{Click on Any Image to View It Full Size in a New Window}
“These are beautiful, dignified young ladies,” declares the choreographer and coordinator of the DallasCowboys Cheerleaders Suzanne Mitchell. “Their uniforms are contoured precisely to their bodies not only to highlight that beauty, but for performance purposes as well.”
No matter how tight it fits … you must do the splits!
It wasn’t always so—for the first dozen years of the 1960 expansion franchise, its cheering squad was recruited from local schools and would hardly have been out of place at a Pat Boone concert.
Then came TV … and T A. “Some people have warped ideas or dirty minds and they can choose to look at what we do in whatever way they want to,” huffed Jill Waggoner, one of the team’s pioneering pom-poms in the Seventies. “We’re not sexpots.”
“Whatever the reason for their success,” the patriotic Stars and Stripes newspaper naively noted in 1980, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have become the darlings of the gridiron. Dressed in white hot pants, royal blue shirts and star-spangled mini-vests, they have parlayed their sideline shows into a booming business enterprise.”
Another booming business at the time was adult video … and as Wikipedia observes: “In addition to R-rated sex comedies {just uncovered in Part 1} cheerleaders became a staple of the adult film industry, starting with Debbie Does Dallas (1978) and its sequels.”
Make no mistake: The connection between pro football cheerleaders and porn was permanently established by a single semen•al event—the release of the XXX-rated movie Debbie Does Dallas in October of ’78. It didn’t hurt that the Cowboys were the reigning Super Bowl champs … and on their way to second successive title game!
Yet on a Monday Night Football telecasts that season, one media maven marveled, “The Cowboy players were practically invisible, while the Dallas Cheerleaders were seen everywhere but on the blimp. The troupe was styled to appeal to television and television readily complied.”
In much the same way, it’s said that “the new ability of people to view media in their home made Debbie DoesDallas one of the lynchpins in why VHS beat out Betamax for general audience consumption”—selling a record 50,000 copies on videotape. Considering its miniscule cost and billion dollar-plus revenue return, no less than the FBI has declared DDD to be “the most successful movie of all time!”
Sleuth watched it again—for research purposes to prepare this post—and it’s simply superb … one of the topfive adult films of all time {along with the ‘Hole•y Trinity’ of Deep Throat, The Devil in Miss Jones and Behind the Green Door, alongside The Opening of Misty Beethoven}.
From the opening frames, which credit production and direction to Jim Clark …
… the film never stops titillating. Clark is often said to be Jim Buckley—famous for starting Screw magazine with Al Goldstein (that’s him on the cover of the ’69 Christmas issue, below left} and infamous for the film WR:Mysteries of the Organism (1971) in which Buckley gets an onscreen “hand job from artist Nancy Goldstein until he is fully erect and then has a plaster cast made of his penis” (below right).
“The plot of the film,” Wikipedia summarizes of Debbie Does Dallas, “focuses on a team of cheerleaders attempting to earn enough money to send the title character to Dallas to try out for the famous ‘Texas Cowgirls’ squad. The fictional name ‘Texas Cowgirls’ was seen as a take on the real-life Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. The film’s star had previously tried out for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in real life, but was cut during auditions.”
Indeed, the blonde actress introduces the original trailer by drawling: “Hi, my name is Bambi Woods. And it’s interesting that I was chosen for this part in this movie because in real life I was a Dallas Cowgirl.”
“Debbie Benton, captain of her high school cheerleading squad, has been accepted to try out for the Texas Cowgirls,” the synopsis continues. “Her parents disapprove {as Woods’ did to her role} and refuse to pay her fare to Texas. In a bid to help Debbie, her cheerleader friends {clockwise from top left} Roberta (MistyWinter), Annie (Jenny Cole), Rikki (Rikki O’Neal), Donna (Merle Michaels) and Lisa (brunette GeorgetteSanders) decide to accompany her to the tryout.
With two weeks to raise the money, they swear off all sexual activity with their jock boyfriends and form a company called Teen Services” to raise some quick cash. And below, in the same clockwise order as above, those fresh, girl next door, all natural boobs bush beauties look even better out of uniform!
And the hottest of all might be adorable Arcadia Lake {Michelle Carpenter from Oswego, NY} who along with husband Eric Edwards {he plays the cleverly named candle shop owner Mr. Hardwick in the film} were often called the “Lombard and Gable” of adult films.
