Tribute To The Most Illusive Woman In Porn: Bambi Woods

She was the star of one of the most famous pornos ever. There has been sequels, a TV series, parodies, remakes, even a Broadway musical and yet she is one of the most illusive people in the business. Everything from her whereabouts to her death to why she left the industry to even her real name has been the subject of documentaries, rumor and questions. And interestingly enough, in her debut and most famous film, the film where she is the main character, on the poster and whose name was on the marquees, she only appears in one sex scene at the very end of the film with R. Bolla. It wasn't until the sequel that she appeared in almost every sex scene.
Here is what is known about her, although who knows what's true and what's fiction.
She was born July 12th 1955 in Pierre South Dakota. Her rumored real name has been listed as Debra DeSanto though one of her co-stars from Debbie Does Dallas said that her real name was Barbara Woodson. Besides Debbie Does Dallas and its sequel she only appeared in one other film in 1981, Swedish Erotica 12. She was rumored to have died of a drug overdose five years after that in 1986.
In the documentary Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered, which is pretty good I highly recommend it; at one point it was streaming on Netflix, they actually hired a private investigator to track her down. He was unsuccessful and could not confirm if she had died or not however, he did get a letter from someone claiming to be Woods saying that she left the industry because of the drug abuse she had witnessed and because she wanted to be a homemaker and mother and was living in the Des Moines Iowa area. This conflicts with reports, however, that she is living in Silicon Valley where she is married to a computer software developer and has two kids. See how confusing this is? It's like an episode of Murder, She Wrote or Father Dowling Mysteries. Here, enjoy a couple more pictures:

In the documentary, the director of Debbie Does Dallas, claims he gave Woods her stage name saying that she was named after the Disney character Bambi because she looked so pure and innocent; a deer in the woods. Get it?
Some of the crew and cast members have said in interviews that it felt like Woods didn't belong there and she seemed shy and hesitant. I wouldn't doubt that to be crew as there is a quote floating around, attributed to Woods saying that she only got into the business and did the film because she needed the money as she was not making ends meet with her waitressing job.
A couple of the crew members have also said in interviews that Woods was actually excited about filming Debbie Does Dallas and had a good time except for the sex scene with Bolla because there were so many people around.
Again, I don't know if any of this is true or not but it's all very fascinating, at least to me.
After filming Woods reportedly worked for a while as a stripper and exotic dancer at one of the clubs that Seka danced for. According to some of the people who worked at the club when Woods was dancing there she packed the house and people would come just to see her.
Here's an interesting thing, there's an album and song named after her. In September of 2008, the Dutch band A Balladeer released an album called Where Are You Bambi Woods? The 11th song on the album is called that as well.
So there you have it. I don't know how much of this is true, I don't know if any of the women who have come forward and claimed to be Woods are in fact her, I don't know if, like one of her cast mates said, her parents actually saved her from the industry and got her counseling but wherever she is and whatever she is doing I hope that she is happy and healthy and knows, deep down, that she is part of one of, if not the, most iconic films in porn's history and I thank you, Bambi Woods, for doing Dallas.

XOXO
-JOE-