California lawyer leads double life as porn starFri May 20, 2005 1:33 PM BST
By Gina Keating
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - When his mother found out what porn star Ron Miller does for a living, she was heartbroken. She never wanted him to be a criminal defense lawyer.
"My mother cried a lot about that," Miller said recently between appearances defending accused felons at a Los Angeles courthouse. She had hoped he would be a high-rolling civil litigator,
Miller, who appears in adult videos as "Don Hollywood," has carved out a special niche of notoriety on the fringe of Hollywood's dream factory. In a town where many long to quit their day jobs for the glamour of a career in entertainment, he has managed a unique dual track: litigator and porn star.
Miller makes his rounds at the Van Nuys courthouse three days a week with a certain extravagance of manner and a diamond ear stud that set him apart from the rumpled lawyers with whom he has shared a counsel table for the past 30 years.
At a recent court appearance, he sported a black pinstriped suit and crocodile-skin cowboy boots, with case files under his arm and a defender's zeal in his heavy-lidded blue eyes.
Most of Miller's legal colleagues know about his other job. The one that sometimes sees the 56-year-old sharing a massage table with a porn starlet and cooing: "You're working on a 'get out of jail free' card," as the cameras roll.
But aside from knowing looks or good-natured jokes, Miller said his eight-year adult film career has drawn no objection from clients, colleagues or the California bar association.
"There are just some places I don't want to go," Deputy District Attorney Ann Marie Wise said when asked about her opponent's avocation at a recent court hearing.
Ellen R. Peck, an Escondido, California lawyer who specializes in ethics, said state rules would not bar Miller from his second career. "As long as it's legal to engage in it, I can't think of anything unethical about it," Peck said.
BIG BREAK
Miller got his break after arranging for his then-girlfriend to shoot a scene in the porn industry.
"We did the scene together and I wore a ski mask to try to remain anonymous, but at the end of the scene the director ripped the mask off, and the lawyer was out of the bag, so to speak," he said.
His girlfriend liked the experience so much that she quit her job as an accountant for rock bands and embraced "the lifestyle" as porn actress Brooke Hunter.
"From there Brooke started getting a fair amount of work, and around the third or fourth scene offers started coming my way," Miller said. "Her career took off and mine was off and running."
The couple married three years ago and now jointly host a show on Internet radio and produce a law-themed porn series.
They also film two 20-minute sex scenes each week for their Web sites -- his is dirtyoldlawyer.com, hers is unprintable in most newspapers -- at their ranch-style home in a secluded canyon of the San Fernando Valley, the heart of America's thriving porn industry.
On his Web site, Miller transforms from a groovy but respectable middle-aged lawyer to the slightly menacing, cigar-smoking swinger, Don Hollywood.
One of his favorite scenarios is the young damsel in distress who comes to Don Hollywood for legal advice and ends up surrendering her virtue to pay for his services.
Except the services he provides in his films are not exactly court-ordered.
'AS STRESSFUL AS COURT'
At a recent shoot at his home, Miller smoked a cigar and padded around his home barefoot, working out dialogue for the upcoming scene with Hunter as two crew members set up lights and a camera.
"This is as stressful as court except I feel more in control in court," Miller said.
Guest star Julie Night entered looking sleepy and complained about a long shoot from the previous day.
After Night and Hunter film a lengthy scene that featured a range of props, it's Don Hollywood's turn.
He stepped in front of the camera, smoothly shed his clothes to reveal a toned but decidedly middle-aged body, and imperiously eyed the naked women sprawled before him.
"Come and get a full measure of justice from this dirty old lawyer," he purred.
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