John Holmes (pornographic actor)

John C. Holmes
Holmes as Joe Murray in Prisoner of Paradise (1980)
Born	John Curtis Estes (1944-08-08)August 8, 1944 Ashville, Ohio, U.S.
Died	March 13, 1988(1988-03-13) (aged 43) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	AIDS
Nationality	American
Other names	John Duval, John Estes, Big John Fallus, Big John Holmes, John C. Holmes, John Curtis Holmes, Johnny Holmes, Bigg John, Big John, John Rey, Johnny Wadd, John Sacre, Long John Wadd, Johnny B. Wadd, Johnny the Wad, John C. Wadd, The Duke of Wadd, John Foot Long, Wadzilla, King Wadd, Wizard of Wadd, The Sultan of Smut
Occupation	Pornographic film actor
Years active	1967–1988
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	145 lb (66 kg)
Website	www.johnholmes.com
No. of adult films	2,934

John Curtis Holmes (August 8, 1944 – March 13, 1988), better known as John C. Holmes or Johnny Wadd (after the lead character he portrayed in a series of related films), was one of the most prolific male pornographic film actors of all time, as he appeared in about 2,934 adult loops and pornographic feature movies in the 1970s and 1980s.

Holmes was best known for his exceptionally large penis, which was heavily promoted as the longest, thickest and hardest in the porn industry, although no documented measurement of Holmes' actual penis length, girth or tumescence has ever been confirmed. Near the end of his life, Holmes attained notoriety for his involvement in the Wonderland murders of July 1981 and eventually for his death from complications caused by AIDS in March 1988. Holmes was the subject of several books, a lengthy essay in Rolling Stone and two feature-length documentaries, and was the inspiration for two Hollywood movies (Boogie Nights and Wonderland).

Holmes was born John Curtis Estes on August 8, 1944, in the small rural town of Ashville, Ohio, about 25 miles (40 km) south of Columbus. He was the youngest of four children born to 26-year-old Mary June (Barton) Holmes, but the father's name, Carl Estes, a railroad worker, is left blank on his birth certificate. Mary Barton had married Edgar Harvey Holmes, who was the father of her three older children - Dale, Edward and Anne. She and Holmes were married and divorced three times, as is documented by wedding certificates dated April 13, 1936, August 13, 1945, and September 12, 1947. At the time of their first marriage in 1936, Edgar Harvey Holmes was 35 years old and divorced, while Mary Barton was 17. After divorcing for the third and final time, Edgar and Mary each married one more time.

Mary changed John's surname to Holmes when he was a child. In 1986, when Holmes applied for a United States passport for the first time prior to a trip to Italy, his mother provided him with the handwritten copy of his original birth certificate, Holmes learned his biological father was Carl Estes.