From "The Archives" of
the Fire Island Pines
Historical Preservation Society.
Timeline.com
"The wholesomely pornographic Robin Byrd. . ."
by Stephanie Buck - 19 Mar 2017
The Wall Street Journal
"Wistful for the 'Crazy Eddie' Era"
by Ralph Gardner Jr.- 13Sept2016
Advocate.Com - Michael Musto
15 January 2016
Page Six - NY Post - Oct 23 2015
NY Post Page Six- Octber 16 2015
Daily Mail.com U.K. - October 17 2015
Metro.com U.K - October 18 2015
PopDust.com - October 20 2015
NY Post - July 1 2014
Daily News - June 29 2013
Next Magazine Interviews Robin
Robin Byrd Show Interview
by CALLMEADAM.COM
Musto in the Village Voice
Robin at Jameson Party
Robin attends Liza performace on Fire Island
Robin attends Serendipity 3 Celebrity Seance
Marilyn Monroe's Ghost, Other Dead Stars' Ghosts Summoned at Serendipity 3's Celebrity Seance- By David Moye, Huff Post, Weird News
Photo by Derek Storm
If you had the chance to speak with Marilyn Monroe from beyond the grave, there are probably a lot of questions you'd want to ask, right?
Her stuffing recipe is probably not one of them. but that's the top of the wish list for Robin Byrd, a New York media personality who is best known outside the Big Apple for her role in the infamous porn film "Debbie Does Dallas."
And -- unlike most of us -- she may actually get the chance to ask Monroe the all-important stuffing question.
Byrd is one of the Big Apple bigwigs invited to participate in a celebrity seance being held at Serendipity 3, a popular New York-based ice cream parlor that, over its 57 years in business, has been patronized by famous folk such as Monroe, Clark Gable and Andy Warhol, who used to trade paintings for desserts.
Byrd, as well as Oscar-nominated actress Sylvia Miles, and Warhol's nephew, James Warhola, are among the cognoscenti invited to possibly contact the celeb spooks with the help of Char Margolis, a well-known psychic medium who is best known for revealing Kelly Ripa's pregnancy on live TV before the talk show host could tell her bosses.
But, to be fair, Margolis can't guarantee that Monroe, Warhol or even Cary Grant will show up to the seance.
"It depends on who has something to say -- it might be a former waiter who wants to speak," Margolis admitted to HuffPost Weird News. "Honestly, in the spirit world, sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease."
Still, Byrd is hopeful that Margolis will be able to conjure up Marilyn so the actress can reveal the answer to a question that she's been wondering for years.
"No one knows that Marilyn was a good cook," Byrd told HuffPost Weird News. "Although there have been photos printed of her handwritten recipes, they have faded over time. I'd like to find out the exact ingredients in the stuffing."
But Byrd isn't putting her celebrity eggs entirely into Monroe's stuffing. She also hopes to get closure with Warhol, whom she never met.
"We lived in the same neighborhood and there was a bench I liked to sit on over on 67th Street," Byrd said. "One time I walked there and Andy was sitting there. I wanted to say 'Hi,' but he seemed standoffish and I'd like to ask him why."
Again, Margolis makes no promises about who may or may not make an appearance at the celebrity seance, and has asked not to be told in advance which celebrities are most desired by management. She also insists she won't read this div until after the seance is done.
And while it would be great if Monroe appeared to reveal the truth about her death (or, if you're Byrd, that darn stuffing recipe), Margolis says the only spirits who will make an appearance are those with an important message for someone in attendance.
That's actually an improvement over how celebs behave when they're living and only make an appearance when they have something to promote.
But Margolis says that those in attendance have to keep an open mind about the messages being given and not try and force the issue.
"There was one woman who came to me because she was convinced that her husband, an executive at Warner Brothers, was cheating on her," Margolis said. "The message I got didn't have anything to do with that. The message I got was that she should get checked for cancer. Six months later, they found a lump."
Margolis is aware that there are many people who are skeptical that she can talk to dead people.
