Savannah

Shannon Michelle Wilsey (October 9, 1970 – July 11, 1994), better known by her stage name Savannah, was an American pornographic film actress who starred in over 100 videos during her career. One of the most prominent adult industry models of her time, she achieved notoriety within her short (1990–1994) career due to her onscreen presence and personal life. In January 2002, AVN ranked her at #19 on its list of the top 50 porn stars of all time. Wilsey reportedly took her stage name from Savannah Smiles (1982), a movie she enjoyed. Following a car crash that broke her nose, she attempted suicide by firearm and died at the hospital after being removed from life support. Career Wilsey was introduced to the adult film industry by actor and director Rex Cabo. She started at first in photo spreads for Cheri, Hustler, Swank, and Penthouse, and then she signed an exclusive contract with Vivid Entertainment in 1991 and became one of the early Vivid Girls. Wilsey began using drugs and spending large amounts of money, and she reportedly had severe financial troubles despite her substantial income. She also garnered a reputation for arriving late to film shoots, being temperamental and acting like a diva, and sometimes getting drunk or abusing drugs during the film/video shoots. These antics eventually led to Vivid severing its association with her in 1993. She ended her career by mainly freelancing for lower-budget porn companies by capitalizing on her still big but clearly fading name in the industry. Wilsey also appeared in a variety of minor roles in B movies (mostly comedy, horror and/or sci-fi) in which she was credited with her real name. These roles included The Invisible Maniac (1990) and Camp Fear (1991). She also had a credit for her performance on a soundtrack in the video The Spectacle (1991). After her death, Wilsey continued to appear via archival footage. She appeared as Santana on Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater when the show aired Sorority House Massacre II (October 1994). Personal life In a video interview for Vivid, Wilsey stated that the first time she saw "erotic material" was when she was "snooping through her parents' things" and found some magazines when she was 11 years old. She later stated that she used to watch porn videos with her boyfriend on his tour bus (presumably referring to Gregg Allman).