Julia Roberts performance in Pretty Woman is the most famous portrayal of an escort in film or television. It may be the only mainstream film with an escort as the principle character.
Most movies and television portray providers as drug-addicted, abused, mentally deficient women who hate themselves and their lives. Even Julia Roberts character was a woman in need of rescue.
I'd like to nominate Elizabeth Berkley in the film "Any Given Sunday" for the best portrayal of an escort in film or television. Though the part was small, her character was real. She was confident, self-assured, in control of her life and displayed a real spark and character.
Please nominate your favorite portrayal of an escort in film or television.
-- Modified on 7/14/2002 1:42:31 PM
-- Modified on 7/14/2002 10:24:10 PM
Rebecca De Morney (sp?) in Risky Business
High points for being sexy, but her character was ROB (Rip-Off Bitch). I wasn't even certain I could trust her by the end of the flick.
Good call on an escort as a principle character.
She delivered the goods. It was Cruise's character who never asked the price and didnt have the cash to pay her.
She wasnt a ROB, though she was a burglar. There is a difference. I wouldn't leave anyone I didnt know alone in my house, provider or not.
i have to agree with john galt here... it wasn't her that was bad, it was her agency 
besides, she gave TC free seconds on the train. i still get wood when i hear that song
Oh yea, she was the best hooker in a movie, period. I was in love with her by the end of the flick, and I've seen just about everything she has been in since.
Someday I'd like to find a provider who looks just like her...without robbing my house.
I thought she was cool in spite of the extended psychodrama (okay, I guess that's what the film was supposed to be about). If I remember correctly, the Streisand character was put in an institution and labelled "nuts"... evidence being that she was a high-priced call girl. I think the film did a lot to dispel stereotypes of escorts, contrary to films such as _Pretty Woman_ which bugged me before I entered the escorting business and now really drives me... ahem... nuts.
Love to all!
Anne
The film also had many great things to say about what society regards as acceptable and unacceptable and how upside-down many of the views are.
you believe there are guys with eyesight better than 20/2000 who would pay Streisand more than $5 for any personal service.
There were some very attractive ladies in this film ... and this was a true story 
-- Modified on 7/14/2002 4:03:23 PM
My favorites were the two hookers in Fargo. They had a small part but were a hoot. The scene where they were interrogated by the detective was very funny
I'm especially interested in what providers think of this performance. No real reason given for why her character wants to leave the business and become a night club singer - doesn't seem likely she'll make much more money.
The basic message about providers is negative,since The Pfeiffer character is compared and contrasted with the way in which the Jeff Bridges character "prostitutes" his musical talent.
And yet her performance has a hard edge, not the offensively fairy-tale bullshit of Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman". Helluva sexy performance, too.
two of my all time favorite films: catherine deneuve in "hustle", even though she got burt reynolds killed and jane fonda in "klute" - "oooh, my angel... my angel... (looks at watch behind client's head)... my ANGEL"
"Never on Sunday" and "The World of Suzy Wong" respectively.
-- Modified on 7/14/2002 9:07:41 PM
Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge. I can't think of the movie or the song "Someday I'll Fly Away" without thinking of my retired ATF.
Elisabeth Berkley – Any Given Sunday
Rebecca DeMorney – Risky Business
Barbara Streisand – Nuts
Larissa Kokernot – Fargo
Melissa Peterman – Fargo
Michelle Pfeiffer – The Fabulous Baker Boys
Catherine Deneuve – Hustle
Jane Fonda – Klute
Melina Mercouri – Never on Sunday
Nancy Kwan – The World of Suzy Wong
Nicole Kidman – Moulin Rouge
Oscar-winning performance (although one of the most depressing movies I've seen in a long time). And hasn't just about every leading actress been cast as an escort (at some level) at one time or another? Sigourney Weaver in Half Moon Street. Melanie Griffith in Milk Money. Kathleen Turner in some B movie awhile ago. Theresa Russell (yum!) in Whore (kind of a giveaway). Jamie Lee Curtis in Trading Places. Brooke Shields in Pretty Baby. Milla Jovovich (yum!) in He Got Game.Etc, etc.
On a related topic, there have always been rumors that a number of Hollywood actresses used to work as escorts in real life before they hitthe big time. Didn't Sharon Stone admit that she worked for an escort service before she landed a film role? Or was that just tabloid trash?
cardinal
Character based on the late writer's experience with a real person. Her loneliness and destructive attachment to men reminded me of someone I know. Fortunately, my friend has a happy ending (in a loving and honest marriage, husband knows of the past but is not a former client, has a beautiful kid and is teaching kindergarden). One of the rare successful incident that I know.
Not really an escort more of a casino whore who had it good w/Ace and screwed it up....but the performance was very good. She is one of my favorites....
And Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffanys....
