Althea Flynt
Althea Flynt | |
|---|---|
 Flynt in 1979 | |
| Born | Althea Leasure November 6, 1953 Marietta, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | June 27, 1987 (aged 33) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Fernwood Cemetery Lockbourne, Franklin County, Ohio |
| Occupation | Magazine publisher |
| Spouse | |
Althea Flynt (née Leasure; November 6, 1953 – June 27, 1987) was an American co-publisher of pornographic magazine Hustler, and the fourth wife of Larry Flynt.
Early life
[edit]Althea Leasure was born November 6, 1953, in Marietta, Ohio. Althea and her four siblings came from an abusive home. When Althea was eight, her father Richard shot and killed her mother, June, her grandfather, and June's best friend and neighbor,[1] before fatally shooting himself.[2] Althea's grandmother was present during the incident, but survived by hiding in the nearby creek.
Althea and three of her siblings were later put into the OSSO Home (Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Orphanage) in Xenia, Ohio, which she ran away from multiple times after being sexually molested when sent to possible adopters' homes.
Career
[edit]She met Larry Flynt at age 17 in 1971, when she applied for a job as a go-go dancer at his Hustler club in Columbus, Ohio. They were married on August 21, 1976. She was Hustler's first life-size centerfold, and as Publisher/Editor was involved with the development, management and publication of the magazine until her death; she ran the magazine and kept it afloat during Larry's "born again" experience brought on by a psychotic bipolar manic episode in 1977, his subsequent near-fatal crippling shooting in Georgia in 1978 and multiple bouts with bipolar disorder which also led to his campaign for President of the United States in 1984.[3]
In the mid-1980s, Althea planned a new non-pornographic magazine called The Rage, to focus on the punk subculture. The Rage was ultimately abandoned due to the expense of Flynt's 1984 presidential run.[3]
In 1982 Althea began using the drugs that Larry was prescribed for pain after he was shot in 1978, and developed an addiction. She was diagnosed with AIDS in 1983; Flynt stated that she contracted the disease from an untested blood transfusion during a hysterectomy, and that she always used clean needles when using drugs.[4]
Death
[edit]Althea died at age 33 when she drowned in the bathtub at the couple's Bel-Air mansion in Los Angeles on June 27, 1987. According to reports, she passed out from a prescription drug overdose and drowned.[5] Her husband, however, states that at the time she was in the advanced stages of AIDS and would have died within that year, regardless. At that point he was taking care of her and claims that she was practically bedridden.[6]
Althea Flynt was originally buried in the Flynt family cemetery plot, located on Lakeville in Salyersville, Kentucky. Her remains were disinterred in 2021 and moved to Ohio.[6]
In popular culture
[edit]Courtney Love portrayed Althea in the 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flynt, earning a Golden Globe nomination for her performance.[7]
References
[edit]- Notes
- ^ "Four Killed In Aftermath Of Squabble". Dayton Daily News. February 27, 1962. p. 8 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Flynt 2008, p. 108.
- ^ a b Gorney, Cynthia (July 6, 1987). "The Brief, Hot Flame of Althea Flynt; The Hustler Publisher's Wife, Her Turbulent Life and Mysterious Death". The Washington Post. p. Style D1. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
- ^ Edison, Mike (November 2011). Dirty! Dirty! Dirty! Of Playboys, Pigs, and Penthouse Paupers An American Tale of Sex and Wonder. New York: Soft Skull Press. ISBN 9781593764678.
- ^ Chalmers, Robert (February 22, 2004). "Larry Flynt: The trouble with Larry". The Independent. Archived from the original on November 25, 2009. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
- ^ a b Abdulali, Sohaila (July 15, 1987). "The Life & Death of Althea Flynt The Porn King's Wife Stick By Him to the End". Philadelphia Daily News. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
- ^ Robbins, Ira (June 6, 1997). "The People vs. Larry Flynt". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 18, 2007. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
- Citations
- Flynt, Larry (2008). An Unseemly Man: My Life as Pornographer, Pundit, and Social Outcast. Phoenix Books. ISBN 978-1-597-77576-2.
External links
[edit]- 1953 births
- 1987 deaths
- Accidental deaths in California
- American magazine publishers (people)
- Burials in Kentucky
- Deaths by drowning in California
- Drug-related deaths in California
- People from Marietta, Ohio
- People with HIV/AIDS
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- 20th-century American businesswomen
- Writers from Kentucky