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Robin Byrd

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Robin Byrd
Robin Byrd at a party in New York (2010)
Born (1957-04-06) April 6, 1957 (age 67)[1][2]
New York City, New York, U.S.
Websiterobinbyrd.com

Robin Byrd (born April 6, 1957[1]) is an American former pornographic film actress and the host of The Robin Byrd Show, which has appeared on leased access cable television in New York City since 1977.

Early life

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Robyn Byrd in the film Debbie Does Dallas

Robin Byrd was born and raised in New York City. She was adopted at a young age. Byrd says she has been unable to identify her birth parents, due to sealed birth and adoption records under New York state law.[2]

After taking college classes in marketing and advertising at Baruch College and dropping out as a senior, she attended the School of Visual Arts and worked as a nude model for art classes.[3] She performed in pornographic films during the late 1970s and early 1980s,[2] including a role in Debbie Does Dallas (1978).[1]

Public access

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After guest-hosting on a leased access show called Hot Legs, Byrd changed the name to The Robin Byrd Show in 1977. The show was initially broadcast on Channel J in New York City.[4] The final show was aired in 1998; it later appeared in reruns interspersed with occasional newer segments.[5] Each episode features Byrd in her trademark black crochet bikini and white fingernail polish, on an all-red set with a large, heart-shaped neon sign that bears the name of her show. Male and female porn stars and strippers appear as guests and perform fully nude stripteases, sometimes also taking calls from viewers. Byrd and her guests also frequently engage in onscreen sexplay by the end of the episode.[citation needed] Each show customarily ends with all the guests dancing to Robin's recording of a bawdy novelty tune, "Baby, Let Me Bang Your Box".[6]

Byrd hosted the 2004 documentary Access Nation.[1]

Time Warner lawsuit

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Byrd and her co-producer Al Goldstein were in a long-standing legal battle with Time Warner Cable (and its predecessor, Manhattan Cable), which wanted to scramble all adult-oriented content so that subscribers had to send in written requests to view it. In 1978, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals struck as unconstitutional the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandatory access regulations under which Byrd and Goldstein had challenged the cable provider's actions, but the U.S. Supreme Court disposed of the case on other grounds.

In 1995, the issue was again before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which upheld the regulations and ruled that Time Warner's requirement for written requests was a violation. As of 2007, The Robin Byrd Show continues to be aired unscrambled and uncut although with disclaimers that the content is not for children to watch.

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Byrd on Fire Island with Brian Doherty of the AICP

Byrd's show and filmography have made her a local celebrity and to some extent, a national one. She is a frequent presenter at New York City adult entertainment, gay pride, and AIDS awareness events. The Robin Byrd Show was parodied on Saturday Night Live in a series of skits airing in 1997 and 1998; Byrd was played by Cheri Oteri.[7]

In 1999, Richard Avedon photographed Byrd for a feature in The New Yorker on famous and influential New Yorkers. Byrd has also branched out into other adult-oriented businesses, including phone sex lines and ringtones.

In 2015, Robin released "Touch Me", a dance single with recording artist Lovari.

Byrd has stated that she is bisexual.[6][8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Forde, John (2006). "Byrd, Robin". In Gerstner, David A. (ed.). Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture. New York: Routledge. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-415-30651-5.
  2. ^ a b c "Official Robin Byrd Biography". Robinbyrd.com. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  3. ^ Morris, Bob (23 June 1996). "Cable's First Lady Of Explicit". The New York Times. Section 1, p. 39. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 September 2024. At 17, Ms. Byrd got her graduate equivalency diploma and then pursued advertising design at Baruch College but dropped out in her senior year. By then it was the early 1970's and she was modeling at the School of Visual Arts, where she had been taking life-drawing classes.
  4. ^ Smith, Sally Bedell (5 March 1984). "Channel J Pornography Is Cause of Lockout Law". The New York Times. p. C16. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  5. ^ McKinley, Jesse (29 November 2012). "Real and Live, but Maybe Not Nude". The New York Times. p. C31. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  6. ^ a b Musto, Michael (15 January 2016). "Michael Musto's Icons: Robin Byrd". The Advocate (interview). Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Saturday Night Live Alum Cheri Oteri to Join Off-Broadway's NEWSical the Musical". Broadway.com. 7 November 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  8. ^ Speiser, Lainie (2011). Confessions of the Hundred Hottest Porn Stars: Intimate, Funny, Outrageous. Beverly, Mass.: Fair Winds Press. ISBN 978-1-5923-3477-3.[page needed]

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robin Byrd.
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