I am not saying they represented the good in escorting but the performances were great.
xxxooofanny
Probably her best role. It seemed like she WASN'T acting.
I want to add two more nominations to Riker's excellent list:
Catherine Denuve also in Luis Bunnels masterpiece: Belle de Jour
Also, I don't know if any of you out there (either hobbyist, or provider) have ever engaged in a true romantic relationship with one another. Pretty Woman was more of a Hollywood version. Long ago, there was a movie made with Laurence Harvey and Elizabeth Taylor, called Butterfield 8.
First, I want to nominate Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield 8. I vaguely remember she was either nominated, or won Oscar for it.
Second, it is unfortunate, but a liaison, with an intelligent, and not drugged or alcoholic provider, may very well have the complexities depicted in Buttefield 8 ...
Cleopatra takes a long time to make because of scripting problem, Elizabeth Taylor's affair with Richard Burton and her sudden and near fatal pneumonia.
The oscar in 61 is Butterfield 8 that was made in 1960. Most people regarded that oscar as a sympathy vote. Please double check ET's bios.
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Isabel Sanford (of "Weezy" Jefferson fame) as a streetwalker in the 1972 movie "The New Centurions."
Runner-up would be Barbra Streisand ("The Owl and Pussycat," "Nuts"), although you might actually want to stick a dick in her mouth just to shut her up...
-- Modified on 7/15/2002 10:12:28 PM
Here are two more performances that were memorable (not necessarily turn ons) to me:
Barbara Striesand in The Owl and the Pussycat
Jody Foster in Taxi Driver
In all honesty, which of these performances best depicts the providers you know?
Elisabeth Berkley – Any Given Sunday
Rebecca DeMorney – Risky Business
Barbara Streisand – Nuts
Barbara Streisand – The Owl and the Pussycat
Larissa Kokernot – Fargo
Melissa Peterman – Fargo
Michelle Pfeiffer – The Fabulous Baker Boys
Catherine Deneuve – Hustle
Catherine Deneuve – Belle de Jour
Jane Fonda – Klute
Melina Mercouri – Never on Sunday
Nancy Kwan – The World of Suzy Wong
Nicole Kidman – Moulin Rouge
Elizabeth Shue – Leaving Las Vegas
Elizabeth Taylor – Butterfield 8
Shelly Long – Night Shift
Amanda Blake – Gunsmoke
Jodi Foster – Taxi Driver
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-- Modified on 7/15/2002 12:33:55 PM
*m
I thought Miss Kitty was the saloon owner? Was she a madam?
but her character was certainly meant to be a madame, beyond just a bar owner.
1/ Melanie Griffith in Milk Money
2/ Heidi Fliess in The Hollywood Madam
3/ Sharon Stone in Casino
4/ Shannon Tweed in Power Play
5/ Madeline Stowe in Bad Girls
6/ Andie McDowell in Bad Girls
Considering that her director in that film is a big time connoisseur of Asian providers, he better damn well have gotten it right!
The reason the part was nailed so well was becuase she was merely there to fuck the coach and get paid for it. no dimension to her character at all, no drug use, no alcohol, no convicted felon boyfriend, etc.
She had personality, but her character was very focused on the single objective of fucking for money.
In the not so memorable category:
Connie Stevens in The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington
BTW who played Xaviera Hollander in the original The Happy Hooker?
I don't recall Connie Stevens in the Happy Hooker Goes to Washington, unless it was a much later re-make.
Yes, Lynn Redgrave, that's right. The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington was released in the early-ish 80s.
At least I think it was Connie Stevens. Maybe I'm having a Senior moment.
-- Modified on 7/17/2002 1:28:12 PM
And in it, the most famous scene ever of an escort in action, when she fakes an orgasm while secretly checking the time on her wristwatch.
It MADE her career. Her prior screen credit was "Barbarella".
Was that Cathlene (sorry about my spelling) McCormick? Also Stockard Channing played the bitchy madam if I remember correctly...
Dolly Parton as the Madam in Best Little Whorehouse in Texas?
I think Pretty Woman is a super choice. Another favorite of mine is the late 60's classic "The Owl and the Pussycat" with George Segal and Babara Striesand.
I see pornstars and centerfolds on the ads. Is this for real? Do these ladies also provide escort services, or is it a scam?
I'm specifically looking at the SF ads.
riker
Dear Riker:
Thanks for the question. Yes, they're real. Although, with an advertisers notoriety, it may or may not involve an increased price level or arrangement. Different strokes for different folks or variety is the SPICE of life...
Referring back to the subject of Pretty Woman, I wanted to say I always liked the line where Julia Roberts says to Richard Gere (Edward Lewis), "I want the fairy tale."
Don't we all.
or at least a reasonable reproduction of the fairy tale, an hour at a time.