Although she has for the past 10 years had two popular show in the Netherlands, "Char Het Medium" and "Char," a rival Dutch TV show, "Zembla," claimed in March 2008 that she was a fraud who relies on "cold reading," a technique where the psychic asks leading questions, such as "I see a woman with an 'R' in her name. Do you know a woman with an 'R' in her name?"
It's a technique that has been associated with fellow reputed psychics like James Van Praagh and Margolis's close friend John Edward.
Margolis says she goes into her readings with an open heart, and can't worry about those who doubt her.
"I turn the switch on and connect with peoples' energies," she said. "Here's my feeling about skeptics: If their job is to be skeptical, they don't want someone to actually be psychic, because they won't have anything to be skeptical about."
On the other hand, one of the attendees, Jimmy Floyd, believes there is value in having skeptics at the seance.
"I believe that certain places hold energy and if Char can tap into that energy, I think she needs a mix of skeptics and believers, sort of like a battery needs positive and negative charges," said Floyd, a TV producer and casting director most associated with shows like "Four Weddings," a TLC reality series, and "The A-List," a series on the gay-oriented Logo cable network that is a sort of "Real Housewives"-type show focused on gay and bisexual men.
Floyd, who admits to having a corporate astrologer on retainer along with his lawyer and accountant, is curious to see which dead celebs -- or if any -- might show up at the seance, but unlike Byrd, his question is general enough that it can be answered by anyone in the afterworld.
"I just want to know if they have great sex in the afterlife," he laughed.If you had the chance to speak with Marilyn Monroe from beyond the grave, there are probably a lot of questions you'd want to ask, right?
Her stuffing recipe is probably not one of them. but that's the top of the wish list for Robin Byrd, a New York media personality who is best known outside the Big Apple for her role in the infamous porn film "Debbie Does Dallas."
And -- unlike most of us -- she may actually get the chance to ask Monroe the all-important stuffing question.
Byrd is one of the Big Apple bigwigs invited to participate in a celebrity seance being held at Serendipity 3, a popular New York-based ice cream parlor that, over its 57 years in business, has been patronized by famous folk such as Monroe, Clark Gable and Andy Warhol, who used to trade paintings for desserts.
Byrd, as well as Oscar-nominated actress Sylvia Miles, and Warhol's nephew, James Warhola, are among the cognoscenti invited to possibly contact the celeb spooks with the help of Char Margolis, a well-known psychic medium who is best known for revealing Kelly Ripa's pregnancy on live TV before the talk show host could tell her bosses.
But, to be fair, Margolis can't guarantee that Monroe, Warhol or even Cary Grant will show up to the seance.
"It depends on who has something to say -- it might be a former waiter who wants to speak," Margolis admitted to HuffPost Weird News. "Honestly, in the spirit world, sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease."
Still, Byrd is hopeful that Margolis will be able to conjure up Marilyn so the actress can reveal the answer to a question that she's been wondering for years.
"No one knows that Marilyn was a good cook," Byrd told HuffPost Weird News. "Although there have been photos printed of her handwritten recipes, they have faded over time. I'd like to find out the exact ingredients in the stuffing."
But Byrd isn't putting her celebrity eggs entirely into Monroe's stuffing. She also hopes to get closure with Warhol, whom she never met.
"We lived in the same neighborhood and there was a bench I liked to sit on over on 67th Street," Byrd said. "One time I walked there and Andy was sitting there. I wanted to say 'Hi,' but he seemed standoffish and I'd like to ask him why."
Again, Margolis makes no promises about who may or may not make an appearance at the celebrity seance, and has asked not to be told in advance which celebrities are most desired by management. She also insists she won't read this div until after the seance is done.
And while it would be great if Monroe appeared to reveal the truth about her death (or, if you're Byrd, that darn stuffing recipe), Margolis says the only spirits who will make an appearance are those with an important message for someone in attendance.
That's actually an improvement over how celebs behave when they're living and only make an appearance when they have something to promote.
But Margolis says that those in attendance have to keep an open mind about the messages being given and not try and force the issue.
