Ginger Lynn Allen began her journey of entertaining people as a young child in her Rockford, Illinois garage. She would dance and sing for anyone who was willing to part ways with a dime or two or their hard earned money. Ginger eventually left her Midwestern life behind and ventured to California to visit her grandparents. It was this trip that began her evolution into the icon that she is today. Shortly after moving to California she found herself employed at a Musicland store. Barely making ends meet, she answered an advertisement in a newspaper for stripping. A lack of confidence and her boyfriend getting beat up quickly put an end to her early stripping days. Ginger then set her sights on figure modeling, which landed her on the pages of Penthouse. After taking the pages of Penthouse by storm, she was asked if she would take the next step and perform in an adult film. A few demands would have to be met, but Ginger did board the second flight of her life and flew to Hawaii to film her first adult film. Two years and three months later she had conquered the adult entertainment industry and was retired. Ginger would go on to star in a number of wildly popular mainstream films including the ‘Vice Academy’ series, ‘Wild Man’, and ‘Young Guns II’. While she continues to work in film, Ginger has found a new passion. Building on her experience as the co-host of Night Calls for Playboy Radio on Sirius/XM, Ginger has now established herself as a force in the podcasting world. Her aptly entitled podcast, ‘Blame it on Ginger’, has shot to the top of the charts and gives its listeners an open door into the world of one of the world’s most unique entertainers. Steve Johnson of Icon vs. Icon recently sat down with Ginger Lynn to discuss her rise to becoming an icon of the adult entertainment industry, her decades long acting career, her propensity to get in trouble, and her wildly popular podcast.
For our readers who may not know much about you, where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?
I grew up in Rockford, Illinois. It’s the second largest city in Illinois. It’s northwest of Chicago, right up near the Wisconsin border. It’s a town that has three rivers. I had a pretty normal childhood. I used to put on plays in my garage. I would dance and sing. People would come to see me. I was always an entertainer. I had a little coffee can with a slit in the top. You would pay ten cents and I would do Cher songs. I would do ‘Mr. Bojangles’. The neighborhood kids that didn’t pay to come see the show were in the show. They were my backup singers and my backup performers. We were in my parent’s garage. There was a stained seat from a car where you could sit and watch the performance. [laughs] I knit. I learned how to knit when I was about five years old. So I knit, I sew, I design jewelry. I’ve been painting for years, and years, and years. I grew up in a very creative family. My sister was an artist. My grandmother taught me how to knit and sew and design jewelry. The painting I just kind of picked up on my own. It was a pretty normal upbringing. My father is… was… He passed away a couple of years ago. He was my best friend forever. My mother is kind of a nutcase, but you have to have one family member that’s not normal.
Yeah! That’s a prerequisite! [laughs]
If you thought there was going to be a family member that wasn’t normal, it would be me. I’m grateful that I wasn’t and it was my mom. [laughs]
Your involvement in the adult entertainment industry has been a huge part of your life. How did you initially get involved with that and was your family supportive of your decision?
I never planned it. Today girls grow up thinking I want to be a porn star, I want to be famous, I’m going to be in adult films and it’s kind of cool to be in the industry. At the time that I got into it, we were more rebels. We were more rebels without a cause. I came to California to visit my grandparents. I was working in a record store, a Musicland store. I walked into one out in California and I said, “I would love to work here.” They gave me a thousand dollars to move, doubled my salary, and made me a troubleshooter for Musicland. It was fabulous. I thought living in California was going to be cheap. [laughs] I lived in a one room studio apartment with no money. The pool had no water in it. There were rats in it. I was working seventy hours a week and I wasn’t getting anywhere. So I answered an ad in the paper for stripping. I brought my little cassette player and I walk in. I hadn’t thought the whole thing through. I walked in and it was all men and just me. I couldn’t do it. I left the party. My boyfriend got beat up. We were running from them. [laughs] So stripping was not my thing at the beginning. So I answered another ad that was for figure modeling. It was World Modeling Agency at the time.
