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From a military family, Bill was born abroad and had traveled the globe by age five. He describes his father as a violent WWII vet and his mother as a "pillhead." Bill's childhood ended at six years of age when he was raped. Landis received his first exposure to porn in the 1960s garish ads for softcore movies in the Daily News, New York Post and Daily Mirror. A bright child, Bill skipped two grades ahead, missing such normal peer initiations as dating and learning to drive. He becam obsessed with porn. Bill graduated college with a business degree. Eventually he worked as a cashier in a dirty movie house on 42nd Street. He met "chicken classic" auteur Toby Ross whose operating company, Hornbill Films, specialized in boy-next-door types. His best films included Reflections of Youth, Boys of the Slums and Do Me Evil. Landis recalls that he and Toby bonded over acid and quaaludes followed by strong marijuana. Choosing the stage name Bobby Spector, Bill posed for photos for Toby and did a masturbation loop. Next Landis met George Payne. They moved in together. Landis began working live sex shows on Time Square. Bill's favorite job his first summer in porno was for Gerry Damiano. Later he worked on a big budget 35mm production for David Darby. Paranoid about AIDS, Landis drifted into the S-M world, and left hardcore behind. In 1986, Bill Landis quit porno, found a woman to love, Michelle Clifford, and turned his abilities to writing. Bill Landis and Michelle Clifford have written much of the best journalism on porn. They publish an excellent zine called Metasex, which is available at POB 620, Old Chelsea Station, NY, NY, 10011.
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