LAS VEGAS — Longtime performer and director Randy West passed away Friday in Las Vegas at the age of 76.
West's death from heart and kidney failure was confirmed by his best friend and caretaker, former performer Hank Armstrong.
"He'd be having trouble getting around for months," Armstrong told XBIZ. "His legs swelled up and he admitted himself to the hospital earlier this week. He knew it was coming. He told me he was ready to go.
"We were best friends for over thirty years — he even lived in a house I sold him when I was a realtor, back when he first moved to Vegas," Armstrong continued. "He meant everything to me. I saw him several times a week, and for the last few months, when he couldn't really get around, I was doing his shopping and his errands for him. This is a huge loss for a lot of people."
West first suffered a heart attack in June, 2009.
"I had symptoms on Sunday and Monday while I was playing golf," he told XBIZ at the time. "I know the symptoms — my father and grandfather both died from heart attacks — but I thought 'I'm in pretty good shape, this might be some kind of weird heartburn thing.' I got tightness in my chest and got hot and sweaty, but it would go away in five or six minutes. Yesterday I went to the gym for the first time in a while since I hurt my back. I worked out, and started walking around the track and this time it kicked in and it didn't go away. I had a friend drive me to the emergency room."
West began his performing career in the mid-'70s — appearing in over 1,200 productions — and producing and directing in the '90s, notably with his influential "Up & Cummers" gonzo series, distributed by Evil Angel. He retired in the early 2010s.
One of West's most notable shoots was the career-making debut appearance of Jenna Jameson, in the tenth volume of "Up & Cummers."
In 2012, West appeared in the Bryce Wagoner documentary "After Porn Ends," in which he discussed discovering the legendary performer.
"Right after I started producing 'Up & Cummers,' I get this letter in the mail, and I open it up and I see this unbelievably good looking, very young looking blonde girl, with beautiful natural boobs, little baby face, and she wants to know if I can help her get in the porn biz," West shares in the doc. "The girl's name was Jenna Jameson. I remember saying to someone, 'Holy Christ, if I get this girl to shoot for me, we're gonna sell some tapes.'"
West was also active in mainstream television and film. In 1998, he appeared in a sketch with Bill Maher on "Politically Incorrect," in which he played an actor auditioning for the role of Bill Clinton in a film about the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Prior to that, in 1993, he appeared as the body double for Robert Redford in the infamous Adrian Lyne film "Indecent Proposal."
In a 2007 XBIZ feature titled "The Godfathers of Gonzo," West was lauded for popularizing a now-ubiquitous staple of the gonzo genre.
"The perpetually tanned and perfectly coiffed West has been a staple of gonzo porn since its inception in the late '80s," XBIZ wrote. "West is often credited with popularizing a short interview with the female performer before the sex scene.
"West has worked with many famous porn stars early in their careers."
XBIZ will update this story as more information becomes available.