ROBIN ATTENDS BIRTHDAY PARTY
FOR PENHOUSE PET
Interview with Robin Byrd
By Ramon Johnson, About.com Guide
Robin Byrd is one of the queens of sex, dating and relationships. The ex-Debbie Does Dallas star helped set the stage for gay men everywhere to be more open about their sexual expression with her previous show The Robin Byrd Show. Now with her podcast interview by the here! TV network (aee above) Robin gets even more candid about being free. In her interview with ABOUT Gay Life, Robin talks about the 30th anniversary of Debbie Does Dallas, her government name and who should stay away from leather.
There are so many prudes out there and yet you celebrate your body. What's the one piece of advice you have for the person that wants to express him or herself but can't find the courage?
The prudes don't rule my life. You must either celebrate or change what you don't celebrate. You must feel comfortable in your skin in order to live this way. My skin does not belong to the many prudes out there.
Debbie Does Dallas hit 30 years old. Did you look at the movie again to commemorate the anniversary?
To commemorate the anniversary, the film company released the DVD digital copy with an exclusive interview and commentary by me while the film played. It is some pretty funny stuff. Check it out for yourself and have a laugh.
Were there moments when you thought, "I did that?!"
When I think about how I have changed the look of television, I say to myself, "Wow! I did that!"
What's the difference between adult entertainment stars of the 70's and the ones of today?
Back then we did it because we enjoyed sex, not because of the money. Today's stars do it for the money and fake some of the sex.
Robin Cohen is your government name. When and why did you change it to Byrd?
I was adopted at childbirth. That was my given name, however my government name before the adoption was "Female," so what's in a name. My legal government name is Robin Byrd and always will be.
What was it like to have The Robin Byrd Show parodied on Saturday Night Live?
The parody (three times) of The Robin Byrd Show on Saturday Night Live was a confirmation that I have gained recognition on a national level. I have a great admiration for Cheri Oteri and the producers and all the actors that participated in the shows.
What's the one thing you want most in this world but can't have?
For everyone to love and accept one another no matter what their beliefs are.
If you were running for President, what would your campaign slogan be?
"I have nothing to hide."
Everyone knows Robin and black leather go together. What kind of person should never wear leather?
I love to wear black leather. The smell of it turns me on. If you are the type that sweats and has uncontrollable body odor please spare my smelling senses and do not wear leather.
PUNCHLINE MAGAZINE BLOG
Comic Strip Xmas Party
January 7, 2010
by Jeffrey Gurian
Remember her? I know you all remember "if you wanna hear us moan, call us on the phone." After getting over the nostalgia of seeing her blond hair (that a blind hairdresser dyed) and her white fingernails (which she sported every show), I was really impressed by the content of the clip. For close to 30 years she's taught nearly every 13 year old New Yorker since the 70s a thing or two about what grown-up boobies and penises look.
A. The Byrd-Lady has been a woman unapologetic about sharing her sexuality with public access viewers since the dawn of time. she has literal pioneer status.
B. After a jaunt with her wikipedia page I realized that she has used her iconic channel 35 status to raise awareness and support development in AIDS research and LGBT rights and issues.
Byrd has also been engaged in legal battles with the state of NY since the 90s to keep her show public, free and unscrambled, defending the rights of people all over our fine city who want to enjoy pornography legally, freely and safely in the privacy of their homes, without shame.
So, let's all raise one to Robin Byrd for being mad cheesy, having that semi-creepy raspy voice, for loving the gays, the bis, the transgenders, people of color, sex on pool tables and sex in her weird neon studio.
"THE UNCAGED BIRD STILL SINGS"
A local icon with worldwide notoriety, Robin Byrd has always been there for us
NEW YORK BLADE - 5 June 2009
- By Dustin Fitzharris
Robin Byrd (right) with Lady Clover
Honey at the May 2009 New York
Blade mixer at East of Eighth
restaurant.
(Photo: Iestyn Fairchild)
The Empire State Building. The Statue of Liberty. They’re iconic figures in New York. And another comes to mind ... Robin Byrd.
