devil," she concludes.
There is less of the "whys" and "hows" in her memoir and more of the "whats," but it has given me a fuller picture of where she came from, what she went through and how she never shied from anything. She lived in a variety of different places, worked countless jobs, traveled from place to place, battled alcoholism (and won) then ultimately found the love of her life, living in the Hollywood Hills with no regrets.
I'll admit I wanted more of the insight I had experienced in her interviews, not only pertaining to her work but her inner life and what emotionally motivated her choices. Perhaps the book was the beginning of that process. When you have such a storied life there is a time where you're inevitably prompted to look back, regardless of whether the devil got you there.
Read
August 9, 2025Georgina provides interesting insights into how she chose to start making adult films. There's the expected situation of needing to make rent, but of course there's more to it. She makes it clear that she wasn’t naive, and she was often wary of the direction of things. Yet she has an open, unguarded personality. Not exactly a wild free-spirit, but she lets herself be carried along at times.
The timeline isn’t always clear, and sometimes she revisits events to add significant details: a device to hold the reader’s interest, but poorly executed — to be fair, she’s not a professional writer!
Spelvin reminisces about her conventional career’s peak with her minor role in The Pajama Game the way some guys can’t leave their high school football glory days behind. Understandable but a little maudlin.
She spends a significant portion of her autobiography on the mechanics of her films, but her great personality, down-home humor, and personal struggles and insights make it worth the read:
The timeline isn’t always clear, and sometimes she revisits events to add significant details: a device to hold the reader’s interest, but poorly executed — to be fair, she’s not a professional writer!
Spelvin reminisces about her conventional career’s peak with her minor role in The Pajama Game the way some guys can’t leave their high school football glory days behind. Understandable but a little maudlin.
She spends a significant portion of her autobiography on the mechanics of her films, but her great personality, down-home humor, and personal struggles and insights make it worth the read:
I'd never before seen anyone who pierced anything other than an ear lobe or two. There is more hardware dangling from various parts of the face before me than you'd find in the average angler's tackle box.
I had moved into Mom's room… Just like she told me to put her prayer book in her hands before they closed the coffin. No. I didn't -- don't -- hear her voice... exactly. It's just that a thought will pop into my head with her special mode of expression stamped all over it.
May 31, 2012
At some point in this book someone gives Georgina a sound piece of advice about writing a biography - don't start at the beginning, start at the most interesting part and work your way out.
And so the first third of this book concerns the making of "The Devil in Miss Jones", which is indeed a fascinating insight into the brief period of history when pornography thought that it could could make the transition to "art". The clues to its failure are there to be seen - Georgina takes her role extremely seriously and gives it her all, however it is entirely evident that few of the other participants, the director in particular, care as much.
Thereafter the book meanders from hippy idealism to alcoholic hell and back again. Ms Spelvin writes with an engaging, witty tone, but, having put her cart beore her horse, the remaining two thirds of the book are more of a chore than a pleasure.
And so the first third of this book concerns the making of "The Devil in Miss Jones", which is indeed a fascinating insight into the brief period of history when pornography thought that it could could make the transition to "art". The clues to its failure are there to be seen - Georgina takes her role extremely seriously and gives it her all, however it is entirely evident that few of the other participants, the director in particular, care as much.
Thereafter the book meanders from hippy idealism to alcoholic hell and back again. Ms Spelvin writes with an engaging, witty tone, but, having put her cart beore her horse, the remaining two thirds of the book are more of a chore than a pleasure.
February 28, 2021
I didn't get everything I'd hoped to get from this - there is a snippet of history involving her participation in the 'Police Academy' movie (I think the first one) that I'd hoped she would have put something down about, but didn't.
Overall, it was the light, informative read I had hoped for. There many 'porn-moirs' available and I've done a list: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
... this is one of the earliest of the porn stars and she seems to be on the 'We're all having a good time' team as opposed to the 'It is a Living Hell' team -- a worthy read for anyone with an interest.
