Bobby Gallagher Died

AVN had an article on it. Then they pulled it.

I call Rob Spallone. "He died on the train coming out here. He left for New York about five months ago, giving everything up. Then he was on the train coming out here, right before we shot the [Summer Haze] gangbang."

Bobby had brain cancer about ten years ago.

Rob: "Tell everybody to give their best wishes to Ron Sullivan (hpachard@sbcglobal.net). He's coming home today from the hospital. They operated on him Wednesday for ten-and-a-half hours.

"A couple of months ago, he went in for a check-up. They found cancer in his ass. They operated. They got it all. Then, about two weeks later, he went to the dentist for a root canal and they found cancer in his mouth."

Bobby Gallagher and I had a lot of good times together. He was always a big fan of my writing (as much as Holly Randall loves Air Supply).

I met Bobby March 22, 2001. He was furious that three years earlier, I'd published some minor item about him having Mafia ties.

Bobby was a short cocky angry man, a rooster.

Jim DiGiorgio tells Rob Spallone: "He [Luke] almost got f---ing killed before."

Rob: "And thanks to me, he didn't. That's the 50th time I've saved him."

Jim: "Bobby [Gallagher, owner of the stage where Jim and Rob shoot] was about to kill him."

Rob: "He asked me if he could."

Jim: "Bobby got that wild look in his eyes and everything."

Luke: "Did you straighten out the misunderstanding?"

Jim: "Doesn't mean he likes you. He'll tolerate you here today."

Jim and Rob smile maliciously.

Jim: "Bobby Gallagher is sitting here watching every word you say."

I turn around and there's Bobby giving me an evil stare.

Rob: "All I've got to do is go like this and it's over."

Bobby: "The thing is Jim, he's [Luke] sitting there smiling. He doesn't know that he could meet up with someone one day in a blind alley..."

I'd like to think that our relationship developed from this day to one of mutual respect, but I'd be deluding myself. Bobby always hated me.

June 10, 1998

I was talking Mafia again today with my friends in porn. Bobby G. was the main topic.

Notice how folks in porn and in the Mafia frequently refer to people by the first initial of their last name? Bobby G. for Bobby Gallagher. Eddie W. for Wedelstedt, owner of Goalie. Kenny G. for Guarino, owner of Metro and South Pointe Enterprises. Joe Spallone is a long time friend of Guarino's. Many folks in porn say the Spallone's are not people to be trifled with, thanks to their "connections...with family."

Anyway, Bobby Gallagher bought Milt Ingley's studio off Chandler in the Sherman Oaks area in L.A's San Fernando Valley.

A group of pornographers gathered around me today speculating about "Bobby G."

Where did he get the money to buy the studio? Gallagher has worked as a gaffer for years, not a high paying profession. To bring the place into conformance with the fire code cost $40,000. Consensus: Bobby has connections with the Mafia back East who bankroll him.

Sin City director James DiGiorgio: "Luke, first off, there's two Bobby G's in the biz. Gallagher and Bobby G (former) owner of Roxie Films. The latter being a guy who mostly works as a seller of product to European buyers (and who also has an Italian last name which oughta cause you to go sniffing for a Cosa Nostra connection). But as for the Bobby G you're speaking of, well, I gotta tell you, Bobby Gallagher is about as close to being a wise guy as you are to being a Chippendale's dancer. Did you ever consider that maybe Bobby G has a connection at his local bank and applied for a small business loan to bring the soundstageup to fire code? And by the way, being a gaffer is not always such a low-paying position, especially on mainstream shoots which *this* Bobby G has gaffed many of. I might also add that *this* Bobby G is one of the hardest working, most competent gaffers/lighting directors I've ever worked with. I'd also point out that running a small soundstage is often a 'loser' financially; not the kind of investment people who enjoy BIG returns on their money usually get into.

July 19, 2001

Bobby went to pay his bill at the Department of Water and Power the other day. Warner Brothers was shooting a movie. Bobby parked his car and a security guard told him he couldn't park there. Bobby said there are no signs posted. The guard punched Bobby, bloodied his face and knocked out a tooth. Bobby's suing Warner Brothers for a million dollars. The guard plead guilty to criminal charges.

February 3, 2005

I hear Bobby Gallagher has moved from his set on Chandler, leaving much of his stuff behind, and for a stage in Sunland, next to a Steven Spielberg production War of the Worlds. Spielberg's crew hasn't been porn-friendly, making business difficult.

James DiGiorgio Remembers Bobby Gallagher

Back in the day, when I was shooting Sin City features, I sometimes hired Bobby (when he was available) to light my locations. Bobby was the kind of gaffer who would jump in, hold a "C-light" in one hand, a bounce-card in the other, and balance on an apple box on one foot. It wasn't really Bobby's job to do this. A grip is usually used. But that's how Bobby was: Always jumping in doing things he wasn't being paid or expected to do.

Some of you might remember that Bobby seemed to live, upstairs, at his studio. And it's true he spent an incredible amount of his time there. Running a stage is not a 9-5 job. Some of you might be surprised to know that Bobby did have an actual residence away from the stage and he was Ron Jeremy's roommate for quite a long time.

Nobody could turn their "headlights" on quite the way Bobby could. When Bobby gave you the "Bobby glare" you knew it and, if you had any brains, you quickly adopted a very respectful demeanor and inquired if there was a problem. Whether the steel plate in Bobby's shaved-head was a myth that he enjoyed going along with or was reality, I'm really not sure. But I do know he was a guy who could put a psychotic look on his face that said "tread warily." And, coupled with the "steel plate" thing, you never knew if Bobby was about to go psycho or he was putting you on.