“Arcadia had the most beautiful, clear porcelain skin I’ve ever seen,” says one director. The industry still mourns her mysterious death in 1990—with speculation ranging from drug overdose to suicide to Mafia murder.
Back to the story: “While working for horny Mr. Greenfeld (Richard Bolla) at a sporting goods store, Debbie is talked into allowing her boss to see her breasts for $10 and fondle them for another $10. Then he sucks them for an additional $20 in cash.”
Bolla was actually an accomplished actor from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts named RobertCharlesKerman—who went from doing Debbie (below left) to memorable mainstream roles {clockwise} as the star of the 1980 horror classic Cannibal Holocaust (below right) and the grizzled tugboat captain in Sam Raimi’s 2002 smash Spider-Man! Amazingly, the year before his Dallas porn part, Kerman played Richard Dreyfuss’ best friend in The Goodbye Girl (bottom left)—and recalls Richard recognized him from his adult films and was thus “very nice to me on the set.”
Today, however, the former R. Bolla “bitterly regrets his participation in the adult film industry, especially being in the film Debbie Does Dallas, which he feels ruined any prospect of him attaining mainstream acting success” {since it was viewed much more than any previous porno}. As Kerman lamented in 2005: “In retrospect I’m really sorry that I did it, because I probably ruined the best years of my life as an actor.”
Though he wasn’t sorry that he did Debbie … according to Herschel Savage {born Cohen}, an elite Navy Seal who won the Purple Heart and Bronze Star in Vietnam! Unable to find work upon his discharge, Cohen was convinced by Kerman to take a small role in the low-budget porn flick he was making—and wound up playing the boyfriend of cheerleader Merle Michaels (below left) who begins the film by having sex in the shower.
“Everyone was jealous that Richard Bolla was the only one that got to fuck Bambi Woods,” Herschel holds a friendly grudge to this day {he was inducted into the Adult Hall of Fame in 2009, a dozen years after Bolla}. “It was probably the best day of his life. That was some prize pussy right there!”
Even though she was totally inexperienced and naïve: a good Catholic girl working in a grocery to make ends meet, the recent high school grad “had a friend who had done a couple of [adult] movies and I owed her money. She told me they were going to pay me a thousand dollars a day. That’s the only reason I went in the first place, ’cause I needed the money. And when I got there, I found that they were only going to pay $350 a day.”
Perhaps that explains the combination of reluctance, innocence and trepidation that makes her performance sobelievable. And which led director Jim Clark to give her the part: “I named her Bambi Woods,” he reveals, in reference to the wide-eyed Disney cartoon character. “There wasn’t any real reason behind it. Bambi … a deer. In the woods.”
Indeed, one film historian described Debbie’s demeanor during her hardcore debut as being “reminiscent of a deer caught in car headlights.”
Which is why another reviewer felt that, “Although Bambi only appears in one sex scene at the very end of the film, she was perfect for the part.”
So much so that the disillusioned legit actor who took her screen virginity, Richard Bolla {his mainstream headshot below left} couldn’t help but be taken in: “It was one of the few sex scenes that I felt good about. Where I didn’t feel it was slimy. She was too innocent for it to be vulgar. She was very sweet.”
Adds envious pal Herschel Savage {headshot above right}: “I never met Bambi Woods. I saw the movie afterwards and I regretted not meeting her, because I think what works best about it is the fact that this girl is the object of the viewers’ desire throughout and no one actually gets to have sex with her [until the final scene] created a great tease.”
The climax finally came when Debbie donned the Dallas cheerleader uniform for the first and only time in the film—to fulfill the football fantasy of her boss Mr. Greenfeld—and mounted the stairs to their empty sportinggoods store {it was actually filmed at a Modell’s in Brooklyn after closing time}.
As Bambi Woods explained the cheerleaders’ plan to raise the travel cash for her tryout in a rare interview after finishing filming: “Debbie and all her friends get jobs and then their bosses offer them money to lift up their shirts …
… and show their tits {hers are pale pillows of perfection} …
… and then they start fucking them and they get the money.”
One recent reviewer wrote that, in retrospect: “She and her friends—in a direct predecessor of TheApprentice—form a working conglomerate to raise capital from a variety of business ventures.” Yet back then, it seemed totally bizarre that she could ever be elected President!