I walked in and Stephen Hicks was the photographer there that day. He said, “I want to shoot you for Penthouse. I’m leaving for Mexico for two weeks and I’ll shoot you when I get back.” Within a half an hour Suze Randall walked in. Suze said, “No. I’m shooting you. I want to shoot you for Penthouse.” I said, “I’m already going to do that for Stephen Hicks in two weeks.” She said, “No you’re not. He’s not here. You’re shooting for me in two days.” [laughs] So I shot for Penthouse. I was the worse model ever. When they told me to be sexy I licked my lips like a clown, like I was trying to lick chocolate off my nose or something. So I started modeling and my agent said to me one day, “I would like you to do a commercial.” I’m thinking toothpaste. I finally made it. Then they told me that it meant sex on camera. I said, “You know what. That’s not the kind of girl I am. I’m from Illinois. I’m a nice mid-western girl.”
I had the same fucked up mentality that a lot of people did back then about porn. They thought that the girls that were in it were a certain type of girl. Maybe they were, maybe they weren’t, I don’t really know. I do know that I was one of the first women to get into the industry who did not look like they were in the industry. Most of the people then were hardcore and I’m blond, five foot two. I agreed to do my first movie and then I met this girl. She said, “Always demand cast approval. Demand script approval. Demand this much per scene.” So I walk back into my agent’s office and I said, “OK. I’ll do commercial, but I want cast approval, script approval, and this much per scene.” He was rolling on the floor laughing. He said, “It’s not going to happen.” About two weeks later… Do you remember the Gong Show with Chuck Barris? There was a big tall blonde that hit the gong. Her name was Sveltlana Marsh. She was this six foot tall Swedish woman. She and her husband decided to start making porn movies. They had a quarter of a million dollar budget and they wanted someone who had never been on film before. They agreed to give me cast approval, script approval, and what I wanted per scene. So my second time on an airplane was flying to the island of Kauai to do my first movie. My first time flying on a plane was to Los Angeles to visit my grandparents and my next trip was doing this movie. It was never anything that was planned. I thought I would make two movies. I was such an idiot. I used my real name. My real name is Ginger Lynn Allen. I thought, “If I only do two movies and I use Ginger Lynn, no one is going to see them. They are only in adult theaters. No one I know will actually go see one.” Well… it didn’t quite work out like I planned. It backfired quite a bit. [laughs] Thirty years later and over a hundred films; here I am.
Speaking of your films, do you have any personal highlights from your career in the industry?
I have seven best actress awards. I’ve got best group grope. [laughs] I’ve got blowjob awards. I’ve got a whole closet full of awards that I am very grateful for. Highlights… There are always a couple of films that come to mind. One of them is ‘The Pleasure Hunt’. It’s one of my best films ever. It was filmed in San Francisco. ‘The Grafenberg Spot’ is fantastic. The original ‘New Wave Hookers’. The thirteen years later I had my comeback and I did ‘New Wave Hookers 6’. I came back and I had to outdo myself from thirteen years prior to that. I have had the opportunity to meet and work with some of the most amazing people in the adult film industry ever. The whole thing was an incredible experience. I only did it for two years and three months. I started on my twenty first birthday. December 9th was the first day I filmed. I turned twenty one on the 14th of December. I’ve done more mainstream now than adult. I hear about girls getting into the business today and it’s so different. I was so fortunate to be in it during the heyday of porn. It was the golden age of porn. I’m not by any means a prima donna or a little princess kind of a girl, but I always wanted M&Ms and artichokes on set. I always had them. I had my makeup artist and I had my friends that were in the movie with me. It was just a wonderful experience for me. Today when I say, “OK. What film did you do?” On my own radio show, which is Blame it on Ginger. It’s on skidrowstudios.com, as well as iTunes. When I’m doing interviews with other girls they talk about scenes. They don’t do movies anymore. They are like, “Oh. I’ve done four hundred scenes.” What does that mean? Film to me is a film. I didn’t do scenes. I did a movie. We had scripts. We had a one hundred and eighty page script and you would have dialogue up to page fifteen. Then on page fifteen it would say sex scene. That was it. Now there are no scripts. It’s kind of like the cliché of the pizza delivery man. That’s not it. I’ve never done a scene where there’s a pizza delivery boy in it. Ever… [laughs] Although speaking of a pizza delivery boy. I’ve been doing radio for about twelve years now. On the very first radio show I called up and ordered a pizza. The delivery guy got there and I told him, “I don’t have any money, can I give you a blowjob for pizza?” I did and he did. [laughs]
That’s a hell of a story. [laughs]
It is! [laughs]
You made the jump from adult entertainment to mainstream films in the late eighties. Was that something you planned on doing from the onset of your career and did you find it challenging?
