Brigitte Maier was among the very best of the well known Porn Stars in the 70s. Her career started in 1967 and lasted all the way through the 1970s. Under the direction of European director Lasse Braun she pushed the porn envelope, both on screen and in her modeling work for various Men’s magazines at a time when anti-pornography laws were being forced to change.
Brigitte Maier was born in the town of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany on August 7th, 1952. Her family moved to Chicago when she was four years old. Her conservative middle-class family enrolled her in a Catholic all-girls school. But she was determined to leave behind the “mundane middle-class lifestyle.” At the age of fifteen, she was in her first movie, “The Margin.”
Based on the novel of the same name that came out the same year,it is a story about people at the margins of society waiting to die. This was Brazilian Director Ozualdo Ribeiro Candeias‘ first film and is still studied today in cinematography circles. Unfortunately the plot doesn’t hold up and is a firm pass unless you’re a major film geek.
At the age of seventeen, Brigitte relocated herself to Los Angeles. She instantly fell in love with the city, working dead end jobs until she became a topless dancer. She immediately got into film again doing a number of 8-mm (home movie camera) porn “shorts” working with several early porn directors and producers. It wasn’t until 1973 when she enthusiastically took facials in the full length porn movie ‘Tongue’ that she started to become well known.
One of her numerous lesbian scenes
And the reward!
Movie Credits:
Note that dates may not be accurate. Porn movies in these days were frequently released “under the counter,” before they were packaged and published at a later date when anti-pornography laws became more relaxed.
1967 – The Margin
1971 – Refinements in Love (uncredited)
1972 – The Landlord (uncredited despite her prominent role)
1973 – Swinger Girls (Uncredited)
1973 – Closet-up
1973 – The True Way (uncredited)
1973 – Suckula (uncredited)
1973 – After School Exams (uncredited)
1973 – Tongue (was re-released in 1976 after she became famous)
1974 – School for Scandal
1974 – Pretty Wet Lips (as Bridgette Maier)
1974 – Poor Cecily (uncredited)
1974 – Second Coming of Eva (as Bridget Maier)
1974 – Marriage and other Four Letter Words (as Bridgette)
1974 – Fulfillment (as Carol Schlect)
1974 – The Lover (uncredited)
1974 – Mob Job (uncredited)
1974 – Love Lies Waiting (uncredited)
1974 – Diamond Sexcapades (uncredited)
1974 – Penetration (American title French Blue)
1975 – Sensations (as ‘Margaret from Minnesota’)
1975 – Inside of Me
1975 – Puss O Rama
1975 – The Second Coming of Eva
1975 – Justine and Juliette
1975 – True Way
1975 – Virgin Cowboy
1976 – Love Camp
1976 – Tongue (re-release)
1977 – Kinkorama
1978 – How Sweet It Is!
2003 – I Was the King of Porn… The Adventurous Life of Lasse Braun (documentary as herself)
Bridgett Maier in Marriage and other Four Letter Words
At this time her treatment at the hands of American Porn producers was making her rethink her porn career. She said “There were times in LA when I stayed up nights, crying and screaming that I’d never be in another porno film. I guess I became oversensitive. My sexual feeling is something special to me, and I don’t want to have it fucked around with.” But she decided to take an offer of $1500 to do a Swedish Porn film titled ‘School for Scandal’ (Porr I Skandalskolan in Swedish)
At the age of 20 she spent six weeks filming in a castle in Stockholm. After filming was done, she stayed in Stockholm where she met director and on again/off again boyfriend Lasse Braun through fellow actress Levelle Ruby.
Bridgett Maier (Left) in Justine and Juliette
Braun, who’s real name was Alberto Ferro, was the son of an Italian Diplomat. He was an attorney who defended people accused of selling pornographic pictures and movies in the 1960s before he started to make his own short adult films. He saw himself as a sort of anarchist at war with society’s morals.
Lesbian Scene from Second Coming of Eva
The two moved to the city of Breda in The Netherlands where Braun set up a movie studio to be close to the few theaters he could legally sell too. In November 1973 he started shooting the documentary Penetration for the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. Thirty minutes of the footage was new and featured him directing Bridgette in not on the first on screen double vaginal penetration, but also the first on screen double anal penetration. It also featured five other short humorous clips, and an animated clip.
As the first porn film shown at Cannes, it was an instant hit. Europe saw it as their answer to the United State’s “Behind the Green Door.” Bridgette became so famous as a result that she was the cover girl for the July 1974 issue of Penthouse Magazine.
Cover of the 1974 – Penthouse, July
Her photo shoot for Penthouse was a departure for the magazine, she was the first model to show full vagina.
Magazine Credits
1974 – Penthouse, July (Cover Model)
1974 – Penthouse, August UK printing
1974 – Club International
1974 – Playmen, October (Credited as Brandy Blue)
1975 – Playboy, December Issue
1976 – Men’s World
1977 – Color Climax
1977 – Club International – Volume Three, Number Seven(July) (Credited as Nola)
Unknown – Chick
The film was picked up for US distribution. The name was changed to “French Blue” for the more sensitive American audience and premiered in New York City in December 1974. It was also a resounding success in the United States.
Bridgette did a couple more European films before being contacted by Braun again to film Sensations. The two of them convinced Reuben Sturman, the gentleman who had been buying Braun’s shorts for his peep-show theaters, to put up some money for a new film. Braun with his oral skills, while Bridgette stripped down and used her own oral skills.
Bridgette giving a blow job in “Sensations”
The resulting film, ‘Sensations’ was filmed in the first two months of a 1975. Bridgette Maier played an innocent American Girl introduced to the sexual perversions of The Netherlands and Belgium. At first a reluctant voyeur, she ends the film the center of attention at an orgy. It was screened at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival, and became another huge success in Europe.
“Brandy Blue” from Playmen – October 1974
The couple moved to New York City to await the delivery of the film to the United States. It had to be smuggled across the border from Canada to bypass US Customs. The film was released in the United States on November 4th, 1975, becoming an even bigger hit then it was in Europe.
Bridget Maier – Men’s World 1976
Eventually Brigitte became disenfranchised with the American Porn Industry. She retired in 1978, got married and move to Rome where she became involved with the Italian Women’s Movement. In interviews over the years she has seemed to waver from proud of her work to ashamed and stating that she was mixed up and used by Braun.
Bridgette Maier in “Chick”
Bridgette Maier in Color Climax – 1977
Bridgette Maier in Color Climax – 1977
Bridgette Maier in Color Climax – 1977
From her July 1974 Pictorial in Club International as “Nola”
Bridgette Maier as “Nola” in Club International from 1974
Miscellaneous Bridgette Maier Pictures
From 1976
With Dawn Cumming
Example of the extreme closeups Bridgette became known for
Bridgette Maier and Dawn Cumming
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