Commentary: Remembering Richard Morgan—A Giant in Gay Porn

"Richard was a cherished colleague and dear friend, whose unwavering support and invaluable contributions played a pivotal role in the growth of my business. His legacy is etched in the success I enjoy today, a testament to the indelible mark he left on both my professional journey and my heart." - Doug Richardson of Rad Video. Richard Morgan passed away on November 25 at 78. I call him the Last of the Giants. It was a business so different than the business today. Everything was shot on film: 16 mm for the handful of theaters across the country, 8 mm for sale in adult stores and in booths in the stores. For the record, Richard started in the late '60s in the magazine business, with his father, in Southern California. After legal issues led to closing the business, Richard relocated to San Francisco. His passion was photography, which grew into shooting sex scenes. Richard's first connections were with J. Brian and John Summers. They were both running escort services that provided Richard and another giant John Travis with models whom they shot in 8 mm loops. They threw them in the trunk of a car and travelled around the country selling them to adult bookstores. Richard, along with John Travis and John Summers, got together with Chuck Holmes and they started Falcon. Richard's tenure at Falcon was not a long one as disagreements with Holmes caused his departure. He then started Magnum-Griffin to compete with Falcon, but he lost that company. The atmosphere in the porn business drastically changed in 1980 when Ronald Reagan and his Attorney General Ed Meese declared a war on porn. Richard's company was closed because it sent porn to Florida.  Morgan then went into business with Summers, and they were busted for selling porn in the mail to Florida—and he was arrested. The result of that arrest was he was not able to use the name Richard Morgan for years, though he never stopped working. Under different names he was instrumental in the careers of many stars such as Johnny Harden, Buster, Lance, and in those years almost every top performer in the business. In 1984, he started working for Donald Embinder and Casey Klinger at L A Video, directing a slew of high-selling titles: The All American Boy starring Kyle Carrington; Blonds Do It Best starring Leo Ford and Lance; Lifeguard, the first safe sex video; and many more. Most notably in this timeframe he was also his mentoring his assistant, Jim Steel, who went on to have an award-winning career at Vivid Man. In the beginning Richard helped Jim and Jeff Appel at Vivid. In 1991, Morgan started his own company, Junior Studio. He began first with a title called Hard Action. Then he made The Hollywood Kid and Feels So Good. It was during Feels So Good when I met him. After that video, I went to Jaguar and made Pleasure Principle, then to Odyssey to make Something Very Big. I brought Richard on to shoot the stills. Richard was most at home with a camera in his hands and through the years was responsible for hundreds of published photos. When I made The American Way, Richard produced it; the same with The Heartland. He closed out his career with six more videos for Junior Studio, Rad Video and one for Pacific Sun, ending in 2005. Richard never sought the limelight. He had a knack for making enemies—many lifelong enemies. Richard did things Richard's way. I am sure that is how he managed to last that long. He was one of the giants from the beginning and outlived them all. As I look back at his career, the depth and quality of his work is second to none. If you watched him work, you saw the perfectionism of Matt Sterling and the model choices of Bill Higgins. As a photographer, he had the ability of showing the best in a model. Richard loved what he did and left behind a body of work that stands on its own. Kevin Clarke directed gay adult features from 1995 to 2003.