Billy Herrington | |
|---|---|
 Herrington in Tokyo in 2011 | |
| Born | William Glen Harold Herrington July 14, 1969 North Babylon, New York, U.S. |
| Died | March 2, 2018 (aged 48) Palm Springs, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Cemetery |
| Years active | 1998–2018 |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Children | 1[1] |
William Glen Harold Herrington (July 14, 1969 – March 2, 2018), was an American model, body builder and pornographic film actor.[2][3] In the late 2000s, his appearances in various gay pornography movies led him to become a popular Internet meme on video-sharing websites such as Japan's Nico Nico Douga, where he was referred to by the sobriquet "Aniki" (兄貴; lit. "older brother"). Since then, at least 15,000 short mash-up parodies of his clips—known as "Gachimuchi Pants Wrestling" (Japanese: ガチムチパンツレスリング, Hepburn: Gachimuchi Pantsu Resuringu, lit. "Beefy Briefs Wrestling")—have been produced by users.[4]
Early life and career
[edit]Herrington was born in North Babylon, New York. Herrington grew up in Long Island learning karate from his father, a sensei. He had interests in boxing, wrestling and martial arts, and started bodybuilding at 24 years old, after moving to New York City.[2]
Herrington began his erotic career when his then girlfriend surreptitiously submitted his nude pictures to Playgirl magazine. The photographs won him a "Real Men of the Month" contest and a $500 prize.[2] His appearance in the magazine caught the eye of famed photographer Jim French, but it was two years before Herrington posed for his first Colt calendars for French.[2] Soon after, Herrington was filming hardcore gay adult films for All Worlds Video, and appearing on mainstream TV programs such as Love Connection and the Ricki Lake talk show.[2][5] In 2002, Herrington said the adult film industry helped him to understand his bisexuality.[3] Occasionally, Herrington performed striptease acts at gay clubs in the United States.[6][7]
Internet meme
[edit]Herrington gained fame in Japan as an Internet meme,[8] after a clip from one of his movies, Workout: Muscle Fantasies 3, was posted on Nico Nico Douga, a Japanese video sharing website, on August 10, 2007.[9] At least 15,000 mash-up parody videos of him have been made, many of which utilize deliberate mishearings (soramimi) of lines from his films, most notably from Workout: Muscle Fantasies 3 and Lords of the Lockerroom.[10][11]
Herrington is affectionately called "Pants Wrestling Aniki" (パンツレスリングの兄貴, lit. pants wrestling older brother) or "Aniki" (兄貴; lit. older brother) among the Nico Nico Douga community. Most of his videos are deliberately mistagged with "Wrestling Series" (レスリングシリーズ, resuringu shirīzu), "Forest Fairy" (森の妖精, mori no yōsei), "Philosophy" (哲学, tetsugaku), or all three.[10]
In February 2009, Herrington visited Japan to attend a live online event hosted by Nico Nico Douga and garage kit maker Good Smile Company.[12] Herrington said that he was flattered and humbled by his fans' creativity.[13][14] A limited-edition Herrington action figure was announced for a July 2009 release.[15] Two other limited-edition Herrington action figures were announced for the Halloween and Christmas holiday. The Halloween figure was released in October 2009 and the Christmas one was released in December 2009. Both are Nico Nico Chyokuhan exclusives.[16]
In addition, the actors who co-starred with Herrington, such as Danny Lee, Duncan Mills, Mark Wolf, and Van Darkhome, are also talked about. Among them, Van Darkhome has been informed by fans that his video has become a hot topic in Japan, and he has left a positive comment on his website. Later, Danny also commented favorably on YouTube. Except for Herrington, most of them are called by nicknames such as Japanese names (for example, Danny Lee → 木吉カズヤ(Kazuya Kiyoshi)) from the empty ears and appearance of the video with the "Wrestling Series" tag of Niconico Douga.
