Taija Rae is the pseudonym

Pseudonym

A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 of an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actress who was one of the most popular pornographic actresses of the late-1980s. She is sometimes credited as Tanja Rae, Taja Rea, or Taija Ray.

Career

Rae came out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, and entered the adult film industry in 1983, after being discovered by a fledgling Philadelphia talent firm, Lynx Management. The first part of her stage name, pronounced Tayzh-a, came from an Asian cocktail waitress she worked with before porn. The last name, Rae, was a tribute to Fay Wray

Fay Wray

Fay Wray was a Canadian-American actress most noted for playing the female lead in King Kong...

, actress in the movie King Kong

King Kong

King Kong is a fictional character, a giant movie monster resembling a gorilla, that has appeared in several movies since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 movie, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels of the first two films...

. (Incidentally, both the first name Taija (tie-yah) and last name Rae are typical Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 names.) After a test photo shoot in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, she quickly made the rounds of the New York adult industry and kept busy in East Coast

East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...

 erotic films and photo modeling, working with directors such as Henri Pachard

Henri Pachard

Henri Pachard was the pseudonym of American pornographic film director Ron Sullivan . His other aliases included Jackson St. Louis and Crystal Blue....

, Chuck Vincent, and Dave Darby. Her first films were Dangerous Stuff and Scenes They Wouldn't Let Me Shoot, filmed the same weekend.

In 1986, she changed her appearance by losing weight and dying her hair blonde, and began doing more work through a West Coast

West Coast of the United States

West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

 agent. With this, she reached the height of her success, when Hustler

Hustler

Hustler is a monthly pornographic magazine aimed at men and published in the United States. It was first published in 1974 by Larry Flynt. It was a step forward from the Hustler Newsletter which was cheap advertising for his strip club businesses at the time. The magazine grew from a shaky start to...

magazine referred to her as one of "porn's Big Four" (along with Traci Lords

Traci Lords

Traci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...

, Ginger Lynn

Ginger Lynn

Ginger Lynn is an American pornographic actress, prominent in 1980s videos. She also had occasional roles in low-budget B-movies. AVN has ranked her at #7 in a list of the 50 greatest porn stars of all time...

, and Amber Lynn

Amber Lynn

Amber Lynn is an American pornographic film actress, Model and exotic dancer.- Early life :...

). She maintained her home in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, sometimes flying out to the West Coast to film scenes, until finally moving to Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 in 1988.

Rae left the adult film business in 1993.

Quote

Cecil Howard directed Rae in Star Angel. While he shot reverse angles of her, in addition to two shots, single shots, and close ups, she turned to Howard's cameraman and said, "What's wrong with him? Does he think he's making a real movie?" The crew laughed.

Partial filmography

• The Best Little Whorehouse in San Francisco (1984)
• The Voyeur (1984)
• Hot Rockers (1984) – First adult video with a stereo soundtrack & original score
• Taboo American Style – Part1: The Ruthless Beginning (1985)
• Talk Dirty to Me, Part IV (1985)
• Tickled Pink (1985)
• Dreamgirls (1986)
• Hometown Honeys (1986)
• Good Morning Taija Rae (1988)
• Moonlusting (1988)

External links