John Holmes

John Holmes was an American performer in the American adult-film industry whose screen career became closely identified with the recurring detective character Johnny Wadd. Born on August 8, 1944, in Ashville, Ohio, United States, he eventually entered the underground adult-film industry in the late 1960s. By the 1970s, he had become a defining figure of the adult-film feature era, with the Johnny Wadd series serving as a central part of his screen identity. His work spanned the transition from short loops to feature films and video, and he also worked behind the camera as a producer and director. He was additionally known by the professional name John C. Holmes.

Holmes also appeared in Tell Them Johnny Wadd Is Here (1976), one of his signature appearances as Johnny Wadd, and in The Jade Pussycat (1977), another prominent Johnny Wadd-era feature. Those credits belong to the 1970s feature period that shaped his reputation. During the 1980s, he also received XRCO and AVN Hall of Fame recognition as his career moved into the video era.

He later died on March 13, 1988, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 43. His career also remains a major historical reference point in histories of the American adult-film industry's 1970s feature era. His life and career also later became the subject of documentaries and dramatizations.