Death
[edit]During the evening of March 1, 2018, Herrington was involved in a car accident on California State Route 111 in Rancho Mirage. He was found trapped in the wreckage and was brought to a Palm Springs hospital, where he died the next day.[8][17] News broke of his death one day later.[18] Fans responded with hundreds of tributes across video sharing sites and message boards. One tribute video uploaded on Nico Nico Douga accumulated over 80,000 views in less than one week.[4] Services for Herrington were held at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City, California.[19]
Legacy
[edit]Herrington gained fame in Japan as an Internet meme and visited the country due to his popularity there.[8] As of February 2023, over 15,000 Gachimuchi Pants Wrestling videos had been uploaded on Nico Nico Douga alone.[4]
In the autumn of 2021, a resident of Zaporizhzhia published a petition proposing that the city council rename Mayakovsky Square in honor of Billy Herrington, justifying the proposal by noting that, in addition to the square, the city has a park and an alley named after the poet, and the renaming could attract tourists. He also mentioned that Herrington has a large fanbase in Ukraine and neighboring countries. The petition gathered 805 signatures but was rejected.[20] In July 2022, in Ukraine, a petition to the President of Ukraine from an Odesa resident, proposing to replace the monument to Russian Empress Catherine II with a statue of American pornographic actor Billy Herrington as part of the derussification in Ukraine, gathered over 25,000 signatures.[21] Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to the petition, asking the Odesa City Council to discuss the removal of the monument, in accordance with local self-government laws.[22]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "ATKOL Forums". Atkol.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2009. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e Lambert, Vincent (July 21, 1999). "Porn Star Interview: Billy Herrington". Manshots. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
- ^ a b LaFrance, Richard (June 18, 2002). "A Conversation With... Billy Herrington". As The Grove Turns. Archived from the original on December 17, 2002. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
- ^ a b c Hulme, Nicholas (March 13, 2018). "The life and death of a pornstar". Honi Soit.
- ^ "Ricki Lake Musclemen Dating Game". YouTube. January 11, 2007. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
- ^ "ATKOL Forums". Atkol.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2009. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
- ^ "Body Building DVD – BodyBuilders". JimmyZ. Archived from the original on May 5, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
- ^ a b c "Gay Adult Film Star Billy Herrington Dead at 49". Towleroad. March 3, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
- ^ "ニコニコ動画(RC)-本格的 ガチムチパンツレスリング". Archived from the original on August 25, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
- ^ a b Billy Herrington on Nico Nico Douga Archived February 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "兄貴の肉体にみんな夢中!". Windows100%. Vol. 2008, no. 6. Tokyo: Shinyusha. May 13, 2008.
- ^ 「ワンホビ９」「ニコニコ生放送」で生中継!!┃無料アニメ動画ならニコニコアニメチャンネル (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 30, 2009. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
- ^ ASCII. "歪みねぇ兄貴の強く生きる言葉、ニコニ国賓が来日 (1/3)". ASCII.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved October 19, 2025.
- ^ "Billy Herrington Interview in Japan (2009)" on YouTube
- ^ "figma ビリー・ヘリントン ニコニコ直販". Niconico. Archived from the original on November 23, 2009. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
- ^ "ニコニコ直販". Niconico. Archived from the original on November 23, 2009. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
- ^ "Adult film actor dies in Rancho Mirage crash". KESQ-TV. March 5, 2018. Archived from the original on March 9, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
- ^ French, Michael (March 5, 2018). "Gay Porn Icon Billy Herrington Dies At 48". AVN. ISSN 0883-7090.
- ^ "Billy Herrington". Forest Lawn Cemetery. March 7, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
- ^ Astafiev, Denys (September 16, 2021). "Петиція про перейменування площі на честь порноактора набрала необхідні голоси". Суспільне | Новини (in Ukrainian).
- ^ "Замість Катерини ІІ. В Одесі пропонують встановити пам'ятник американському порноактору Біллі Геррінґтону". nv.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved August 5, 2022.
- ^ "Зеленський просить міськраду Одеси обговорити знесення пам'ятника Катерині ІІ". Ukrainian Pravda (in Ukrainian). Retrieved August 5, 2022.
External links
[edit]- Billy Herrington at IMDb
- Billy Herrington at the Internet Adult Film Database
- Billy Herrington at the Adult Film Database
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 1969 births
- 2018 deaths
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- American male erotic dancers
- American male pornographic film actors
- Bisexual male pornographic film actors
- Bisexual male dancers
- Burials at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Cathedral City)
- Internet memes introduced from Japan
- American LGBTQ dancers
- American bisexual male actors
- LGBTQ erotic dancers
- LGBTQ people from New York (state)
- Pornographic film actors from New York (state)
- People from North Babylon, New York
- Road incident deaths in California
- 21st-century American LGBTQ people
- 20th-century American LGBTQ people
- American male bodybuilders
- American male adult models
- Male models from New York (state)
- Internet memes