Overall, it was the light, informative read I had hoped for. There many 'porn-moirs' available and I've done a list: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
... this is one of the earliest of the porn stars and she seems to be on the 'We're all having a good time' team as opposed to the 'It is a Living Hell' team -- a worthy read for anyone with an interest.
December 7, 2017
A great inside look in to a fascinating industry.
April 16, 2020
Georgina Spelvin had an interesting life and her book details her exploits well.
August 2, 2022
Very interesting and fun to read, but at times felt like a much beloved aunt’s semi-incoherent Facebook post.
Great summer read by the pool
Great summer read by the pool
April 12, 2016
The book begins on the set of her first adult film, High Preistess of Sexual Witchcraft. Georgina is brutally honest throughout the entire book and doesn’t hold back. She takes us, year by year, through her life and some of the films she’s done. I really wanted to know more about the two suicide attempts that she briefly mentioned. I found that to be the most interesting part of her story. Maybe she’ll talk more about it in a future book. One can only hope.
I think her greatest achievement is surviving alcoholism. I’d have liked to have known when it began and what she thought caused it. I’d also like to know what her brother and extended family thought of her career choice. She’s definitely lead an interesting life. She’s very humorous and is a great storyteller and I’m glad she’s found happiness with her husband. I found this to be an enjoyable read because of her humourous style of writing and her honesty. I love the classy cover too. Great photo.
I grade this 4 stars/B.
I think her greatest achievement is surviving alcoholism. I’d have liked to have known when it began and what she thought caused it. I’d also like to know what her brother and extended family thought of her career choice. She’s definitely lead an interesting life. She’s very humorous and is a great storyteller and I’m glad she’s found happiness with her husband. I found this to be an enjoyable read because of her humourous style of writing and her honesty. I love the classy cover too. Great photo.
I grade this 4 stars/B.
April 2, 2012
Didn't know much about Spelvin until I got this book. She was on a show called "Dave's Old Porn" and her wit made me want to read about her. It's hard to know what you're going to get from a porn actress, but what I got was an absorbing memoir. You don't learn too much about the profession per se, but you get is a feel for the era, good and bad. From her book, I know that Georgina is still the same free-thinking soul that she was back then, a thing I hope she stays until the last of her days.
August 20, 2008
Great fun read. Georgina Spelvin is the iconic star of the infamous adult film, "The Devil in Miss Jones." This is her story of what happened when the rent was due at her co-op loft in Manhattan's now de riguer meat market district, and what followed. This is a history book -- a tale of the 1970's and later, specific to a woman who was just looking to be a star. A cautionary tale, it is quite provocative, a little lusty, a love story to her mom. This is not your typical porn star!
June 13, 2010
I have never seen "The Devil in Miss Jones" and I never will. The descriptions of filming it in this book were quite graphic enough for me. At times it was an entertaining read, if not always. Georgina Spelvin seems like a warm, intelligent, cool person who has no shame about her life. I liked her and her honesty. In the 70s, they called porno "fuck films." Of course, when was the last time a porno was filmed on actual film . . . the 70s?
December 30, 2015
A fascinating true tale of the struggles of a professional dancer during the 50's, 60's and 70's turned porn goddess by accident. Spelvin has a way of describing her amazing achievements with genuine humility and sardonic wit and self-deprecating humour. She's no-holds barred. You feel like this is a person you could be instant friends with. To think she wrote this in her 70s in unbelievable. She is modernly candid and her writing/euphemisms are not dated or stuffy. She's one cool lady!
August 25, 2012
What an interesting person! It's amazing how a woman that came out of the 50's became such a survivor in show business. Anybody that has to overcome alcoholism and lives to tell about it has an important message to convey. Georgina Spelvin has an interesting story to tell.
February 21, 2014
Such a cool book, amazing life, funny person. Definitely an interesting memoir written in such an honest tone. Loved hearing all of GS's crazy life and she has only nice things to say about anyone and everyone. Would love to meet her.
April 10, 2014
Wow
good history of a good actress. a good look at the 70's makes me wish I was born 10 years earlier
good history of a good actress. a good look at the 70's makes me wish I was born 10 years earlier
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews