John Allen Stagliano (born November 29, 1951 in Chicago, Illinois), also known as Buttman, is an American entrepreneur, pornographic actor, producer and director, who founded and owns the Evil Angel pornographic film studio.
Stagliano grew up in the Chicago suburbs, and was at high school from 1965 to 1969. He enrolled at college, but dropped out in 1969 for several semesters. He narrowly avoided being drafted for the Vietnam War, being only 17 at the time. He then went back to college and studied subjects including English, Journalism and Engineering, before transferring to UCLA to major in economics. He originally planned to do an Economics PhD and become a professor. He then switched to studying theater, playwriting, modern and jazz dance, partly because there were more women in those classes. In the 70s he wrote erotic fiction for a small newspaper, and did some softcore modelling. He made his debut in a hardcore pornographic film in an 8mm loop in 1974. In 1979 he was looking for dancing jobs in Hollywood. He replied to an advertisement in the Daily Variety looking for male strippers for the new Chippendales show. He performed with the group four or five nights a week for the next four years. In 1982 when he was 30 he began publishing a small pornographic magazine on newsprint, which he called Evil Angel.
Initially he had little knowledge of film making, however he made his first movie for $8,000 in 1983; Bouncing Buns, starring Stacy Donovan. For the next six years he made films for other companies to manufacture and distribute. In 1989 he started Evil Angel, to sell his own films. The origin of the companies name dates back to when Stagliano was working as a stripper; "There was another guy in one of my shows named John. So this MC started calling me Evil John to differentiate us. This was when I was doing Dracula and chains. At the same time I had a girlfriend who called herself Angel when she did strip shows. She was a very nasty girl and I suggested that she call herself Evil Angel. She didn't, but I loved the name and wound up using it for my company."
The first Evil Angel film was Dance Fire, filmed in 1988 by Stagliano, starring himself, Trinity Loren, Brandy Alexandre and others. He is best known for his Buttman series of films, which are credited with sparking the "gonzo" adult film genre. These films involved highlighting the female buttocks, with actors often licking, kissing and playfully biting the female behind. Stagliano has stated that a scene showing Tracey Adams' buttocks inspired him to make the Buttman series of films. The clip shows Adams on her hands and knees with her rear end stuck high in the air. "The shot only lasted a couple of seconds," says Stagliano, "but I knew then what I wanted to do." Early Stagliano productions had little to no anal sex in them and were critically acclaimed for the showcasing of his buttocks fetish. Later Buttman films included numerous anal sex scenes, often featuring Stagliano himself. In the 1990's Stagliano became one of the most successful figures in American pornographic films.
He has directed series including Buttman at Nudes a Poppin', Buttman Goes to Rio, Buttman's Anal Divas, Buttman's Anal Show, Buttman's Bend Over Babes, Buttman's Bend Over Brazilian Babes, Buttman's Big Butt Backdoor Babes, Buttman's Big Tit Adventure, Buttman's Butt Freak, Buttman's European Vacation, Buttman's Favorite Big Butt Babes, Face Dance and Fashionistas, as well as numerous one-off films. Stagliano also served as mentor, producer, and co-director to Tristan Taormino in her video version of The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women.
From October 2004 through February 2008, Stagliano produced and directed a Las Vegas show called Fashionistas based on his porn film of the same name. In 2008 he won the 'Best Director - Video' award for Fashionistas Safado: Berlin.
On April 8, 2008, Evil Angel and Stagliano were indicted on Federal obscenity charges by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. On April 14, 2008, Stagliano launched a website, DefendOurPorn.org to post articles, news, and updates regarding the court proceedings.
In 1997, Stagliano tested positive for HIV. To date, medication has kept the virus in check. He continues to produce adult films and still acts in non-sexual roles.
He married former porn star Tricia Devereaux, who is also HIV positive, on November 26, 2008. They had previously been common-law married since 1999, and they have a daughter Isabella Joi, who was born March 3, 2001 and is HIV negative. Stagliano espouses a libertarian political philosophy, and has been a significant financial contributor to the Cato Institute and the Reason Foundation, both libertarian think tanks.
Awards
* 1991 XRCO Award - Best Director
* 1992 XRCO Award - Best Director
* 1995 XRCO Award - Best Anal Sex Scene
* 1997 AVN Award - Best Group Sex Scene
* 2003 XRCO Award - Director of the Year
* 2003 AVN Award - Best Director
* 2003 AVN Award - Best Editing
* 2008 AVN Award - Best Director
* 2008 XBIZ Award - Industry Pioneer- Video