Since 1977 Robin Byrd has turned on and tucked in New Yorkers on the show that bears more than just her name. To this day it still airs seven nights a week on New York’s Channel 35, despite the fact that Time Warner New York has tried unsuccessfully to scramble the show over the years.
But with the advent of the Internet and sex being just a mouse click away, is Robin Byrd still relevant? After all, it’s been over three decadessince she first gained notoriety by playing Mrs. Hardwick in the legendary porno flick VDebbie Does Dallas,V which included scenes filmed at Pratt Institute and Brooklyn College. The production values on her show are best matched by those that anyone can upload to YouTube. But make no mistake, this icon just keeps coming and coming.
"I live in the now. I’m a chameleon," says Byrd. "Who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow—if there is a tomorrow—and yesterday was yesterday, and I did that already."
I ask, "You want some of this?” As she sips her onion soup she replies, "No thanks." To show her this is a serious interview, I clarify, “I was talking about my food.” With that spontaneous wit that has charmed audiences for years, she laughs, “That’s why I said no!"
Quickly I learn that the Robyn Byrd on TV is exactly the same in person. At 52, the self-professed VOrgy QueenV is not looking to reinvent herself or her career.
VI believe in what I do,V Byrd says. VI haven’t branched out into anything else. Even though I show repeats, the message is still the same, and that message is if you don’t have a loved one, you always have me and always have safe sex.V
Byrd’s show, which has been spoofed twice on VSaturday Night Live,V was, in fact, a pioneer for safe sex years before AIDS came onto the scene. In 1977, to raise awareness she held a contest to guess how many condoms were in a fish bowl. She also stopped doing adult films because of her belief in safe sex; VPink LadiesV in 1980 was her last.
"Adult films were supposed to be educational, but no one wanted to use condoms,V Byrd says. VWith AIDS I saw a lot of sadness. It was terrible. I lost friends and watched them deteriorate.V
Enduring the effect that AIDS has had on the community isn’t the only thing Byrd has witnessed, and that’s why she doesn’t look at Pride events as an excuse to celebrate.
"I think every month—every day—should be Pride,” Byrd says. "I know a lot of people who were in Stonewall who fought really hard for our pride. "Now it’s become so commercial. I see a lot of people partaking because of the commercialization of it and not for the pride of it, and I think everyone should be proud of who and what they are."
Byrd is very much aware of who she is. "I’m trisexual. I’ll try everything sexual—except for animals," she adds. “I believe ‘if it feels good, it’s okay;’ whether it be with a man or a woman or a machine.”
What feels good to Byrd is accomplishing the mission she set out on after dropping out of Baruch College as a marketing major with just months to go until graduation.
"I wanted to change the look television. I got tired of seeing television at night that wasn’t good television to watch before you went to sleep," Even Joe Franklin, host of the first television talk show in 1951, once acknowledged that Byrd succeeded in changing television.
But there was more to Byrd’s dream. This dream is perhaps the reason that she first stepped in front of the camera. "I set out to be loved," she admits.
It’s a quest she’s been on since she realized her lot in life. "My destiny is to have things taken away from me," Byrd says playfully, but with an undertone of sadness. "My own biological mother had me taken away."
Adopted at childbirth and raised on 50th and First, she was given the name Robin Cohen. She describes her adoptive mother as "Mommy Dearest," but adored her father. He, however, was "taken away” from her when she was 8 after suffering a massive heart attack. At 13 she ran away from home to Florida and recalls losing her virginity to a pizza chef.
After years of experimenting with both men and woman, she finally found love while playing volleyball nude on Fire Island in 1974.
“It was love at first sight,” Byrd says while talking about the man she refers to as “Mr. Head Go-For.” “He’s the woman I always wanted to marry, but he had a penis, and I thought it was great.”
It was "Mr. Head Go-For" who gave her the name Byrd after always referring to her as “El Seńorita Bird.” It was also his curiosity that led Byrd to search for her biological mother in her early thirties. She believes she found her too, though the woman denied her.
After 35 years Byrd and "Mr. Head Go-For" are still in love, but don’t look for a wedding invitation. She doesn’t believe in marriage.
