Désirée Cousteau is ésiréthe stage name of a pornographic actress who made films in the 1970s and 1980s. She is best known for her roles in the 1978 film Pretty Peaches and 1979's Inside Désirée Cousteau. In 1993, she was inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame, and in 1997, she was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame.
Career
Cousteau aspired to be a mainstream model, but was told she was not tall enough or thin enough to succeed. After work modeling lingerie, she posed for Penthouse magazine. She tried making a career as a mainstream actress, landing a small part in the 1974 "women in prison" B-movie Caged Heat. After her career stalled and she grew tired of being sexually propositioned when auditioning for roles, she appeared in her first sex film when adult film director Alex de Renzy asked her to appear in Pretty Peaches.
She worked steadily in adult movies from the late 1970s through the early 1980s, often typecast in sweet, dizzy, naïve roles.
She received the Adult Film Association of America Best Actress Award in 1979 for her performance in the movie Pretty Peaches, with film director Alex de Renzy.
Partial filmography
Leading roles
Pretty Peaches (1978), by Alex de Renzy
Pizza Girls (1978), aka Hot and Saucy Pizza Girls, by Bob Chinn
Deep Rub (1979), by Leonard Kirtman (as Leon Gucci) Getting Off (1979), by Ed De Priest Inside Désirée Cousteau (1979), by Leonard Kirtman (as Leon Gucci) Ms. Magnificent (1979), aka Superwoman, by Joe Sherman Randy (1980), aka Randy the Electric Lady, by Phillip Schuman and Zachary Strong
Supporting roles
1978
A Formal Faucett (1978), by Fred J. Lincoln
Boiling Point (1978), by Paul Levis
China Cat (1978), by Bob Chinn
Easy (1978), by Anthony Spinelli
Hot Lunch (1978), by John Hayes (as Harold Perkins) Telefantasy (1978), by Bob Chinn
1979
800 Fantasy Lane (1979), by Svetlana Mischoff
Aphrodesia's Diary (shot in 1979, released in 1983), by Gérard Kikoïne
Candy Goes to Hollywood (1979), by Gail Palmer
The Ecstasy Girls (1979), by Gary Graver (as Robert Mc Callum) Enquêtes (1979), by Gérard Kikoïne Female Athletes (1979), by Leonard Kirtman (as Leon Gucci) Hot Rackets (1979), by Gary Graver (as Robert McCallum) Initiation au collège (1979), aka French Finishing School, by Gérard Kikoïne (as Loic Chalmain) Summer Heat (1979), by Christy McCabe and Charles Webb
1980s
Delicious (1981), by Bill Milling (as Philip Drexler Jr.) The Tale of Tiffany Lust (1981), by Radley Metzger (credited to Gérard Kikoïne) Center Spread Girls (1982), by Gary Graver (as Robert McCulum)
Loops
Cousteau also appeared in loop collections such as Swedish Erotica Film (Caballero) and Electric Blue (Scripglow), but much of this material was recycled.
See also
Golden Age of Porn
References
Further reading
- includes a chapter on Cousteau.