LOS ANGELES — Pioneering adult industry agent Jim South has passed at 80, according to reports from industry figures close to him. South was in hospice care and his health had been reported in decline, after a recent fall.
Veteran Golden Age performer Christy Canyon posted on Twitter shortly before 4 p.m. (PDT): “With a heavy heart I just heard my beautiful Jim South of World Modeling has passed today. He was the man who changed my life for the better in 1984 when I was 18. He was a straight shooter who refused to even kiss me as he said it wasn’t professional. A kind, gentle soul I [love].”
At the Center of Things
South is widely considered by industry figures and historians the person who invented and defined the job of adult talent agent during the Golden Age of porn that peaked in the 1980s.
He established the World Modeling Agency in 1976, especializing in "figure modeling, photography and film."
In the introduction to a 2015 interview with South, leading adult industry history source The Rialto Report described South's stature in the pre-digital porn world:
Jim South didn’t act in many adult films, and certainly didn’t take part in any sex scenes.
He didn’t direct, produce or finance many movies either.
But if you watch any film made in Los Angeles since the mid-1970s, the chances are that Jim South was intimately involved in who you’re actually watching on-screen.
For years his company, World Modeling, supplied talent to the adult film industry. Actresses would converge there from all over the country for a chance to be cast in X-rated films. The agency represented adult stars such as Shauna Grant, Marc Wallice, Ginger Lynn, Savannah, Katie Gold and Christy Canyon. His office was a hive of activity, always at the center of things. His huge casting calls were legendary, as were the picture books that he meticulously kept with Polaroids of every actress taken on the day they turned up in his office for the first time.
In April, Holly Randall published an extensive, career-spanning video interview with South as part of her "Holly Randall Unfiltered" podcast. South had also recently participated in the ongoing "Once Upon a Time... in the Valley" podcast exploring the career and scandal of Traci Lords, whom he represented during her heyday.
The Gold Standard for Agents
"Jim South — you will always be remembered as the legend of porn agents," ATMLA's Mark Schechter told XBIZ this afternoon upon hearing of his passing.
Fellow agent Mark Spiegler agreed. "Jim was the pioneer in our business," he told XBIZ. "Not a pioneer, but the pioneer."
Spiegler said he met South for the first time in 1995, "when I went to his office with Roy Karch to produce some movies with Roy. You would go to his, at that time, infamous 'cattle calls' — where all the new girls would meet directors and producers."
"Nobody had a bad thing to say about the guy, even the girls he represented back in the day," Spiegler added, "with the notorious exception of Traci Lords, of course."
In the 1980s, the federal government targeted South in one of their many War on Porn campaigns, over his representation of Lords, who had entered the industry by obtaining IDs that misrepresented her actual age.
"Jim South was a wonderful man," legendary industry photographer Suze Randall, who was also entangled in the government's campaign against the California adult industry at the time, told XBIZ. "Even during times of distress — such as when we were fighting the cops during the Freeman case, he was unflappable and always had a sense of humor about everything. He'll be greatly missed."
Her daughter, director, photographer and podcaster Holly Randall, grew up with South as a family friend.
"Jim was the standard that all agents should be held to," she told XBIZ. "He was kind yet honest, and cared for his models' welfare above all else."
"He bore the brunt of much of the anti-porn agenda brought on by the moral majority," she added, "in a time where working in our industry could mean serious jail time — and he faced it all with grace, bravery and integrity. I was so fortunate to be able to conduct his last interview for my podcast, and I feel honored to have known him and been able to record his incredible story."
"Have no doubt, we lost a legend with Jim's passing," Randall said.
XBIZ will continue updating this news item as more information becomes available.
