Harry Reems, the porn actor turned realtor who died aged 65 this week, lived a turbulent life after landing the lead role in the 1972 adult movie Deep Throat, with Linda Lovelace. His wife Jeanne told the New York Times that her husband died on Tuesday (March 19, 2013) in Utah after battling multiple health issues, including pancreatic cancer.

The actor - who will be played by clean-cut actor Adam Brody in a Lovelace biopic later this year - was never in-mind to star in Deep Throat. In fact, Reems was merely working as a lighting guy on the infamous porn flick, before being called in after the original star was unable to perform his duties. Ahem. Reems played the doctor helping Linda Lovelace with a sexually sensitive area in her throat. The movie - the first adult movie to be widely shown in theatres - grossed $600 million at the box-office, though Reems claimed he only received $600 for his role. 

The movie wasn't without its detractors and Reems was convicted of obscenity in 1976, though the verdict was overturned after heavyweight movies stars Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty got involved. Nevertheless, the jail sentence and trail put Reems under enormous amounts of pressure and set him on a crippling path to alcoholism. 

Jack NicholsonJack Nicholson, Pictured Here In London, Helped Harry Reems Overturn His Sentence For Obscenity 

According to Reuters, he was bankrupt, drinking heavily and homeless by the mid-1980s, though he eventually sobered up and converted to Christianity before marrying wife Jeanne in 1990. During an interview with The Guardian in 2005, the actor - who had turned to real estate - said, "I'm happier today than ever. I saved my own life. I'm content with the way I conduct myself with my marriage, my home, my business. I live in a small town where everybody knows everybody and nobody thinks of me as a porn actor."