Celebrating The Career Of Desiree Cousteau!
There have been so many legendary Cult Movie Queens in cinema history, it’s easy for many to be overlooked – my “2020 Sex Kitten Countdown” takes a look at one of the most iconic Adult Film Stars of all time!
Desiree Cousteau had the same dreams as everyone else when she arrived in Hollywood: she aspired to be a mainstream model, but according to wikipedia, she didn’t break through because she wasn’t tall and skinny enough!
She was, however, perfect for men’s magazines, and broke though with this photo spread in Penthouse magazine.
As you can see, the camera loved her, and Desiree began appearing in a number of men’s magazines – and next up for Cousteau was a shot at films!
She landed a small part in the 1974 “women in prison” B-movie “Caged Heat!”
The film was a drive-in classic, with a great list of cult movie Queens in the film – but Desiree’s role in it didn’t give her a career boost, and according to wikipedia, she was tired of being sexually propositioned for parts, and soured on the business.
However, she was still a very popular Model.
Four years later, with no additional film credits, Desiree was asked by Adult Film Director Alex de Renzy to star in his new film, “Pretty Peaches.”
The Iconic “Pretty Peaches!”
This was a landmark adult film, one of the last of the “golden era” of XXX-films.
Desiree starred as a young runaway girl who meets with an accident and suffers from Amnesia. The story revolves around her journey to recover her memories and everyone who tries to help her.
This XXX-rated film was a platform for stardom. Desiree was voted Best Actress by the Adult Film Association for her performance in Pretty Peaches in 1978. From there, she had a string of sexy hits.
Desiree was usually typecast as a sweet, ditzy, naïve woman who was up for anything!
“Hot Lunch!”
In the late 70’s and early 80’s, the posters promised “HOT” EVERYTHING!
She appeared in dozens of adult films with provocative titles.
“Getting Off!”
As you can see, the posters were garish, vivid and colorful, and so was Desiree…
In 1979, she won another Acting award for her work in this film – with another very colorful poster:
Here’s what the writeup on the film says:
“MS. MAGNIFICENT is an endearingly sleazy and funny tribute to 1930s and 40s serials funneled through late 70s pop culture based humor, and featuring supporting performances from Sharon Kane, Holly McCall, and Mike Horner.”
All of her films led to what is considered the highest honor you can get in adult film – an “Inside” story:
Going “Inside Desiree Cousteau!”
Of her many performances, one of her best remembered is her pseudo-autobiographical film “Inside Désirée Cousteau” from 1979.
The film is a series of semi-autobiographical tales of a young, beautiful and innocent Desiree – she starts out as a promising reporter when she meets a Presidential hopeful. He gives her the scoop of her life which ends up in an unusual pool sequence! Desiree then tries another job as a door to door saleswoman with some very unusual results when she discovers her first client is a very luscious and hot redhead. She sells all her merchandise and ends up in a ménage a trios when the husband enters.
The great website IMDB.com offers this tantalizing nugget about what happened to her next:
“Her post-porn career is something of a mystery. There were stories that she married, had a family and settled down. There were also stories that she had a breakdown and was confined to a mental hospital. The latest story, which is given somewhat more credibility by people who knew her, was that she had studied to become a psychologist, passed the exams and was practicing somewhere in her home state of Georgia.”
In 1997, she was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame.
Of course, Desiree’s “Inside” movie wasn’t the first:
Yes, legendary adult Actress Jennifer Welles also got an “Inside” look – you can click to see it here:
As I said, Cousteau has one mainstream hit: “Caged Heat!”
The film was a drive-in classic, with a great list of cult movie Queens in the film, including Erica Gavin:
Gavin was also a “Vixen!” You can see more of her provocative work by clicking here:
It was rare for adult Actresses to work in mainstream films – but more unusual for a mainstream Actress to go hardcore.
More recently, this popular TV Star went from “ABC” to “XXX”!
Maitland Ward has become one of adult cinema’s biggest stars today, after starting as a teenager on “Boy Meets World.”
Now, she’s a breakout adult film star! You can see her most recent films by clicking on my story here:
If you like these stories, you can go to my website’s front page and sign on to follow me – there are NO ads at all, just lots of stories to come about the wild world of exploitation and cult films!
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Bravo to Desiree Cousteau for her great career in adult film!
Feel free to share on social media, and let me know if you are a fan of Desiree’s work!
Categories: 70's Films, Cult Classics, Extreme Cinema, Grindhouse, JRsploitation, Nudity, sex kittens, Sexploitation Films, Talent / Celebrites
JR-Sploitation! 
Did you ever notice that the men those girls have sex with in those XXX films are always really ugly? I reckon they were all friends of the directors! 🙂 Good feature, John.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, and they were MUCH hairier than they needed to be as well! thanks as always for reading!
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Great post! Wish some of these stars had written memoirs.
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A few do, but far too few…I you haven’t gone to the website “The Rialto Report” they have a number of great biographies and interviews…the Coleen Brennan interview is a blast!
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Another great post. Pretty Peaches must one of the best of its era. Ms Magnificent was fun and also featured Jesie St James as the incredibly hot bad girl. Jesie was one who could really act when necessary. Have you considered a post on her?
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Thanks for that idea – I will do it! Thanks as well for reading and commenting, it’s much appreciated!
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