It was definitely a challenge. The first movie that I remember going to the red carpet and walking on the red carpet and going into the theater was a film called ‘Kinky Business’. I was sitting on the aisle seat and I saw myself on screen. I was watching my acting and I thought, “Oh my god! I suck! I’m really bad! I’m the worst actress ever!” The next scene you see is me giving a blowjob in the shower. I was so embarrassed by the way my cheeks were sunken in that I thought, “I need to learn how to act! When I suck cock I should definitely not let my cheeks get like that!” [laughs] It wasn’t really that it was cool to go into mainstream; it’s that I take pride in everything I do. I want to be the best at whatever it is that I’m doing, no matter what it is. I studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse with Milton Katselas for six years. When I first started doing mainstream… A lot of the movies I made back in the eighties would take the title of a mainstream film and make them into porn titles. For example I was in ‘The Poonies’ rather than ‘The Goonies’. What I did when I stopped doing porn, I wrote an article for Club Magazine. I wrote a piece every month, but I decided I was going to focus on my acting career. I studied for a long time. What I did was I took the titles… For example ‘The Poonies’. I put ‘The Goonies’ on my resume. I put on ‘Blame it on Rio’ instead of ‘Blame it on Ginger’.
I made up this resume and I went on my first audition. It was this film called ‘Wild Man’. I had my audition and I had a call back. I then had a second call back. The third time that I went in I met the director who was Freddy Lincoln, who was in the original ‘The Last House of the Left’. He was a porn director who had done porn films. He was a porn performer and a mainstream actor. I walked in and he goes, “What are you doing here?” I said, “This is my third call back. I’m auditioning for your film.” He hired me and cast me in ‘Wild Man’. While I was working on that set, a director by the name of Rick Sloane came on and hired me for the ‘Vice Academy’ series. I starred in one, two, and three. From there things kind of took off. It was very difficult. Being Ginger Lynn opened up a lot of doors, because of my name. A lot of people just wanted to meet me and didn’t hire me for the films. As many people as called me and didn’t hire me, did hire me. Now I’ve got more mainstream credits on my resume than I do adult.
You’ve portrayed quite a few different characters. Is there a role out there that you haven’t portrayed that you would like to tackle?
One of the biggest thrills in my career that didn’t come to fruition was that I was up for the lead role in ‘Casino’. I waited three months. I had call back, after call back, after call back. I had my screen test. It was the biggest role I was ever up for. Sharon Stone actually ended up getting the role. So it was between me and Sharon Stone for this role. The character when I auditioned… Her name… I have my script and my sides here somewhere. The character’s name was not Ginger. They changed the character’s name to Ginger after my screen test and auditions. I would like to have the opportunity to work with Scorsese or somebody that appreciates the work that I have done and sees the potential I have. So there’s no ideal role. It’s more like just give me a shot. I was in ‘The Devil’s Rejects’ that Rob Zombie directed. My role was very minimal, but it stands out in the movie. I try to make everything I do stand out.
Are you still actively pursuing roles in films?
I have an agent. I don’t so much pursue roles. I have them presented to me. I was in ‘American Pie Presents Band Camp’. So people come to me more than me going to them. I was actually cast in Rob Zombie’s last movie, ‘The Lords of Salem’. I had to turn it down and I rarely turn down a role. I love what I do. I love acting. I love being in front of the camera, but the character that I was supposed to play with Mark Hamill, who I worked with on the ‘Wing Commander’ series. That was a video game I did years ago. My character was supposed to kill her husband, who was Mark Hamill, and then kill herself. Unfortunately my sister committed suicide two weeks before filming. There was no way that could play a character that committed suicide with my family that I have, and love, and care about. They care about me as well. So I did turn that one down. Roles come to me on a pretty regular basis. One out of three things that I audition for I get. So that’s a pretty good ratio.
Have you officially retired from the adult film industry?
