Mr. Marcus

Mr. Marcus

Mr. Marcus at a Porn Star Karaoke event, October 2007
Born Jesse Spencer[1][2]
(1970-09-04) September 4, 1970
Pomona, California, USA
Other names Mister Marcus, Mr. Marquis
Ethnicity Black
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3]
Weight 200 lb (91 kg)[4]
No. of adult films 1,782 as a performer & 36 as a director (per IAFD)

Mr. Marcus (born September 4, 1970, in Pomona, California) is the stage name of Jesse Spencer,[1] an American actor and director known for acting in or directing over 1,800 pornographic films. In 2009, he was inducted into the AVN Awards Hall of Fame.[5]

Biography

Before becoming a pornographic actor, Mr. Marcus worked as a truck driver.[6] He started work in the pornography industry in 1994.[6] He has been married since the early 1990s and has two children.[7]

Syphilis outbreak

In August 2012, Marcus was the central person in an outbreak of syphilis among porn-performers leading to a hold on filming.[8][9] The investigation revealed that Mr. Marcus was the first infected with syphilis and that he had provided incomplete information to the producers.[9][10] Marcus first noticed evidence of the infection as a rash of brown spots on his hands. He attempted self-diagnosis by Internet searches and asking other people, with no success. He assumed it was due to stress or a vitamin deficiency and started taking vitamin supplements. On June 13, 2012, Marcus passed a medical test performed by Cutting Edge Testing because testing for syphilis was not standard at that time.[11]

In May, a performer noticed marks on his penis and refused to work with him. Marcus believed this to just be a rough patch of skin or a reaction to a personal lubricant. On June 24, Marcus filmed a production for Bang Bros with noticeable white lesions on his penis. None of the other performers or production crew mentioned anything, and with the recent clean test, Marcus still believed it was due to vitamin deficiency.[11] Marcus was first diagnosed with syphilis on July 12, 2012, by his personal doctor and received a shot of penicillin the next day. On July 14, 2012, Marcus went for another routine medical test with Talent Testing Services (TTS), which had added syphilis to its standard tests two weeks previously. This test was positive but was only a day after the injection. He waited the recommended 10 days from the initial test and was retested by TTS on July 21. The test was still positive but his doctor informed him that it was safe, he was not contagious and that his body would always show a base level reading for the infection.

Marcus returned to work on July 24, and due to his history and reputation in the industry he was not asked for the full test and just showed the producer a copy on his cellphone, enabling him to hide the rapid plasma reagin (RPR) section relevant to syphilis. For a different production, Marcus faked paper documentation by folding the page of the original to hide the RPR results and making a photocopy. This was noticed by Mark Blazing of Blazing Bucks on August 7, a week after filming. During this time Marcus had worked three times, although the female performers from these productions all subsequently tested negative. The outbreak had occurred before he was diagnosed and received the penicillin.[9][10][11][12]

Jail sentence and civil suit

On June 4, 2013, Marcus was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 36-month probation for "knowingly exposing at least two co-stars to syphilis after testing positive for the disease days earlier."[13] In June 2014 a US$129,360 judgment was made in favor of Lylith LaVey, a costar who Marcus had exposed to syphilis.[14]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 Porn star 'Mr Marcus' jailed for knowingly exposing co-stars to syphilis and causing outbreak that closed the industry The Daily Mail, 5 June 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  2. ↑ Winton, Richard (2013-06-04). "Porn star pleads no contest to exposing another to disease". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  3. ↑ "Mr.Marcus Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  4. ↑ "Personal Bio Trina Michaels". IAFD.com. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  5. 1 2 "Nominations 2009 AVN Adult Movie Awards" (PDF). 2008-11-25. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 3, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
  6. 1 2 "Controversial Porn Star Mr. Marcus Tries On Measure B, Announces Partnership to Promote Testing". San Francisco Chronicle. 2012-11-22. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  7. ↑ "Porn Star Mr. Marcus Speaks About Challenges of Married Life". The Urban Daily. 2010-08-06. Retrieved 2014-05-09.
  8. ↑ Sanford, John (2012-08-22). "APHSS: Two Confirmed Syphilis-Positive Performers". XBIZ. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  9. 1 2 3 Cairns, Dan (2012-08-24). "Porn actor says he's 'to blame' for syphilis outbreak". Newsbeat. BBC. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  10. 1 2 Miller, Dan (2012-08-22). "Syphilis-Positive Porn Performer Mr. Marcus Apologizes, Admits to Altered Test". XBIZ. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  11. 1 2 3 Noelle, Nica (2012-09-04). "Nica Noelle: The Curious Case of Mr. Marcus". XBIZ. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  12. ↑ Kathleen Miles (23 August 2012). "Mr. Marcus Admits Starting Porn Syphilis Outbreak By Altering His Test Results". Huffington Post. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  13. ↑ Romero, Dennis (4 June 2013). "Porn's 'Mr. Marcus' Jailed for Exposing Co-Stars to Syphilis". LA Weekly. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  14. ↑ Staff. "Mr. Marcus Ordered To Pay LaVey $130,000 for Syphilis Exposure". AVN.com. Adult Video News. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  15. 1 2 "XRCO past winners". Retrieved 2008-02-11.
  16. 1 2 "Past AVN Award Winners". Retrieved 2008-02-11.
  17. ↑ "Hillary Scott Big Winner at XRCO Awards". XBIZ. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  18. ↑ "XRCO 2006 AWARD CATEGORIES, NOMINATIONS, AND WINNERS". 5 April 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  19. ↑ David Sullivan (2009-01-11). "2009 AVN Award-Winners Announced". AVN.com. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
  20. 1 2 "2009 Award Winners". Urban X Awards. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  21. ↑ "2010 AVN Award Winners Announced". AVN.com. 2010-01-10. Retrieved 2010-01-10.

External links

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