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David Henry Sterry is an American author, actor/comic, activist and former sex worker.
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David Henry Sterry | |
|---|---|
| Born | David Henry Sterry June 2, 1957 United States |
| Occupation | Writer, actor/comic, activist |
| Period | 1983–present |
| Notable works | Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent (2002), Hos, Hookers, Call Girls & Rent Boys (2009), The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published, co-authored with his wife, Arielle Eckstut. |
| Spouse | Arielle Eckstut |
Early life
Sterry's parents were immigrants from Newcastle, England.[citation needed] He grew up in New Jersey; Birmingham, Alabama; Virginia, Minnesota; and Dallas, Texas.[citation needed] He attended boarding school at Darrow School in New Lebanon, NY, went to Immaculate Heart College in Hollywood for one year, where he also was employed as sex worker.[citation needed] This became the subject of his first memoir, Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent. He then transferred to Reed College, where he studied existentialism and poetry, and graduated in 1978.[citation needed] At 21, was offered a professional soccer contract.[citation needed]
Career
He started in show business as a stand-up comedian and improviser in the San Francisco during the early 1980s.[citation needed] He also began to act in small productions.[citation needed] In 1984, he moved to New York, where he appeared in commercials for McDonald's, AT&T, and Levi's, eventually becoming the spokesman for Publisher's Clearing House.[citation needed] He also performed in many Off-Off Broadway plays.[citation needed] In 1985 he was hired to be the master of ceremonies at Chippendales.[citation needed] Nick de Noia, the creator of the show, was assassinated while Sterry was working for him.[citation needed] This would become the subject of his second memoir, Master of Ceremonies: A True Story of Love, Murder, Roller Skates & Chippendales.[1] He had a role in the film Memoirs of an Invisible Man. He appeared in a pilot for Eddie Murphy's production company. It starred Margaret Cho, and was not picked up by ABC.[citation needed] This led to[citation needed] a string of guest starring roles in black sitcoms like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Sister Sister and Roc. He became a regular on the HBO/CTW show Encyclopedia, where he played characters ranging from George Washington to Napoleon Bonaparte to Leif Erikson.
He began writing books in 2001, with the publication of Satchel Sez: The World, Wit & Wisdom of Leroy Sawtchel Paige (Random House). His next book, the 2002 memoir, Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent,[2] details his experiences as a teenage hustler in 1970s Hollywood.
Sterry ran a writing workshop for at-risk teenagers and survivors of the sex industry for the United States Department of Justice in Washington DC in 2005.[citation needed]
He performs in a show titled Sex Worker Literati, which consists of people from the sex industry reading and performing original works.[3] Sterry is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post[4] and NPR[5][6]
With the publication of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published (Workman, 2010), he co-founded the company The Book Doctors, and developed a show called Pitchapalooza, where writers get one minute to pitch their books ideas to a panel of publishing experts.[7][8]
- Satchel Sez: The Wit, Wisdom & World of Leroy "Satchel" Paige (with Arielle Eckstut)(Crown/Random House, 2001)
- Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent (ReganBooks/HarperCollins, 2002)
- Zelfportret van een Jongenshoer (De Kern Baarn, 2002)
- Gwen Is So Wet and Honeymoon in Five-Minute Erotica (Running Press, 2003)
- Pollo(Astarte, 2004)
- Callboy (Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verla, 2004)
- Mlado Meso (Celeber, 2005)
- Ubinoyka(Red Fish, 2005)
- Putting Your Passion Into Print: Get Your Book Published Successfully! (with Arielle Eckstut)(Workman Publishing, 2005)
- Confessions of a Sex Maniac in San Francisco Noir (Akashic, 2005)
- Unzipped (Canongate Books Ltd, 2005)
- Travis & Freddy's Adventures in Vegas (written under the name Henry Johnson) (Dutton/Penguin, April, 2006)
- Master of Ceremonies: A True Story of Love, Murder, Roller Skates and Chippendales (Grove Atlantic, 2008)
- Un Pollastro a Hollywood (Adelphi, 2008)
- Hos, Hookers, Call-Girls, and Rent Boys: Prostitutes Writing on Life, Love, Work, Sex, and Money (with RJ Martin, Jr.)(Skull Press, 2009)
- The Glorious World Cup: A Fanatic's Guide (PAL, Penguin, 2010)
- The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published (with Arielle Eckstut)(Workman, 2010)
- Confessions of a Sex Maniac (Kismet, 2011)
- The Hobbyist (written as King Starr)(Battered Suitcase Press, 2013)
- Mort Morte (Vagabondage Press, 2013)
- What Are They Thinking? (with Arielle Eckstut, Dr. Aaron White, & Dr. Scott Swartzwelder, Norton, 2013)
- Johns, Marks, Tricks & Chickenhawks: Professionals & Their Clients Writing About Each Other (with RJ Martin, Jr.)(Soft Skull, 2013)
- Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent, 10 Year Anniversary Edition (Soft Skull, 2013)
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