“I enjoyed doing the movie,” Bambi conceded afterwards, “but I didn’t really like doing the sex scene because there were too many people standing around watching.”
So sit back and watch … as Wikipedia dispassionately describes her Dallas deflowering:
“Debbie dresses as a ‘Texas Cowgirl’ and goes to see Mr. Greenfeld after hours at the store. She fellates him …
… then he lays her back on an exercise bench and unties her halter top.
“Her employer penetrates her vagina with his finger …
… and performs cunnilingus on the cheerleader …
… who experiences her first ever orgasm.”
“Then they engage in vaginal sex, first in the missionary position …
… then doggy style.
With her shocked expression indicating rear entry is something she’s never done before …
… yet gets into rather immediately.
“Next we see Debbie on top, assuming the ‘Cowgirl’ position.”
How fitting. And in keeping with true Texan tradition, she doesride with her boots on!
“They finish in the missionary position, before Mr. Greenfeld ejaculates on Debbie.
Whew!!! After that, surely Debbie’s not the only one who needs a shower …
That shower scene was, remarkably, filmed in the locker room of Brooklyn College—the alma mater of both Richard Bolla and Herschel Savage {as well as Sleuth’s father!}. And the outside locations look much the same today!
The crew was also somehow able to sneak into the library of the prestigious Pratt Institute {generating tons of great publicity, below left} “without the administration’s knowledge or approval,” according to a DDDdocumentary shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005 (below right).
“It took us by surprise and naturally we were terribly embarrassed,” sighed the school’s vice president Joseph Azzinaro. “They told us they wanted to make an educational film on the library—how it operated, how the reference library works, etc.” Future journalist Merle Michaels as ‘Donna’ got a legup on her research when the library was empty for the Fourth of July holiday in 1978 … while current journalist April Hall recreated the scene in the nearly identical stacks 38 years later! {Though the railing has had some detailing.}
Merle once admitted that “I don’t have big enough tits” for lead roles … so her library scene studiously avoided showing them: Donna goes down on jock boyfriend Tim {Herschel Savage} amidst the books as a hook to lure librarian Mr. Biddle {Jake Teague} into catching them … and punishing her with a bare-bottom spanking that’ll cost him dearly—and thus raise funds to help send Debbie to Dallas.
“It is not uncommon for film crews to come here,” V.P. Azzinaro announced to the press—part of the plethora of publicity that money couldn’t buy!
“At the time the Woods movie was being filmed, we had a Dr. Pepper commercial filmed on the steps of the library”—though most men would prefer Michaels’ brand of the cola’s slogan, “the friendly Pepper-Upper.”
The Pratt veep went to see the porn film days after learning it had been filmed there, and stated: “Technically, I’d have to admit that they made a professional movie, but the contents are not my idea of a good time.”
Nor did the film hit the spot with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders—who soon sued to prevent it from showing!
And ironically, it wasn’t the nudity they objected to, but rather what Debbie was wearing.
“I wanted to cry,” testified Suzanne Mitchell {whose comments began this blog} after the director of the DCC viewed DDD. “After feeling a little sick, I came to the realization that these people had no right to do this. This was our uniform and our property and they had stolen it from us.” Even though Bambi “had looked up to them.”
And while 18-year-old Woods declares in the trailer that “in real life I was a Dallas Cowgirl”—not specifically a “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader”—Mitchell wasn’t moved by the distinction: “I don’t know what this child looks like …
… “but she was never on our squad. If she was going by another name, I wouldn’t know her. “Miss Mitchell said from the witness stand that the women who join her group must have good ‘moral character,’” reported the Associated Press. “As part of this emphasis on morality, Miss Mitchell said the cheerleaders are forbidden to smoke, chew gum or appear at functions where liquor is served.”
No wonder she was most outraged at the scene where Debbie’s boss peels down those familiar white hot pants to lickher!
Asked at the time if it “was the actual uniform of the Cowgirls [sic] that was used,” Bambi was bemused: “No. We left the fringe off.” But not the minge ...
What a card:
Yet the judge ruled it was no laughing matter—finding that the “uniform depicted in Debbie Does Dallas unquestionably brings to mind the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.”
And, in affirming the decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals described the movie as “a gross and revolting sex film.”
Only adding to its box office success: “It’s claimed that at one point DDD was making over $250,000 per week per screen,” according to one report. “Arguably, it could well be the most profitable movie of all time.”
