C.J. Laing

Laing's early life was marked by a rebellious streak. As a fan of 1970s San Francisco music and a self-described Grateful Dead groupie, she hitchhiked to San Francisco in her late teens, living in a communal house with the Angels of Light, a performance troupe. To earn money, she auditioned for the Mitchell Brothers, known for Behind the Green Door (1972), and made her debut in their adult film loops series Juke Joint in 1974 under the alias Gwen Starr. Returning to New York, she was cast by the Buckley Brothers in her first theatrical adult feature in 1975 with Jamie Gillis, adopting the stage name C.J. Laing. She went on to star in notable films such as Anyone But My Husband (1975), Barbara Broadcast (1977), and Water Power (1977).

Laing was often cast in victim roles, including brutal rape scenes in Sex Wish (1976) and The Taking of Christina (1976), reflecting the era's roughie subgenre, which combined sex and violence. She also performed in live shows at the Mitchell Brothers' O'Farrell Theatre and other San Francisco strip clubs in the late 1970s. Her contributions were recognized with inductions into both the XRCO Hall of Fame (1989) and the AVN Hall of Fame (2005). Despite her success, she openly admitted to drug problems during her career and expressed disdain for acting pretensions, stating in Time magazine (2005), "I purposely would not act. I despised the people in these films that said they were actors. I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me! This is about fucking and sucking!'". She was romantically involved with adult star Harry Reems in the early 1980s. As of July 17, 2025, Laing lives privately in San Francisco with no active social media presence, yet her films, especially Barbara Broadcast, remain celebrated in vintage adult communities.