Mary Carey
Encyclopedia
Early life
Carey was born Mary Ellen Cook in Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
to a mother with schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
and a father with cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....
, and she was cared for by her grandparents from the age of three months. After her parents divorced, her mother moved in with Carey and her grandparents. At seven years of age, she and the family moved from Cleveland to Florida, and the next year Carey was legally adopted by her grandparents.
Carey studied ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
from the age of seven until she was 19 years old. She graduated in 1998 from the Pine Crest School
Pine Crest School
Pine Crest School is a private college preparatory school with campuses in Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was founded in Fort Lauderdale in 1934 by Mae McMillan who began as a tutor to children of families spending the winter in South Florida, USA. In 1995, Dr. Lourdes Cowgill became...
, a Fort Lauderdale private preparatory school. At 19, she joined the dance team at Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public, coeducational, research university located in , United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in Fort...
, where she was a student in the theater department.
Career
After her grandfather's death, her grandmother's health worsened, Carey took a job as an exotic dancerExotic dancer
The terms exotic dancer and exotic dance can have different meanings in different parts of the world and depending on context. In the erotic sense, "exotic dance" is a often used to refer to practitioners of striptease...
to help support the family financially. Upon noticing that the "feature dancers" made much more money, she asked an agent how she could become one too. The agent recommended that she become a porn star (the large fan base that successful porn stars have gives them superior drawing power when they dance in-person at strip clubs). Carey traveled to Los Angeles and made the rounds of the adult-film producers and studios, eventually landing a job with Playboy TV.
She was featured on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's reality series Celebrity Rehab, and has appeared in more than 80 adult films. She has a product line with Doc Johnson adult toy company, she has authored a book, and she is currently developing a TV series with GoGo Luckey. She appeared in VH1's series Sober House which premiered in January 2009.
Politics
During the 2003 California recall election, Carey signed a contract with Kick Ass Pictures, and as a publicity stuntPublicity stunt
A publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized or set up by amateurs...
they came up with the idea that Carey should run for governor. She was an independent candidate, placing tenth in a field of 135 candidates
California recall election, 2003
The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort spanned the latter half of 2003...
. She ran on an eleven-point platform that included somewhat tongue-in-cheek promises of taxing breast implants, making lap dance
Lap dance
A lap dance is a type of sex work performed in some strip clubs in which a naked or topless dancer performs an erotic dance either in immediate contact with a seated patron, or within a very short distance. With full-contact lap dances, the stripper may engage in non-penetrative sexual contact...
s tax-deductible, and creating a "Porn For Pistols" exchange program.
In June 2005, Carey announced her bid for Lieutenant Governor of California
Lieutenant Governor of California
The Lieutenant Governor of California is a statewide constitutional officer elected separately from the Governor who serves as the "vice-executive" of California. The Lieutenant Governor of California is elected to serve a four year term and can serve a maximum of two terms...
as an Independent in 2006. She has also said that she hopes to run for a major party nomination to be President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
upon her reaching the age of 35, per the minimum age requirement for United States presidents. She dropped out of the race in October 2006 to take care of her mother who had jumped off a building while off her medications.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
and Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
. She also maintained that, unlike the films in which Schwarzenegger and Reagan starred, her films are about "love."
Personal life
In April 2005, Carey was arrested in connection with a Lakewood, WashingtonLakewood, Washington
Lakewood is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 58,163 at the 2010 census.-History:Lakewood was officially incorporated on February 28, 1996. Historical names include Lakewood Center and Lakes District...
, cabaret sting operation, for violating a city strip club ordinance that forbids dancers from touching themselves. She subsequently made a plea agreement and received a 19-month sentence, which was suspended
Suspended sentence
A suspended sentence is a legal term for a judge's delaying of a defendant's serving of a sentence after they have been found guilty, in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation...
on the condition that she was not charged with any other offense within one year.
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
reality TV series Celebrity Rehab, receiving treatment for alcoholism. While on Celebrity Rehab, she stated that she would leave the porn industry and straighten out her life because of her mother, who had been hospitalized in Florida after she jumped off of a four-story building the previous month. In the reunion episode of the show taped approximately 6 months after leaving rehab, she stated that she has not made an adult movie since becoming sober and intends to never make another one. However, she continues to "feature dance" in clubs, saying that she needs the money to care for her mother, but also hopes to stop doing this. However, TMZ.com reported in May 2009 that she performed in a pornographic film, entitled Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw
Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw
Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw is a 2009 pornographic film that satirizes the VH1 reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. The film stars a variety of porn stars including Mary Carey, Mike Horner. This film marks Mary Carey's comeback to adult films...
. Drew Pinsky
Drew Pinsky
David Drew Pinsky , best known as Dr. Drew, is an American board-certified internist, addiction medicine specialist, and radio and television personality. He has hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show Loveline since the show's inception in 1984. On television, he hosts the talk show Dr...
, who says her return to porn saddened him, commented in a January 2010 TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
story, "She puts together, like, six weeks at a time of sobriety, then drifts away. We're trying to get her to stay with it once and for all." In an interview with AVN magazine
AVN (magazine)
Adult Video News is an American trade journal that covers the adult video industry. The New York Times notes that AVN is to pornographic films what Billboard is to records...
, Carey stated that she had entered rehab to tackle an addiction to Xanax (which she had developed around the time she dropped out of her second run for governor) and that the focus on alcohol was created by the show.
External links
- Official Website
- Interview: Mary Carey (Badmouth.net)
- Interview by Stephen ColbertStephen ColbertStephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
on The Daily ShowThe Daily ShowThe Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
, June 2005 - Interviews at LukeIsBack.com