Wakefield Poole, a trailblazer in gay pornographic filmmaking, died on October 27, 2021. Poole was 85. Poole is best known for his landmark 1971 film Boys in the Sand, which was the first gay pornographic film to be reviewed by Variety, the film industry’s leading trade publication.
The film was also the first gay pornographic film to achieve mainstream success. Boys in the Sand, which was made for $8000, starred Casey Donovan – the Marilyn Monroe of gay porn – as he explored the sexually liberated environment of Fire Island.
Copies of the film were purchased by an array of celebrities such as John Gielgud, Sammy Davis Jr. and Hugh Hefner, who all added the film to their collections.