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Show Page A8 O Thursday, September 24, 1992 The Park Record Section A Harry Reems trades the by ANDREA MATHER Record staff writer Harry Reems is a person people notice. He has a deep tan offset by gray hair and moustache with black strands mixed in. Add to that his noticeable personality, and a name that recalls his past career as a prolific actor in sex films. Now he is a branch manager of ERA Carlson and Company and one of the state's top selling agent for the real estate company. How does someone make such a jump in lifestyles and careers? "I am very much a product of the '60s, very much a hippie. I went to college for thirty seconds. I joined the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War," says Harry. "I was f Harry Reems, Jeanne, his wife, :! v ! 5s i. v. r-'iSl i fi I'm it- 0 i k '" - . . J WELCOME BACK. f A jT i I T tk Back In Town For Work? For Fun? For Fitness? un; tfjffi An Official always a thrill seeker. I was always an adventurer. I was always somewhat of a gypsy." His father was a bookie, and his mother was a model. He was the youngest of three children bom to first-generation Jewish Americans who wanted to pursue the American dream. "They were very much nonconformists," Harry says. "The traditional Jewish upbringing was abandoned for the free enterprise system and a house in the suburbs." Born in New York .City, the family eventually moved to Westchester County. He was active in sports and spent time hanging out with his father. "At this point in time, I don't have any regrets towards my upbringing. I had a happy and Banjo. Fa! .1.. i '-ifcW , i UL "I L III i I Six Month Memberships Are Now Available Ask us about our new split payment program. pnosPECTon athletic clod PARK CITY. UTAH 2080 Gold Dust Lane P.O. Box 680970 Park City, Utah 84068 Call 649-6670 for more information. Training Center of the U.S. Ski Team wild life for upbringing, a very adventuresome upbringing. My father was everybody's pal-- he would let me drive the car and drink booze when I was 12, 13, 14." Reems describes himself as his dad's shill- the gambling front person. "I was in the fast track of life every since I can remember. That's true." "I always wanted to be a little different than everyone else. I always wanted to be noticed. I never felt a part of a regular cliques. I took to drinking real early. I took to the marijuana era real early. . . My father gave me my first drink at 11." Harry says he was in college when the draft lottery displayed his birth date. "The ping pong ball came up and my birthday Aug. 27 was number seven. And I was a Welcome back to a newly remodeled Prospector Athletic Club. family and goner. I was not married, and I did not have children. Although I was in college, that was not a reason (for deferment)." He joined the Marine Corps because he knew he was going to be drafted. In 1965, he says, the antiwar movement had not yet begun. After his stint in the military ended in 1967, Harry moved to the East Village in New York City. One particular day he met his roommate, an actor, at an audition because they planned to go for lunch aftcrwards.The director said "Next" and pointed to Harry, who gave it a shot. This impromptu audition began his acting career. Reems says he acted in 30 "off, off Broadway shows" and 20 "off i Broadway." He was a member of the National Shakespeare Company X Photo by Andrea Mather mm ra W "UNMAN SUMMEE" SOUP, SALAD AND SANDWICH BAR FOR LUNCH - only $4.50 FABULOUS SUNDAY BRUNCH served 10 am to 2 pm other Park in the late '60s and early 70s. "I loved stage work. I loved stage work. I loved the immediate gratification. I was always taught to win, always excel, and if I could get something without working hard for it- get it. I was shortcutting my talents. I was an end-result person. The immediate gratification of an audience's response in the theater was far more gratifying then the feedback from people who have seen a movie." Because the union pay for actors was low, he chose to supplement his income by doing X-rated films. For him, appearing in sex films was another aspect of the sixties revolution- challenging traditions. Over the next 20 years, Reems appeared in hundreds of pornographic movies. His stage name is part of that era, which he sees no reason to change. In 1974, Tennessee convicted him for conspiring to transport it across the state, which was flown over Tennessee during its delivery. The landmark case was eventually Park City Profile heard by the United States Supreme Court, which overturned the lower court's ruling. "It was the first time the federal government tried to prosecute an artist for his work," he says. "I have different values today. This is important I don't regret anything I have done in the past. The points of view I had were valid points of view ... But I have to say at 45, today, my values are a lot different than they were back then," he says adding he regrets his past alcoholism and drug addiction. "For a while that became all-consuming. all-consuming. After 20 years of a successful and financially rewarding career in adult films, the only thing I had to show for it was a major hangover." Harry's addiction to alcohol ended his film career. He lost his Malibu home. For a while, he lived on the streets in California, he says. Another result of those years were arrest warrants from all over the Inside or out on the deck Lunch Monday - Saturday 11:30 am to 2:00 Dinner Daily 5:00 pm to 9:30 pm Live Entertainment Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings 1111 iE City values country and IRS tax violations "If I wasn't in jail, I was either being arrested, in a hospital or in a shelter. I was locked up for my own safety by medical authorities who pronounced me as mentally incompetent, a danger to myself and other people. I was smacking up cars. I was walking through plate glass windows." Reems ended up in Park City, and after a few false starts, found a program to help him change. "The miracles I have in my life today I owe directly to my recovery program," says Harry, who encourages others to call him for support. "I am a little more than three years sober, clean and sober from drugs and alcohol." Harry also met Jeanne, who he was originally introduced to in 1982 in Park City. She was already involved with someone else when they first met, but Harry made his feelings clear. "Well, he let me know he was attracted to me. He gave me his phone number. I still have the little slip of paper he gave me," says Jeanne. Reems replies, "I was a rogue, and I am glad I was a rogue back then." The note told Jeanne to call him if she was ever in L.A. "For years afterward every time I came back, I'd say "Whatever happened to Jeannie, that girl who was going out with so-and-so?'" All along, Reems says, he just wanted "to be happy with Harry and be in love with one human being." "Today I am not a liability to my community. Today I consider myself an active, contributing member to society," Harry says, who is an active member of the Park City Community Church. "Today my life is drastically different. My values, my morals and my spiritual being; most importantly. The only reason I wish to publicly display myself-call myself-call that a pun if you want- but to publicly acknowledge where I am, who I am, what I am, is in the hope someone else will avoid some of the pitfalls I fell into. " (MOMS pm and Sunday Brunch AT PROSPECTOR SQUARE 649-8060 i |