Perhaps its biggest boost arrived when Debbie got detained in Dallas: “On opening night, the theater was sold out, and local law enforcement couldn’t get in to be personally offended,” a resident recalled. “However, at the next showing it was only minutes into the performance before everyone in the building was arrested. Yes, customers too.
“The next morning, the story was covered in one newspaper under the headline, “Debbie Doesn’t Dallas.” The ‘suits’ finally relented when several seconds showing the unique uniform were cut out (above right). “A couple of weeks later, a theater in Ft. Worth was stopped when it tried to exhibit the film. The headline the next morning read, “Debbie Doesn’t Ft. Worth, Either.”
But it did everywhere else—engendering twodozen separate spinoffs and sequels, including the inevitable DallasDoes Debbie …
… in which curly-haired Chrissy Ann takes on team members from every position! {Hey, as they say: ‘Turnabout is fore•play!’}
The tagline for Dallas Does Debbie was “Deep in the Hard of Texas” … with its slogan being, “2-4-6-8, who’d you love to penetrate? Debbie!” But not for long: Chrissy Ann disappeared from the business shortly after the 1992 film {like Bambi Woods, as we’ll soon see} … only to resurface more than two decades later as a straight-haired, star-nippled Cougar once again lending a hand to a young stud!
In addition to the DDD sequels 2 through ’99, Sleuth’s favorite follow-up titles include “Debbie Does Dallas:The Next Generation, Debbie Does Dallas: The Revenge and the 1987 mashup Debbie Does the Devil in Dallas. And who can forget how naughty Nina Hartley cleaned up the previous year in Debbie Duz Dishes?
These days, it seems, nowhere is safe from Dallas merchandising: whether it be this year’s Valentine’s card or Vegan shirt …
… in contrast to a meat lover’s Tee parodying the porn perennial pizza delivery boy.
There’s even a two-fisted figurine and a line of 18 ‘Adults Only’ comic books for your consumption …
… the final chapter suggesting readers “Kiss a Beaver Today.”
Why, the franchise has even spawned a trio of trade paperbacks—the last of which presents DDD in 3-D!
Though perhaps the most unlikely legacy of “the most popular porn film of all time” is … the hit Off-Broadway show Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical.
“When people think of Debbie Does Dallas, they think musical theater, right?” is how the press release began. “Actually, it is a modern morality tale told as a tongue-in-cheek show of tragic proportions”—speaking of tongue in cheek, it surely strikes a blow for freedom and feminism!
“Unlike the original movie,” Wikipedia points out, “the musical does not contain any actual sex or nudity, which caused some disappointment among people, as false hope had been aroused and the musical’s producers did nothing to dismiss it. Since opening in 2001, the show has been performed continuously around the world.”
So the cheerleaders don’t go “around the world”—sexual slang for “penetrating all three holes in one session”—yet, raved OC Weekly of the Los Angeles stage production: “Lord is it funny! And while the sex on display is tamer than frustratingly edited Skinemax, there is plenty of it, from men blowing each other to a five girl orgy in steam room.
“But it’s all conveyed in such a sugary, harmless way that even the sight of one horny cheerleader burying her face in the crotch of another comes off as innocent.”
Not to demure Debbie! (above right).
“For a porn film of the time it was ground-breaking,” marvels Peter Ross, director of the Australian musical version. “Debbie Does Dallas came along with an actual plot and had a fully functional script”—which the show uses liberally for its dialogue. “There are scenes that are word-for-word.”
And songs adapted from the action! Clever ditties familiar to fans include such ‘hummable’ numbers as (left to right top to bottom): I Wanna Do Debbie, The Banana Blow, The Dildo Rag, Ten Dollars Closer, The LockerRoom Orgy and Spanking Biddle.
Climaxing in Debbie’s Orgasm Medley and Dallas I’m Coming.
And to add the finishing touch, Wikipedia notes: “Recent revivals are often performed with racier direction and more explicit choreography"—though pix from such productions are always pixilated:
Sleuth has managed to get the uncensored original … showing that while the actresses doff their tops, they avoid possible prosecution by wearing the flimiest of bras.
Which reminds us that Bambi Woods wound up behind bars—and taken from behind …
… in the first of two sequels {from 1981 and ’85 ... and clearly not around for cover posing}.
In which she barely appeared …
… then disappeared!