I haven’t done an adult film in over six years and I’ll never do one again. I was in it during the prime time and it was wonderful. I’m not interested in walking in and meeting someone that doesn’t want to talk to me before a scene because they’re prepping. I want to know what turns you on, what you’re into, what you like, what you want to do. It’s just not an industry today that I would be interested in being involved in. I’m in love with a man. I’ve got the most wonderful man in the world. He’s what I call a civilian. He’s not someone from the porn industry. We clicked. We have the right thing going on and we have it going on every day. I wake up every day and it’s like Christmas. I roll over and I go, “Oh my god! There’s my man!” I want to be with him. I haven’t had another man inside of me in over six years and I never will. That’s it. I’ve found the man. I’m old fashioned. I’m that Midwestern good girl. I have a ring on my ring finger on my left hand. I wear it proudly. I will never get married. I don’t ever want to get married, but I want people to know that I’m in love and I belong to someone. I know that sounds kind of funny because I’m such a ball busting kind of girl, but there’s that down home mid-western… I’m just old fashioned when it comes to that. He’s the right guy.
You were a co-host of Night Calls with Christy Canyon on Sirius/XM’s Playboy Channel. It recently switched over to Vivid Radio. Did you enjoy your time at Sirius/XM and were you disappointed when that change occurred?
I loved being on Sirius/XM. I loved worked with Christy Canyon. She’s been a friend for over thirty years. There’s something that just clicks with us. It’s like when you’re fifteen and you’re at a slumber party. All the things you’re not supposed to do, you do. Christy and I had that every single day on the air. It was just amazing. When the contract was up for Playboy with Sirius/XM, Vivid took over. Vivid underbid and got the contract. Most of the hosts from The Spice Channel and Playboy flipped over to Vivid. Vivid is just not the place for me. If I’m going to do phone sex I might as well just do webcamming. That basically what they do over there. I’m more than that. I want to entertain. I want you to be turned on. I want you so entertained that you’re turned on and your dick is hard. I want you to be so entertained that you laugh until you pee your pants. I want you to occasionally go, “Oh no! She did not just do that!” So going over to a podcast, going over to iTunes and skidrowstudios.com gives me the opportunity to do what I want with nobody telling me you can’t do this, you can’t do that. I’m a passionate person. I want to express myself every day in whatever way, shape, or form that I feel that day. I have that opportunity to do that on Blame it on Ginger.
Speaking of your podcast, how did that initially come together and who are you working with on that?
I was going to work for another radio station. They hired me. I went into the studio. I fell in love with the studio, but not the people that were doing the show. So I decided to go with skidrowstudios.com. It’s a place where I can be myself and do whatever I want. I have this freedom to be me. Unfortunately a lot of places, if you work for a big corporation, you don’t get that. You have to conform to their rules and their guidelines. If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m not really a guideline kind of girl. [laughs]
No… Not at all… [laughs]
I had been in the industry for so long. When I left and decided to go into my own column in a magazine and the stripping, I thought about the girls. I wanted to give the girls a place that they could be safe and sell their products. And by that I mean, if you do a porn film you wear a pair of panties. You wear them at most twice. You just don’t wear the same thing. So I created gingerlynnauctions.com. It’s a site where women from the industry can go and put up anything they want. They can sell all of their lingerie, all of their used panties, their shoes, their clothing. Their fans can get an opportunity to get a piece of their favorite porn star. So I’ve been involved in quite a few different areas. Radio is one and the other is gingerlynnauctions.com. It’s a place for girls to be safe.
Were there any challenges to getting your podcast off the ground?
No, there really weren’t. By day twelve we hit the number two spot in the sexuality category on iTunes. The show instantly became very popular. I think that people want to listen to things that are uncensored. I don’t play a character. I don’t have a role or a radio personality. I’m me and I’m me all of the time. It gets me into trouble. [laughs] I think that’s what my audience appreciates. Just like Stern went from terrestrial to satellite. I went from satellite to podcast. I think that it’s the time for it. Why would you pay $250 a year to listen to a radio show, when you can listen to it for free. I like this. There was no negativity. No obstacles. Nothing that got in the way. It’s been very well received and I’m a lucky girl. I get to do what I love to do every day. I get to hangout with pornstars. I get to see young, beautiful women with their titties out. I get to taste and sample. [laughs] So as far as men go, I’ve got my one man. With women… The only rule we really have is that there is no kissing. I don’t fuck around with any other men at all. With women, I can lick their pussies, I just can’t kiss them. [laughs]
Speaking of getting yourself in trouble. I saw that your podcast was removed from iTunes briefly. What happened there?