“My adopted mother and father’s marriage was sucky. I just thought, "Why bother?" If you’re with someone, you’re with that person because you love him or her,” Byrd says. "It’s society that has to have that little piece of paper, but that’s not going to keep me together with my partner."
But she does believe marriage should be there for all those who want it and should be a core focus in the LGBT community.
"Gay marriage better pass in New York, goddamnit! It’s 2009! What the hell is wrong with them? Don’t they know church and state should be separate, and it’s really the church that’s putting the pressure on the state? It’s sick what happened in California."
Lowering her voice, as the older, subdued customers look her way she says, “I can’t be serious like this on my show or they’ll take me for being smart!”
And they may also take her for being a unique voice in our overstimulated world. As others in the adult entertainment industry have faded away, Robin Byrd still has something to say.
"There is always someone new who is watching for the first time," Byrd says, “So it’s all new to them.”
Though she may no longer be the "Orgy Queen," confessing that she hasn’t seen anyone who is worthy of her "orgyness," she continues to provide a positive message for anyone who takes the time to listen.
"I’ve been there for so many people during breakups or losses, and they always knew they could just come home, lie back and get comfortable, and I was there," Byrd says.
Without a doubt, Robin Byrd is one icon that keeps standing—just like the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty—and that’s something that can never be taken away from her.
ROBIN ATTENDS DEMOCRATIC FUND RAISER
New York Post Page Six - 10 May 2008
NEW YORK MAGAZINE INCLUDES ROBIN BYRD SHOW AMONG ITS 40-YEAR TV HIGHLIGHTS OF NYC CULTURE.
60 MINUTES, 1968–PRESENT
SESAME STREET, 1969–PRESENT
ALL IN THE FAMILY, 1971–1979
KOJAK, 1973–1978
THE ODD COUPLE, 1970–1975
RHODA,1974–1978
MAUDE, 1972–1978
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, 1975–PRESENT
THE ROBIN BYRD SHOW, 1977–PRESENT
Are you there, Byrd watchers? A soft-porn cable-access classic and reminder to every tourist, teen, and channel-surfing insomniac that he’s not in Kansas anymore—never mind that, these days, the cameramen shoot Byrd pretty much from the clavicle up. –C.B.
LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, 1982–1993
THE DAYS AND NIGHTS OF MOLLY DODD, 1987–1991
LAW & ORDER, 1990–PRESENT
NORTHERN EXPOSURE, 1990–1995
SEINFELD, 1990–1998
NYPD BLUE, 1993–2005
NEW YORK POST
December 18, 2007
FROM BLOOMBERG NEWS WIRE SERVICE
New York Snow Brings Out Sledders, Dogs in Boots, Photographers
By Samar Srivastava and Gabrielle Coppola
Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Robin Byrd strolled through Central Park with her Yorkshire terrier Om yesterday as New York's heaviest snowstorm this year blanketed the city. Om wore a green and orange parka, and $115 doggy snow boots.
``He hates the boots but he loves the snow,'' said Byrd, 52, a former adult film star who hosts a late-night local-access show on cable television. ``Once I got them on, I marked which was left, right, front and back.''
New Yorkers, who just four days earlier were jogging in the park in 65-degree weather, reveled in yesterday's storm, which dumped 8 inches (20 centimeters) on the city, the National Weather Service said, and delayed flights as much as three hours at area airports before it tapered off and changed to a mix of freezing rain and sleet around midday. As little as 1 inch had been forecast. More snow is forecast today, with the temperature hovering around 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 Centigrade). Tomorrow and Monday are expected to be sunny and warmer.
``It's a winter wonderland out here,'' said Edward Trinka, who has been a doorman at the Plaza Hotel for 45 years, now just the Plaza, after being converted into condominiums and hotel rooms.
The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation set up sledding sites in Manhattan's Riverside Park, Crotona Park in the Bronx, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Juniper Valley in Queens and Clove Lakes in Staten Island. About 60 city employees provided free hot chocolate and sleds.