Prompting decades of speculation—and this ‘definitive’ declaration in a 2005 article from Australia’s The Age newspaper when the musical arrived there: “The unhappy fate of Bambi Woods, the title character of the first three Debbie Does Dallas films, may also hint at the seedier side of pornography. In 1986, just eight years after launching her career in blue movies, Woods died of a drug overdose.”
“Meanwhile,” continued The Age article, “Debbie Does Dallas—the Musical, which bills itself as a fun-loving carefree romp, epitomizes this flip attitude to pornography. The title role is played by Perth actress Lisa Adam, a 31-year-old who admits she was unaware of Woods’ early death. But she insists the overdose isn’t especially relevant to her show. “I’m not playing Bambi Woods,” Lisa explains, “I’m playing Debbie Benton.”
Sounds like Bambi’s balancing act when asked, “Did you know the movie was about the Dallas Cowgirls?” just after they sued. “It’s not about the Dallas Cowgirls,” Woods replied. “It’s just about these high school cheerleaders who want to become Dallas Cowgirls.”
Debbie didn’t make it … but what everyone wondered was whether Bambi had?
Which has remained a secret to this day.
A 2009 well-received record album by Dutch band a balladeer is even entitled Where Are You, Bambi Woods? …
… with its title track’s concluding lyrics being: “Are you alive in NYC? … ’cause others say that you OD’ed … Either way you’re gone for good … God bless you, Bambi Woods … Bye bye now, Bambi Woods.”
Eerily reminiscent of Elton John’s ode to Marilyn Monroe, Candle in the Wind, it’s actually quite lovely:
“I am fascinated by the fact that no one knows where she lives or even if she’s alive at all,” explained the group’s lead singer and songwriter Marinus de Goederen. “Some people say she died of a drug overdose and others that she packed her bags to disappear into a life of anonymity. Marilyn Monroe once said: ‘A smart girl leaves before she is left,’ and I would like to believe that Bambi was a smart girl.”
And Sleuth would like to believe he’s solved the mystery …
After detectives and a documentary didn’t answer the question—only guessing that she was born Debra DeSanto in Pierre, South Dakota—extensive research and “sleuthing” leads yours truly to the belief that Bambi Woods hasn’t signed off at all {despite having only this one known autograph} …
… and is instead alive and well … and living halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco off a secluded stretch of U.S. Route 1 at this precise spot:
He’s been able to determine her address and phone number, but obviously will protect her privacy from adoring (or addled) fans.
But it means nothing without a name … and Sleuth feels sufficiently confident to suggest that Bambi Woods is now a married mother of two named Colleen S. Hagemann.
Note the identical shape of the face, neck, ears, chin … and chest!
“Back then,” recalls Debbie Does Dallas castmate Herschel Savage, “Bambi Woods was considered reallybeautiful.” And it appears she still is …
Another co-star, Robin Byrd (née Cohen), who became a late night cable pioneer as host of The Robin Byrd Show …
… confirmed in an interview: “I can’t remember much of the ’70s or ’80s, but I definitely know that Bambi’s real first name was Colleen.”
Known as Colleen McBeath prior to her marriage to Brad Hagemann in May 1985 {which coincides with her disappearance from public view}, she was born in 1959 and graduated from California’s Nordhoff High in 1977—shortly before making Debbie Does Dallas after moving to Manhattan at age 18 to become an actress.
That same year, Bambi boasted in an interview: “I know John Belushi. In fact, I balled him last year. He’s really great in bed (below). He surprised me. You might not think so, but John Belushi’s a great lover.” And he’s the one who died of a drug overdose.
In an email, Colleen confessed that, “Yes, I went out with John for a while, along with other celebrities. I remember hanging out with Ace Frehley from the rock band KISS quite a bit in New York. He was a crazy guy and always out of it, but a lot a fun (above). I’m surprised he’snot dead.
And since the ‘Big Apple’ rarely falls far from the tree, take a look at how closely Colleen’s only daughter Alyssa resembles ‘Bambi’ {doing a double take} in her Debbie days!
“I think you can pretend to be something you don’t want to be for a while, but eventually you have to get away from it,” Bambi/Colleen concludes. “I wanted to get away, so I did. We are very well off now, so luckily there is no financial need for me to use my past for any financial gain.
"I’m fine and happy.”
Just the ENDing we'd hoped for ...
