A recent appearance at the Saginaw Deja Vu drew hundreds of fans, mostly in

their twenties and mostly male but with a surprisingly large percentage of

young women, all eager to meet and greet and press the flesh with a 'living

legend'.

After twenty minutes of largely self-deprecating standup laced with sick

jokes (like one about Christopher Reeves doing The Macarena that drew the

expected groans from the crowd), Jeremy sets up his traveling medicine show

by the entrance and scores of fans line up to get their photo taken with

the man who directed John Wayne Bobbett's video debut "Frankenpenis."

Watching him interact with the fans, it is evident that Ron Jeremy should

give a seminar to professional athletes on how to appreciate fans. The guy

handles a couple hundred Polaroid and autograph requests an evening, but

genuinely seems to enjoy the guys and girls who fork over more than ten

bucks just to get into the door. For many photos he smiles and points to the fan

as if to say "Hey, look who I met!" Ladies who ask him to sign their upper

chest receive a backward signature that he shows them they can read in a

nearby mirror (Deja Vu doesn't have walls, it has a ceiling, floor and more

mirrors than Versailles).

Some fans were tapped out after laying out gas money and the cover charge,

but no one was refused an autograph, and each person walked away beaming

and bragging to friends.

After his first ninety minute autograph session, Ron Jeremy gave an

exclusive interview to Review upstairs at the club. The Bay City Times and

Saginaw News writers must have gotten stuck covering City Council and

County Commission meetings.

First, the biographical David Copperfield stuff. The dude is 47 years old

and lives part of the year in Hollywood while maintaining a house in Queens

that he shares with his father. Before making his debut in "Tigresses (and

other Man-eaters)" in 1978, he earned a bachelors degree in Theater and a

masters in Special Education from Queens University. For a while he taught,

but it's probably not easy to slide back into that kind of work after

filming  "Debbie Does Dallas Part II."

He is genuinely excited to talk about the celebrities who have recognized

him over the years, part of the thrill probably coming from the fact that

most famous folks, like most people in general, don't want to cop to a

familiarity with adult video. It's a little like Mamie Eisenhower rushing

over to meet Gypsy Rose Lee.

Given his theater background it's not surprising  that he gushes over being

approached by "Evita" Patti Lupone. He's also been recognized by Richard

Pryor, Billy Joel, Nancy Sinatra, Tony Curtis and Lenny

Bruce's Mom.

 Much of his fan base and popularity in the past decade is derived from his

moving in music circles with pals like Kid Rock and The Red Hot Chili

Peppers. In fact, when he met Kid Rock the guy was wearing a Ron Jeremy

T-shirt!  He's become so tight with the Kid that The Hedgehog's photo was

used as the backstage laminated pass on a recent tour and he has

introduced the band in concert.

In fact, Ron's  introduced dozen's of world class acts like Metallica at

the 1997 Ozzfest, 2 Live Crew, Run DMC and The B-52's. Motley Crue, Digital

Underground, Sublime ... the list goes on. He declines to name his favorite

bands, saying there are too many to mention. He genuinely enjoys hanging

with musicians and they are usually familiar with his body of work. Hey, it's a

lonely life on the road.

Like most actors in Hollywood, what Ron really wanted to do was direct, and

in addition to his work with Mr. Bobbett (Motorhead's Lemmy did a cameo and

contributed the theme song "Under The Knife") he also helmed "Deep Throat

4, 5 & 6" and directed High Grant's date Divine Brown in "Sunset and

Divine." In addition to acting and directing his goofy sense of humor led him to

standup, which he indulges in  personal appearances and occasional gigs in

Vegas like his recent run at the Sahara.

He relaxes by hang gliding and every year he takes a group of friends for a

canoe trip on the Delaware River.

Women in the business rarely cross over into mainstream movies, and there

is even less interest in the men. But Jeremy's background in theater and

humor have led him to consulting work on "9 1/2 Weeks" and cameos in dozens

of movies (he's the first bank customer killed in "Killing Zoe"). His long

friendship with director John Frankenheimer gave him a chance to shoot

second unit camera footage as well as make appearances in films like "52

Pick-Up," "Dead Bang," "Ronin" and "Reindeer Games" where he was listed in

the credits as "Ron Hyatt." The studio didn't want his stage name in the

credits.

He is totally serious when he discusses earning his Actor's Equity card,

the most cherished possession of any actor. "I'm very proud of it." Then he

rattles off several upcoming television appearances on "Nash Bridges," "The

Man Show" and "Just Shoot Me" adding the dozens of MTV videos he's done.

When Mena Suavi hit big after "American Beauty," her direct-to-video

project "American Virgin" with Bob Hoskins became a rental smash. Guess who

has a part? And there's also "Boondock Saints" coming soon with Willem

Dafoe  and "Fast Sofa" starring Eric Roberts.

Hey, this really is the hardest working man in show business!

(For more information on Ron Jeremy's appearances and adventures, visit

his website @ ronjeremy.com. In the free PG section there are dozens of photos

of The Hedgehog posing with celebrities.)