`Very Picturesque'
In Riverside Park at 103rd Street on the Upper West Side, city employees cordoned off safety zones with orange pylons and propped hay bales against tree trunks to shield them from wayward toboggans. Dozens of kids and parents sledded down a 100-foot-wide (30.5 meters) swath of hillside cleared by city workers.
Amateur photographers took to the streets to capture the beauty of Central Park, while doormen and maintenance workers shoveled and salted the sidewalks.
``This is when all the photographers come out, it's very picturesque,'' said Robert David, a court interpreter from Jersey City, New Jersey, who took pictures of the iced ponds and snow-lined paths in Central Park. David, 30, who sells his photographs, said he uses black and white film to get ``that timeless look.''
``The next day, it gets dirty, but when there's fresh snow like this, it's like a fairytale,'' he said.
Maggie Huang and Richard Mai, at the end of a weeklong break from Stuyvesant High School in lower Manhattan, decorated their snowman with Pocky, a Japanese candy stick that they broke into pieces to make eyes and a mouth.
Another group of sculptors had left behind a pregnant snow- woman with ice breasts and a cigarette in her mouth, which attracted dozens of amateur photographers.
`This Is Not Cold'
The snowfall lightened the moods of outdoor workers like Lisa Grant, a security guard with the Fifth Avenue Association who patrols the avenue rousting illegal vendors and directing tourists.
``If there's one thing I know how to do, it's dress for cold weather,'' said Grant, who wore three pairs of socks, three pairs of pants, four turtlenecks, a ski mask and two hats.
In front of department store Bergdorf Goodman at the corner of 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, Milton Negron of the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn shoveled and salted.
``I'd rather be outside, you can look at the people, smoke a cigarette,'' Negron said. ``As long as you're busy, you don't get cold.''
At the Helmsley Hotel on Central Park South, bellman Carlos Correa, a former sailor who loves to snowboard, stood in the slushy street, hailing cabs for guests.
``I'm from New York, born and raised,'' he said. ``This is not cold.''
Byrd, the cable-TV host whose guests often appear naked, continued her walk near Central Park's Trump Wollman Skating Rink, the dog Om pulling on the leash as he trotted along in his black booties.
``It's not easy owning a dog when it's snowing in the city,'' said Byrd. ``If he loses one of the boots, I'm screwed. You can only get them in fours.''
To contact the reporters for this story: Samar Srivastava in New York at ssrivastav11@bloomberg.net ; Gabrielle Coppola in New York at gcoppola@bloomberg.net . Last Updated: February 23, 2008 00:28 EST
FROM THE FEB 22 1999 ISSUE OF THE NEW YORKER
SPECIAL NEW YORK ISSUE
PHOTOS BY RICHARD AVEDON.
NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL
Communications and Media Law
October 6, 1995
by James C. Goodale
Head of communications law practice group
at Debevoise and Plimpton.
ROBIN BYRD, AL GOLDSTEIN:
FIRST AMENDMENT CHAMPIONS?
Robin Byrd and Al Goldstein claimed a huge First Amendment victory a few weeks ago when they won the right to run their porn shows on Time Warner′s local cable system. Whether this is a victory, however, is highly dubious.
Byrd and Goldstein have achieved a certain amount of local notoriety with their bare-all shows on late cable run under the compelled-access provisions of federal law, which require cable operators to broadcast the shows whether they want to or not. These provisions are generally referred to as "Public Access."
Since first proposed in the 1970′s, in large part by the American Civil Liberties Union, the provisions have been attacked as unconstitutional, since they strip, excuse the pun, cable operators of their First Amendment right to control their programming.
In 1978, the Eighth Circuit found the provisions unconstitutional. The Supreme Court disposed of the case on other grounds. Constitutionality is being challenged in the D.C. Court of Appeals, with a hearing set for November. The lower court has held the proposals constitutional.
EXCERPT FROM GENTLEMEN'S QUARTERLY ARTICLE
MARCH 1993
WRITTEN BY NED ZEMAN.
"The bad thing about interviewing Robin Byrd is that even in very public places, she is inclined to think it's not a problem to discuss the most intimate matters - matters like the peak of female arousal, matters like body fluids - in a booming voice.
