If a dictionary would ever have a definition for the adult entertainment industry, the photo that would accompany it would be that of Miss Sharon Mitchell. As an actress she has appeared in some of the most successful films and videos in the history of adult films. These include such legendary classics as Suzie Superstar, Hot Dreams and Sexcapades.
Sharon has starred in videos and films with such themes as boy/girl, Giri/Girl, oral, anal, B & D, bi-sexual, fetish, ebony/ivory and transsexual.
She has won countless awards including Best Actress in the films Hot Dreams and Sexcapades. She also won the award for’ Best Supporting Actress for the films Blue Jeans and Night Hunger.
Mitchell made approximately 1,000 pornographic films over a 20-year career, including 38 as a director. She is the subject of the 1986 verité film Kamikaze Hearts, directed by Juliet Bashore, which follows her behind the scenes of a porn adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen and explores her tumultuous relationship with then-girlfriend Tigr Mennett.
During her years in the adult industry, Mitchell developed a heroin addiction. In 1996, after a male stalker who was obsessed with her porn films assaulted, raped, and nearly killed her, she quit drugs, became a certified addiction counselor, and later obtained a MA and a PhD from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality while working a variety of jobs including video engineer’s assistant, caterer, florist, dog walker, and maid.
In 1998, Mitchell founded the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation (AIM), an organization which provided information and STD testing to workers in adult entertainment. As of 2004, they were testing 1,200 pornography performers a month. According to the Associated Press, many in the adult industry credit her with raising the visibility of the risks of HIV/AIDS in the pornography industry.