Marilyn Chambers Net Worth

What Was Marilyn Chambers' Net Worth?

Marilyn Chambers was an American pornographic actress, dancer, writer, and model who had a net worth of $400 thousand at the time of her death in 2009. Marilyn Chambers was best known for her 1972 film debut "Behind the Green Door" as well as her 1980 film "Insatiable." AVN (Adult Video News) ranked her #6 on its "Top 50 Porn Stars of All Time" list, and Playboy included her in its "Top 100 Sex Stars of the Century" list in 1999. Chambers transitioned into mainstream acting and was known as one of pornography's most famous crossover actors. Marilyn ran for Vice President in the 2004 United States presidential election on the Personal Choice Party ticket. She ran as Charles Jay's running mate again in 2008. Chambers also released the books "My Story" (1975), "Xaviera Meets Marilyn Chambers" (1977), "Sensual Secrets" (1981), and "The Illustrated Kama Sutra" (1981). She was inducted into the X-Rated Critics' Organization Hall of Fame and received an XBIZ Lifetime Achievement Award. Sadly, Marilyn Chambers passed away on April 12, 2009, at the age of 56 from a cerebral hemorrhage following an aortic aneurysm.

Early Life

Marilyn Chambers was born Marilyn Ann Briggs on April 22, 1952, in Providence, Rhode Island. She grew up in a middle-class household in Westport, Connecticut, with two siblings, Bill and Jann. Marilyn's mother was a nurse, and her father worked in advertising. Chambers studied at Hillspoint Elementary School, Burr Farms Elementary School, and Long Lots Junior High School before graduating from Staples High School in 1970. In high school, she was voted "Best Student Body." In a 1997 interview, Marilyn said of her youth, "Ever since I was a little kid, I've always wanted to be an actress. I was always a performer, a junior Olympic diver, a junior Olympic gymnast. My mother always told me I was a show-off." As a teenager, she booked some modeling jobs and had a small role in the 1970 film "The Owl and the Pussycat." Chambers also served as the "Ivory Soap girl" on boxes of Ivory Snow soap flakes.

Career

When "The Owl and the Pussycat" was released, Chambers went to San Francisco and Los Angeles on a promotional tour. She moved to San Francisco in 1970 and took jobs as a bottomless dancer and topless model. She said of the decision, "I moved to San Francisco, thinking it was the entertainment capital of the world, which indeed, it is not." In 1972, she attended a casting call for a movie that was billed as a "major motion picture," but it was actually for a pornographic film called "Behind the Green Door." Just as she was about to leave the casting call, the film's producers saw her and noticed that she resembled actress Cybill Shepherd. They invited Marilyn to their offices upstairs and told her about the film. Though she was concerned that appearing in an adult film would hurt her chances at a career in mainstream movies, Chambers agreed to star in it if she was paid a large salary and 10% of the profits. Her well-known role as the "Ivory Soap girl" boosted ticket sales of the film, but after Procter & Gamble found out that she was starring in a pornographic film, the company dropped her.

After finding stardom with "Behind the Green Door," Marilyn starred in adult films such as "Resurrection of Eve" (1973), "Never a Tender Moment" (1979), and "Beyond De Sade" (1979). In 1977, she played the lead role in the David Cronenberg-directed horror film "Rabid." Chambers starred as Sandra Chase in the adult films "Insatiable" (1980) and "Insatiable II" (1984), and "Insatiable" became the country's top-selling adult video of the early '80s. Around this time, she starred in the direct-to-video film series "Marilyn Chambers' Private Fantasies," which she also wrote. After 1984's "Insatiable II," she appeared in the 1989 comedy "Party Girls" and the 1990 drama "The Marilyn Diaries," followed by the adult films "Breakfast in Bed" (1990), "Bedtime Fantasies" (1994), and Dark Chambers" (2000). In 1995, Marilyn played herself in an episode of the "Designing Women" spinoff "Women of the House," then she appeared in the comedy "Stash" (2007) and the drama "Solitaire" (2008).

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Personal Life

Marilyn was married and divorced three times. She was married to Doug Chapin from 1971 to 1974, and shortly after their divorce was finalized, she married Chuck Traynor, the ex-husband of fellow adult film actress Linda Lovelace. Traynor became Chambers' manager, and they stayed together for a decade. In the mid-1980s, Marilyn was "consuming massive amounts of alcohol and cocaine daily when she met her husband-to-be," truck driver William Taylor, Jr., on a blind date. After the date, Taylor told Chambers that he couldn't continue seeing her because he was a recovering heroin addict, and Marilyn subsequently broke her leg when she angrily kicked a wall. William visited her in the hospital, and after Marilyn was released and began attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings, they began a relationship. The couple married in the early '90s, and they welcomed a daughter, McKenna, before divorcing in 1994.

In February 1985, Chambers was arrested and charged with soliciting prostitution and committing a lewd act in a public place while performing her nude act at San Francisco's O'Farrell Theatre. She was released after paying a $2,000 bail, and the charges were dropped. Marilyn said of the incident, "I've never been arrested in my life for anything, ever, so this is kind of a big shock to me, not only as a performer but as a human being. It's a heartbreaker. This is supposed to be a hip city. I really love—make that LOVED—this city. These people have been my fans for years, and it's a thrill for them to touch me up close. There's nothing illegal if I'm not taking money." Chambers was arrested again in late 1985 at a Cleveland strip club. After being charged with promoting prostitution, she was released from jail on a $1,000 bond.

Death

Marilyn was found dead in her California home on April 12, 2009, at the age of 56. Chambers' 17-year-old daughter discovered her body. An autopsy determined that Marilyn died from the "effects of cerebral hemorrhage [and] ruptured cerebral artery berry aneurysm." The autopsy report also stated that Chambers suffered from hypertrophic heart disease. On April 22nd, around 100 mourners attended a memorial service for Marilyn on Zuma Beach. She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered at sea.

Awards

Chambers was inducted into the Golden Age of Porn Walk of Fame (1980), XRCO Hall of Fame (1985), the AVN Hall of Fame (1986), and the Porn Block of Fame (1998). In 1985, she won an XRCO Award for Best Kinky Scene for "Insatiable II" (shared with Jamie Gillis). Marilyn received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Adult Film Association of America (1992), Free Speech Coalition (1992), FOXE Awards (2005), and XBIZ Awards (2008).

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