Sydnee Steele is an American sex therapist, author, free speech activist, and former pornographic actress. She appeared in over 300 pornographic films before her retirement in 2005.
Early life
Steele was born in Dallas, Texas, the daughter of a college professor. She is of Greek descent. She has described herself as having been a very shy and introverted child, relating in a 2001 interview with AVN, "I used to hide behind my parents' legs when people would say hi to me." Before entering pornography, she held a position as a financial officer at a yacht company in Texas.
Career
Actress
In the early 1990s, while working as a jewelry saleswoman in a Dallas shopping mall, Steele met Michael Raven, a car salesman who sold her a new Miata. They married, finding a common interest in pornography and swinging, and moved to Los Angeles, California to turn their hobbies into careers. Their marriage lasted for ten years, during which Raven became a well-known pornographic film director. The couple opted not to have children. She has a French Bulldog named Shanti. Steele was introduced to the industry through a friend, A.J. Crowell, who at the time was publisher and owner of Sundown, a Texas adult entertainment listings guide. Her debut performance in the adult entertainment industry involved being painted like a zebra in a three-girl scene in The Queen's Challenge, with Anna Malle and Jade St. Clair. Her first big feature film was Flashpoint, directed by pornographic actor and director Brad Armstrong, whom she met at a Gentlemen's Expo. She remained freelance in the early part of her career, working with many adult film production companies including Elegant Angel, Metro Studios, New Sensations, Sin City, VCA Pictures and Vivid Entertainment. In 2001 she signed an exclusive contract with Wicked Pictures, becoming a "Wicked Girl". After that she performed in mostly plot-based pornographic films and began winning awards. She was awarded the 2002 AVN Award for Best Actress for her role in the film. She was again nominated for Best Actress in 2003 for Falling From Grace and in 2004 for Lost And Found. After her Wicked contract she says she received media coverage in nationally distributed publications, including The New York Times, Time and Premiere. She was featured in The Learning Channel's Public and Private, where she explains her ideas on the differences between sex in her private life and sex on camera. In 2004, while filming Pillow Talk, directed by Devinn Lane, she told Adult Video News that she had fallen in love with a man from outside the industry, and would only perform girl-girl scenes. It would turn out to be her last pornographic film. Steele left the industry in April 2005. In 2007, she was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame. In 2009, she appeared on an episode in the non-pornographic television series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, alongside Tommy Wiseau, and she appeared on several episodes in the softcore porn series Co-Ed Confidential. She also starred in a movie titled "Cougar School" in 2009.
Author and counselor
From 2002-04 Steele wrote "The Steele Factor", a monthly column discussing pornography, sexuality and free speech for AVN. She has written several articles for AVN Online and Club Magazine. After retiring from pornography, Steele studied under Dr. Patti Britton, author of The Art of Sex Coaching, to become a certified Pranic practitioner and sex coach, to help couples learn new sexual techniques to improve their sex lives and their relationships. Steele has written a book with hypnotherapist Luke Chao entitled Seducing Your Woman, a book meant as a guide for men to assist in building sexual confidence and knowledge. In July 2007, Steele was scheduled to speak on "Sex and love -- making your time away from the office really count and how to not wind up as one of your clients" as a relationship consultant at the New York State Bar Association's Family Law Section, but she was canceled when her past as a pornographic actress was revealed.