Wading through her scallops at Le Cirque, she launches into a yarn about the one thing that fazes the guys on her TV crew. She explains, loudly, 'It's when I bring in, say, a chick with a dick. You know, women with wieners. My crew think they're women, and then they drop their drawers and here comes, like these flagpoles.'
At the next table, the chewing of three ladies who lunch suddenly grows labored, as if they are eating racquetballs."
EXCERPT FROM MIAMIGO ARTICLE
JANUARY 2001
WRITTEN BY JULIAN BAIN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID MORGAN
Even at college Robin's talents were not appreciated. "At college they pushed me into the business end of advertising, marketing, and accounting, but I wanted the art stuff so I went across the street to the School of Visual Arts, and I was an artist. I took art classes and sketching, but art classes were very expensive and I was out on my own. So I started life form modeling. I was a nude model. The models that I had sketched were not inspiring so I decided that I was going to be the best artist's model to inspire all these great artists. I had the model's body, I was voluptuous and I found my sexuality early."
EXCERPT FROM NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE
JUNE 23, 1996
WRITTEN BY BOB MORRIS.
PHOTOS BY ED KEATING.
"At Miss Byrd's cluttered apartment on the East Side, she was greeted by an
unassuming man who has been her companion for 25 years. They wanted him
referred to in print only as her 'head gopher,' but she kissed him and seemed
to mean it".
"he despairs that the woman she believes is her biological mother will not
acknowledge her. 'It's not that I'm looking for an identity,' Ms. Byrd said,
'Lord knows, I've created that for myself.' . . . In the meanwhile, there's
work to do. Punching buttons on her editng system, she set to 'nipping and
tucking' show No. 510, which she taped a few years ago. She turned the
fast-forward knob, causing each gyrating guest's clothes to fly off like sparks."
EXCERPT FROM WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE
MARCH 27, 1997
WRITTEN BY DAVID RICHARDS.
PHOTOS BY ERICA BERGER.
"Byrdwatchers," as she calls her viewers, may not always be willing to stand up and let themselves be counted. There are no reliable figures to indicate the size of her audience. But Byrd claims that her fans come from all walks of life - "doctors, lawyers, judges, congressmen, entertainers, up-and-comers" is how she puts it - and that word of mouth is the only advertising she has ever needed.
Time Warner, which operated Channel 35, the leased-access channel that is
Byrd's perch, announced its intention to scramble her show and other sexually
candid fare. . . . Byrd joined with the American Civil Liberties Union and
others to combat the plan as an infringement of the First Amendment.
EXCERPT FROM HX MAGAZINE ARTICLE
JANUARY 8, 1999
WRITTEN BY JOSEPH MANGHISE
PHOTOS BY AARON COBBETT
"Now the free bird of cable TV is throwing her hat into the musical arena with a new CD, 'Lie Back and Get Comfortable: Robin Byrd Presents Latin Songs to Make Love To' (BMG). The disc is a personal-pics set designed to do exactly what the title says.
"'HX: 'You've always been a big promoter of safe sex on your show. Do you see this album as another way to do that?'
Robin: 'The Latin audience is very macho. You could say a lot about safe sex, but they still have that machismo attitude. It can be a mind-closer sometimes. I wanted to package this with condoms, but BMG said it cost too much. If the listeners were going to be making love, I wanted to make sure it was safe. If I independently produced this album, I would have done it that way.'"
NOTE: You can sample some of the songs on the CD at Amazon.com.
EXCERPT FROM NEXT MAGAZINE ARTICLE
DECEMBER 15, 2000
FROM AN INTERVIEW BY NORA BURNS
PHOTOS BY DAVID MORGAN
NORA: "I have so many friends who come from out of town and love to watch your show. Why can't they see your show in California?"
ROBIN: "It's the fear of, 'Oh my God, I'm going to see a naked body.' But really what's wrong with it? In the 80's I said TV was going to come to my level and it has. Network national primetime television - 8pm - nudity! So what if it's rear nudity? It's still nudity and there's nothing wrong with the human body. Nothing. It's what you're thinking about that's wrong. It's not the human body. . . ."
