Born April 10, 1964 (Brooklyn, NY)

Muscular, tattooed Donnie Russo was a star in gay porn films - from fetish videos to glossier productions from larger studios - and producer of many gay porn films throughout the '90s and beyond. Russo called his younger self "a bad hard-ass motherfucker of a teenager. I did what I wanted to do, and there was no stopping me. I was a child of the night."

He ran with the Studio 54 crowd in New York and worked at a bar called Crisco Disco, meeting many famous people including the Rolling Stones, Andy Warhol, Sylvester, and Billy Idol. Russo began body building at age 24 and began modeling for pictorial magazines in the '80s, starting with Honcho in 1988. He also appeared in Mandate, Blueboy, and Inches, among others.

Russo's first video appearance was in Bijou's Beat Cop in 1991. Russo particularly enjoyed performing in fetish videos and felt that he could put more creative input into those. He became especially interested in producing and continued to star in videos, because of the strength of his following, in order to support his production company, which he founded with the help of Close-Up Productions. Titles Russo directed include Filthy Pigs, Pop That Load, Sex Pigs, Sex Play, and What Pigs Do Best.

Russo had a tough, mean on-screen persona, but thought of himself as a joker with a good sense of humor who people enjoyed spending time with off-camera. Russo spoke of his sexual charisma and interest in sex in an interview with Manshots (February 1995): "I like doing it all. I love sex. I've been told I breathe sex. I don't know if I give a signal out, or what, but people just know I'm there for sex. My look, my body, whatever - something gives out a signal. I could be driving my car, I get picked up. On trains, subways. I've had sex in every possible place people fantasize about - rush hour subways - it just happens. I have sex on airplanes going cross-country all the time."

He also commented to Manshots about being able to maintain a dominant persona while being passive sexually: "I don't believe in labels. I don't believe in tops and I don't believe in bottoms. I believe in old-fashioned sex. Man, if I'm on top of you and I'm humping away, and the roles turn over, I should be able to receive it like a man as well as I give it. I don't go for that 'I'm a total top' or 'I'm gay for pay' business. It's a dick, it's hard, give it to me, I'll use it!"

Selected Filmography:

Beat Cop (1991)
Find This Man (1992)
Love a Man with a Mustache 1