'Deep Throat' director dead at 80

FORT MYERS, Fla., Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Adult film director Gerard Damiano Sr., best-known for the 1972 porn classic "Deep Throat," has died in Florida at the age of 80.

Damiano's son, Gerard Jr., told The New York Times Damiano died Saturday in Fort Myers of complications from a stroke he suffered last month.

Gerard Damiano Sr., a former X-ray technician and hairdresser, wrote and directed "Deep Throat," a controversial X-rated adult movie starring Linda Lovelace that is also one of the few porn flicks viewed by mainstream audiences. The Times said it was shot in six days for about $25,000 and by 2005 had grossed more than $600 million. Damiano made the film under the name Jerry Gerard.

"Inside Deep Throat," a documentary about the dirty movie and its cultural significance, was released in 2005 and revived interest in the original picture.

The New York-born filmmaker's other directing credits include "The Devil in Miss Jones," "Memories within Miss Aggie," "The Story of Joanna," "Teenie Tulip," "Future Sodom" and "Young Girls in Tight Jeans."

Damiano was married and divorced three times. He had two children with his second wife, Barbara Walton. His son Gerard Jr., of Fort Myers and Queens, and his daughter, Christar, of Fort Myers are Damiano's only immediate survivors, The Times said.