NORA: "I have to admire those guys who get on your show and just have a little, little thing to show."
ROBIN: "Well a lot of times in the old studio, we'd sweat in the summer because the air conditioner was never working. And in the winter we could freeze. Of course, you know that the guys have shrinkage problems. Not like you or I where our perky little titties pop right out there. Our nipples stand right up. But it's the innies for the guys."
EXCERPT FROM NEW YORK BLADE NEWS
JANUARY 22, 1999
WRITTEN BY WAYNE HOFFMAN
PHOTOS BY JAKE PRICE
"Byrd has survived lawsuits from Time Warner Cable to scramble here show's signal or boot her off the air completely. In her last battle in 1995, she sat in court along side "Midnight Blue's" Al Goldstein to hear the verdict permitting the adult shows to continue unchanged.
And now she's weathering the city's mass closure of the adult venues from where she draws her guests . . . but as the new zoning laws
have driven those strip joints out of business, it has become more difficult for Byrd to find new guests.
Her original mission in her show was to provide 'fun, fantasy and relaxation,' but Byrd admits that in the current state of sexual affairs in New York, her program also makes a political statement fighting what she calls 'the theme-parking of America."
NBC TELEVISION - SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE SKETCHES
CHERI OTERI as ROBIN BYRD
NBC's "Saturday Night Live" show did three paradox sketches of The Robin Byrd Show with Cheri Oteri playing Robin in each one. The programs aired November 8, 1997 and January 17th and April 11th of 1998.
EXCERPT FROM THE RESIDENT
5 FEB 1999
WRITTEN BY LEAH REISMAN
PHOTOS BY GREGORY P. MANGO
" ...Bleached blonde hair and a loud signature giggle aside, if there's one thing Byrd is not, it's a bimbo. When it comes to the issue of free speech, for instance, she couldn't be more serious. . . . Another emotional issue for Byrd concerns the right of adopted children to find their birth parents. Byrd, who was adopted, has been trying to uncover the truth about her parentage. Her adoptive mother has refused to tell her the identify of her birth mother, and New York, like many states, has laws restricting adopted children from learning about their birth parents. This has been a cause of anguish for her. . . .'I didn't get along with my mom, and because I was adopted, I knew that I wasn't going to be like her,' says Byrd. 'She also gave me an ultimatum: "You know if you don't like it here then leave." You just don't say that to a 13-year-old.' . . .
(Later in New York City) A friend asked her as a favor to host a cable access show called Hot Leggs for a week? Byrd described the show's format as '11 minutes of a diddy film' followed by a call-in period where the audience would share their thoughts on the film. She almost said no. She has seen the show, and saw the hosts taking a lot of abuse from the callers. At the time, cable access shows were considered, 'lower than an ant,' she says. Eventually she agreed to do it. Much to her amazement, the audience loved her, telling her she was beautiful and asking when she would be on again. 'And I was never called beautiful, ever,' says Byrd. 'Never pretty, never beautiful. I never thought of myself as that, because I was always told I was ugly and I'd never amount to anything. So I started believing it.'
Byrd was hooked. She started hosting the show more often, until she finally took over. Eventually she started her own show on leased public access. . ."
EXCERPT FROM NEW YORK PRESS
25 JUNE 2003
WRITTEN BY STEVE WEINSTEIN
The Gay 10
New York queerest straight folk.
Number 4 - ROBIN BYRD
" The likes to say she is a "trisexual," meaning try anything, but the shocking truth is that Byrd is a closet het. No matter: She made her name in porn, presenting male and female strippers on late-night cable. Her real accomplishment was taking sex and turning it into camp. The boy shows were always more popular, and for years her pre-Black Party extravaganzas brought together every visiting boy porn-star in town. Her phone-sex lines cater to every taste, no matter how bizarre. She spends her summer in the Pines, where she is first on the dance floor at every tea dance. She recently learned to flag. She has taken outrageousness and made it into a business."
NEW YORK MAGAZINE
MAY 17, 2004
BIG QUESTIONS - PRIME TIME
