Ron Jeremy

Ron Jeremy, nicknamed "The Hedgehog," is less a performer than a piece of pop-culture folklore — the guy who somehow turned up in more places than Forrest Gump. Born in Bayside, Queens, and trained as a theater actor at Queens College, Jeremy stumbled into adult entertainment in 1979 and never really left, racking up a career that ran nearly four decades before he retired in 2018. AVN eventually crowned him No. 1 on their all-time list, a title that says more about sheer career longevity than anything else — Jeremy worked across an enormous range of scenarios, from hardcore pairings to ensemble gonzo shoots, sliding easily between blonde-bombshell setups and tattooed brunette energy without ever losing his signature deadpan charisma. His filmography reads like a highlight reel of the industry's biggest decades, with credits alongside performers like Joclyn Stone, Kelly Shibari and Vicki Chase, and steady work for banners including Devil's Film and White Ghetto. What set Jeremy apart was never just stamina — it was showmanship. He treated every scene like a stage cue, bringing theater-kid energy to an industry that rewarded exactly that kind of unfiltered personality. A 2001 documentary, "Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy," even turned his life into its own genre. Love him or side-eye him, Ron Jeremy's name became shorthand for an entire era of adult film — the industry's answer to a rock star who refused to leave the greenroom.