Vanessa del Rio

**Vanessa del Rio** (born **Ana Maria Sanchez** on March 31, 1952 in Harlem, New York, USA is a retired American former pornographic actress and adult model.

## Early years

Vanessa del Rio is a daughter of immigrants from Cuba and Puerto Rico of a mixed African and Spanish background. She grew up in Harlem and as a child and young adult she attended mostly Catholic schools.

## Career

Vanessa del Rio began appearing in adult films in 1974 after a strict Catholic upbringing and interest in sex and thus became the first Hispanic porn star.

Initially, Vanessa was well-known due to her large breasts, extremely large clitoris and for being the first porn actress to regularly engage in extended anal sex (for this reason she was dubbed the "anal queen" of porn).
Known now for her blunt sense of humor, while helping out middle-aged curators with the installation of a sex museum in New York, she quipped, "They're so repressed – I know what they really want."

In the span of about 25 years, del Rio has appeared in over 100 pornographic films and in several music videos, notably "Get Money" by Junior M.A.F.I.A.

Though she retired from adult films in 1986 in part due to the AIDS scare prevalent at the time,  she returned to make six final films in 1986/87, following a stint as a bodybuilder, including the faux biopic *Deep Inside Vanessa del Rio* and *The Devil in Miss Jones 3* for the notorious punk-inspired Dark Brothers. She then worked as a feature dancer and magazine model until tearing the meniscus in her knee onstage in 1996. After that she used her coding skills to create her own website, produce original content, continued to appear in magazines, and made special appearances at award shows and conventions. During and after her porn career she appeared on many TV shows as herself, including a 1996 episode of *NYPD Blue* titled "Head Case". Afterwards, she remains somewhat active in the adult entertainment industry through her web site and by making special appearances at award shows, conventions, etc.

During and after her porn career, Vanessa del Rio appeared on many TV shows as herself. She also made a guest appearance as herself in a 1996 episode of the ABC-TV crime drama series *NYPD Blue* (see TV appearances).

She was also featured in literature.

## In popular culture

In 2007, the German art book publisher Taschen released a deluxe, heavily illustrated biography, *"Vanessa del Rio: Fifty Years Of Slightly Slutty Behavior"*, which was edited by del Rio's long time friend Dian Hanson.

A feature film, *The Latin from Manhattan*, based on del Rio's life, written and directed by Thomas Mignone, and starring Vivian Lamolli as del Rio began production in 2019.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sophie. Interview with Vanessa del Rio Mentertainment. (Reprint). Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
2. ↑ Gurley, George (2007-11-20). Dont' Blame It on Rio. *The New York Observer*. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 O’Connor, Siobhan (2007-09-11). Out With a Bang. *King*. Harris Publications. Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
4. ↑ Ford, Luke. Biography including an interview. *lukeisback.com*. Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
5. ↑ Winbush, Jeff. The Diva of Sex: The Vanessa del Rio Interview. *G21*. Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
6. ↑ Summary for NYPD Blue episode "Head Case". Retrieved on October 27, 2015.
7. ↑ Vanessa del Rio. Taschen.
8. ↑ Dian Hanson (2007). *Vanessa del Rio: Fifty Years of Slightly Slutty Behavior*. Germany: Taschen. ISBN 978-3-8228-2230-2.
9. ↑ Johnson, Bob (September 21, 2012). New Vanessa del Rio Feature Film in the Works. XBIZ.
10. ↑ https://www.valuewalk.com/2019/06/film-vanessa-del-rio-challenges-stereotypes/
11. ↑ https://variety.com/2019/film/news/jesse-metcalfe-latin-from-manhattan-federal-agent-1203229673/

## External links

* Vanessa del Rio article at *Wikipedia*
* Vanessa del Rio news on AVN
* Vanessa del Rio at Babepedia
* Vanessa del Rio at the Babes Directory
* Vanessa del Rio at Boobpedia—Encyclopedia of big boobs
* Vanessa del Rio on  Famous Fix
* Vanessa del Rio links at FreeOnes