By Jared Stearns

Westport prides itself on celebrating the arts, progressive values and nurturing creative spirits. Many residents have left lasting marks on American and international culture. Yet, one of Westport’s most famous figures, Marilyn Chambers, continues to be erased from the town’s narrative — spurned, despite her profound impact on pop culture during the sexual revolution of the late 20th Century.

Marilyn Chambers, born Marilyn Briggs and raised in Westport, skyrocketed to fame in the 1972 groundbreaking X-rated film, “Behind the Green Door.” At the same time, her face graced the Ivory Snow laundry detergent box. The product’s famous tagline was “99 ⁴⁴/₁₀₀% pure.” 

The juxtaposition of Marilyn as the symbol of wholesome motherhood and as the star of an adult film joyously and unapologetically expressing her sexuality onscreen sparked international controversy. It also made her a cultural icon at a pivotal moment in the sexual revolution, forcing conversations about sexual autonomy, women’s agency and body positivity — topics that still provoke debate today.

Marilyn sustained a remarkable 30-year career in show business. She appeared in theatrical productions and mainstream films, including the lead in David Cronenberg’s “Rabid.” She recorded music, wrote several books and magazine columns, starred in an off-Broadway musical, appeared in her own television show and much more. 

Her best-known contribution to entertainment was, perhaps, the creation of a new kind of celebrity: the porn star. Unfortunately, that label and its connotations, for better or worse, followed Marilyn until her untimely death in 2009. 

For some Westport residents, the fact that Marilyn Chambers was a “porn star” is enough to render her a miasma of shame over the town, best to be forgotten, let alone talked about.  

Last month, I participated in a virtual event produced by the Westport Museum for History and Culture to discuss my book, “Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers,” the first authorized biography of Marilyn, released in April. I posted about the event in a Facebook group called “Westport 70’s Rocked!” hoping that a few of the 3,300 members might want to join the event. (For the record, the event was free for museum members and $5 for non-members. I was paid nothing for my appearance.)

Instead of generating interest or fond recollections, the post was met with hostility and derision:

• “Being a Porn Star [sic] was noteworthy?”

• “[W]hy all this now? Hasn’t she been dragged through negative conversations and media hoopla for years? … That book title is to sell. It’s disgusting. Did he know her or this just a money grabber? Very few that he will be speaking in front of will even know who she was …”

• “Those posting know who she REALLY WAS …”

One person claimed I was making a career off Marilyn’s fame. If only he knew how the book publishing industry worked. 

I asked the person who claimed to know who Marilyn “REALLY WAS” what she meant. The response was perplexing: “You see what she was turned into, and I get that it takes two to tango, but in Westport, to her classmates, she was just another hometown girl. There’s fame in many different forms here that we all grew up surrounded by. It’s no big deal to us. No one in Westport wants or needs 15 minutes of fame. lol.” This person didn’t realize that Marilyn sought fame, which was part and parcel of her lifelong dream to work in show business and be an entertainer. “Know who she really was,” indeed.

There were a few kind comments. Don Torrey wrote, “I remember her as a gifted athlete. She was the diver on the YMCA team and was a great one. She was also [a] ray of sunshine most everywhere she went. Lit up the room so to speak.”

Marilyn’s friends and family shared Torrey’s assessment. She was an outstanding athlete, a junior Olympic gymnast and diver, who was scouted for the 1968 U.S. Olympics team. 

Overall, Marilyn loved her years in Westport. She gave hundreds if not thousands of interviews in her lifetime and always spoke fondly of her life in Connecticut. When asked about her childhood in 1983, she described it as “normal,” adding, “If I could go back and change anything, I wouldn’t.” After she became famous, she regularly attended reunions for the Staples High School Class of 1970. These aspects of her life are often overshadowed by her career in adult entertainment, but they are equally important in understanding who Marilyn was as a person.

I spent 13 years writing and researching “Pure.”Marilyn’s only child authorized the book, and I spoke with family — including Marilyn’s brother and sister — and longtime friends, some of whom were from Westport. My primary goal was to tell the story of a woman in show business, not about a “porn star.” And yet, more than 15 years after her death, Westport remains silent on Marilyn’s legacy. The town must recognize and appreciate her contributions to pop culture and the broader societal conversations she sparked. 

According to the town’s website, Westport’s official slogan is “New England in tradition. Cosmopolitan in outlook.” The puritanical values upon which New England was founded seem to remain in Westport. The outlook is questionable. Merriam-Webster defines “cosmopolitan” as “having wide international sophistication.” It’s a charming sentiment, but if sophistication includes demonizing people different from the majority, Westport is overdue for a reckoning.

This reluctance to embrace Marilyn is puzzling, given Westport’s history of honoring other artists and creators who have challenged the status quo. Why is Marilyn Chambers, a woman who dared to break barriers in her own way, treated as an outcast? Does her work in the adult entertainment industry diminish the broader cultural conversations she sparked?

The answer should be no. If anything, Marilyn’s career and life reflect the daring, unapologetic spirit that Westport claims to foster. The sexual revolution was a defining period in modern American history, and Marilyn was at its center. To overlook her contributions is to deny a significant chapter in Westport’s and America’s cultural evolution.

By continuing to scorn her legacy, Westport conveys that the town’s appreciation of creativity, artistry and freedom of expression only extends to those who fit within a narrow mold. However, history is rarely neat, and those who make the most significant impact often do so by challenging the boundaries of what is considered generally acceptable.

Marilyn Chambers’s story is about more than adult films. It’s about a woman who dared to define herself on her own terms, even in the face of societal judgment. It’s about facing uncomfortable truths and stretching the limits of what we consider “respectable.” If Westport truly values progressiveness and inclusivity, then it’s time they recognize Marilyn for what she was: a trailblazer who used her platform to spark dialogue about the complexities of sexuality, identity, and empowerment. If Westport embraced her legacy, not with shame but with the same openness afforded by other influential figures, it could lead the charge in rethinking how complicated legacies are celebrated and acknowledge that cultural significance often comes from pushing societal boundaries.

In doing so, Westport wouldn’t just be honoring Marilyn Chambers, they’d be celebrating the town’s claim to open-mindedness and a willingness to engage with all aspects of our past — even the difficult ones.

The time to reconsider Marilyn Chambers’s place in the town’s history is now. Westport can no longer afford to look away. It’s time to honor one of their fellow human beings with the respect she deserves.

Jared Stearns is a San Francisco-based writer whose book, “Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers,” is available now from Headpress. His work has appeared in the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dark Side, the San Franciscan and Cineaste, among others.