Ginger Lea

Ginger Lea, born Tonya Shortts in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, passed away on March 9, 2025, at age 51. She was a Canadian and American adult model and MILF porn star who worked under the stage name Ginger Lea. She retired from the industry in 2016, leaving behind a career that spanned more than a decade, from 2005 to 2016.

Before her adult career, Ginger trained in tap, jazz, and ballet for ten years, graduating from Bishop Grant HS in Hamilton in 1991. She then moved into acting and modeling, taking classes and doing extra work for movies, plus promotional and catalog work. As Ginger Lea, she posed for well-known photographers and appeared in Playboy, Penthouse, and Hustler. She entered adult films in her thirties, working with major directors and production companies, and posed for 40 covers, 10 photosets, and 30 videos for Karups, Karups OW, Glamour Models Gone Bad, among others. After retiring from porn in 2006, she worked as an escort in Madison, Wisconsin, before briefly returning in 2016 to shoot scenes for Missax.com. She died suddenly in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. She was bisexual, stood 5'3" with a slim build, and had auburn hair and hazel eyes.