Karen Dior
| Karen Dior | |
|---|---|
| Born | Geoffrey Gann February 14, 1967 Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Geoffrey Karen Dior, Geoffrey Gann, Geoff Gann, Ricky Van, Rick Van |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Occupation | Actress, Singer, Director, Activist, Writer |
| No. of adult films | 120 adult |
Karen Dior (February 14, 1967 – August 25, 2004) was the stage name for Geoffrey Gann, also known as Geoffrey Karen Dior. Gann was a bisexual, male-identified American female impersonator, pornographic and mainstream performer, film director, singer and writer. She was known as a pioneer in popularizing adult films involving Transgender people.[citation needed]
Contents
Life and career
Born Geoffrey Gann in Missouri, Dior moved to Los Angeles at the age of 21 and began working in a beauty salon and performing in drag shows in West Hollywood bars. In 1989, she began appearing in bisexual and transgender adult films.[1] She performed in approximately 120 adult films, most of them under the Dior name. She also performed under the names Geoff Dior, Rick Van, Geoffrey Karen Dior, Geoffrey Gann, and Geoff Gann.
In the 1990s, Dior transitioned into mainstream film and television roles. Her first mainstream role was as Loni Anderson's stalker in the 1992 TV movie The Price She Paid. Other mainstream work included guest appearances in on the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, Head Over Heels, and Veronica's Closet.
Later years and death
Dior contracted HIV in 1995 and later worked as an AIDS activist.[1][2] After leaving the adult film industry, Dior worked as writer and released her first autobiographical work, Sleeping Under the Stars, in 2001. That same year, she released an album (under the name Geoffrey Karen Dior) S E X, and was a member of two bands, the Johnny Depp Clones and Goddess.[3] She also earned a Ph.D. in philosophy in religion and became an ordained minister.[2]
On August 25, 2004, Dior died of hepatitis.
Selected filmography
Actor
- Single White Shemale (1992)
- Mystery Date (1992)
- A River Made to Drown In (1997)
- Xena: Warrior Princess (1 episode, 1997 - "Here She Comes... Miss Amphipolis")
- Head Over Heels (1 episode, 1997)
- Veronica's Closet (1 episode, 1998)
- Double Down (2001)
Director
- I Dream Of Queenie (1997) "Produced and Directed"
- Genderella (1998)
- Playing the Odds (1998)
- Getting Personal (1999)
- Bi Athletes (2000)
- Bi-Dazzled (2001)
- Leather Temptation (2002)
- Bi-Sluts (2001) "2001 AVN Bisexual Nominated Adult Film"
Bibliography
- Sleeping Under the Stars (2001) ISBN 0-9706956-0-8
References
External links
- Karen Dior at the Internet Movie Database
- Karen Dior at the Adult Film Database
- Geoffrey Karen Dior discography at Discogs
- Karen Dior at Find a Grave
- Pages using infobox person with unknown parameters
- Infobox person using ethnicity
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- Articles with unsourced statements from June 2010
- 21st-century women writers
- HIV/AIDS activists
- AIDS-related deaths in California
- American dance musicians
- American female singers
- American film actresses
- American memoirists
- American pornographic film directors
- American pornographic film actresses
- American television actresses
- American women writers
- Directors of gay pornographic films
- Directors of transgender pornographic films
- Deaths from hepatitis
- Women pornographic film directors
- LGBT memoirists
- LGBT musicians from the United States
- LGBT writers from the United States
- Pornographic film actors from Missouri
- Transgender female pornographic film actors
- 1967 births
- 2004 deaths
- Pornographic film actors with HIV/AIDS
- Women memoirists
- 20th-century American singers