Yeah. We’re back though. It took a while to figure out what that was. Evidently it’s frowned upon to squirt on the radio. [laughs] It was me and Kelly Nichols on a Thursday. I had this wonderful toy from adamandeve.com. They were these little eggs that you put inside your pussy and you pull them out. You don’t pull them out completely, you just kind of jerk on them. I’m in between my co-host Kelly Nichols’ legs and she squirts all over my face, my head, my body. I’m appalled. I was not expecting that. I don’t think anyone was expecting it. So, we’ve found a happy medium where I can be myself, but I won’t get squirted on or squirt on the radio anymore. [laughs]
I noticed there are a lot of photos on www.gingerlynnauctions.com. Do you shoot a lot of those pictures yourself?
I shoot everything myself. Like I said it’s free for anyone. If you want to put your boxer shorts up there or briefs, whatever you wear, you can put them up. There’s no charge up front or behind. The way that I keep the site going and it’s popular… I shoot once or twice a week. New girls, fresh girls in the business. I take all of the photos and I post them myself. They will also put their personal items up on gingerlynnauctions.com
People often look down on the adult industry. What do you have to say to those people out there that think that way?
I find that the people that are the most offended by the work that I’ve done are the ones that know the most about the work that I’ve done. [laughs] I think that there’s a huge hypocrisy that goes on. I’m in a position where I’ve always been outgoing, honest, and free with my speech. Whatever I feel, think, or want to do, I let you know it. I have no problems with it. If you don’t like it, don’t listen to me, don’t talk to me, ignore me. If you enjoy it, great! The people who frown upon porn usually are the ones that watch the most.
That tends to be my assessment. [laughs]
Are you familiar with my work? [laughs]
I am… [laughs]
Woo Hoo! [laughs]
I have been for quite some time. [laughs] Is there something out there that you feel is the biggest misconception about yourself?
On paper, I don’t like what I read. When I read about myself. The things that are sensationalized are not who I am. They’re not really me. I think that the biggest problem I have is people really not getting to know me. If you listen to my radio show. If you go to my website. If you are familiar with me and you don’t like me, great. Fine. Go Away. Because I am so honest about what I do, I give people the freedom to express themselves and try new things. Anal sex is the perfect example. It’s taboo. It’s frowned upon. It’s dirty. You know what? It’s fucking awesome! I’m the kind of girl that does it and you watch and go, “Honey. You know what? I think we should try anal sex tonight.” I make it ok. It’s not dirty. It’s not wrong. It’s not unacceptable. It’s just taboo. I frown upon taboo.
You’ve led a very intriguing life… [laughs]
Thank you! [laughs] That’s a huge compliment! [laughs]
Have you considered putting any of this down in an autobiography?
Yes. I have a book I’ve been working on for twenty years. It’s called ‘I Did It. I Liked It. So What.’ The issue I’ve always had is I care about and love people in my life. I don’t know when the right time is to put it out. You don’t want to put it out when your mother and father… I don’t want my mom to read about me sucking cock. It’s not the right time, but I’ve been working on it. I have thirty seven chapters. The book is ready and it will come out. It’s going to be when it’s right for everyone.
What can fans expect from you in the near future?
Anything and everything! [laughs] I have no idea because I don’t plan things. I just do them.
Do you have any advice for someone who would like to get involved in the adult entertainment industry or mainstream films?
As far as the adult industry goes, I would not recommend anyone get into it today. It’s not what it used to be. They don’t do movies. They do scenes. I think there should be a twenty five year old limit. You should be at least twenty five to be in the industry, even though I was only twenty one. When you’re young, you think about right now, right here, today. You don’t think about the consequences, or the future, or how it will affect your life. The way that the adult film industry is today, I would not recommend that anyone get into it. On the same note, mainstream films aren’t that different. It’s cutthroat. All of the female stars that I’ve met have gotten where they are because they put out. In the adult film industry I never put out to get a role. I got a role because I was good for the role. I think that mainstream Hollywood is ass backwards. It’s hypocritical. I think that you make it by fucking people. That is one thing I would never do. My roles have all been because I earned them.
Well Ginger, that’s all I have for you today. Do you have any last words for your fans before I let you go?
Keep playing with me! [laughs]
I’ll be listening! I have a lot of catching up to do! [laughs] Thank you so much for your time!
I wish you all the best. I really mean that from the bottom of my heart.
For all the latest news and updates from the legendary Ginger Lynn Allen, visit her Twitter page at twitter.com/BlameItOnGinger?. Her ‘Blame It On Ginger’ podcast is available on iTunes.
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