Ryan Wendler for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nRaised on the Upper East Side, her adoptive father, an antiques dealer, died when she was eight years old, and the woman she refers to as her \u201cMommie Dearest\u201d threw her out of the house when she was 13. Byrd \u2014 who cinematically refers to her adopted sister as \u201cthe bad seed\u201d \u2014 spent a couple of days in Central Park before moving in with a friend and then a boyfriend, taking on sex work to support herself. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the \u201960s \u2014\u00a0peace, love and no war \u2026 and I\u2019m a very trippy hippie,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She attended the School of Visual Arts, worked as a nude model for art classes, and appeared in some X-rated films \u2014 including the infamous \u201cDebbie Does Dallas\u201d as Mrs. Hardwick.<\/p>\n
But Byrd\u2019s real fame came in 1977 when she launched her show on Channel J, clad in her signature black crocheted bikini.<\/p>\nThe film is co-produced by Sarah Jessica Parker, seen here with Byrd at the Tribeca Festival premiere. Getty Images for Tribeca Festival<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cI was the Damon Runyon of my time,\u201d she said of the legendary Prohibition-era writer whose stories about Broadway hustlers and folly girls inspired \u201cGuys and Dolls.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would go to each [strip club] \u2014 each establishment had a choice of stars that I would take,\u201d she said of booking guests.<\/p>\n
Filmed on one of the lowest budget sets ever seen, the show was proudly goofy and never took itself too seriously.<\/p>\n
\u201cI go through life happy and spreading love to everybody,\u201d Byrd said. \u201cIt\u2019s easier to love \u2014\u00a0love is love, and it\u2019s so much easier than hate.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cI was the Damon Runyon of my time,\u201d said Byrd, seen here with LaToya Jackson and a snake in 1991. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nCheri Oteri (left, with host Sarah Michelle Gellar and Tim Meadows) portrayed Byrd on \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d in the 1997-1998 season.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nShe may not have been known outside of New York City, but here she was a celebrity, photographed by Richard Avedon for The New Yorker and spoofed by Cheri Oteri on \u201cSaturday Night Live.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were filming on Fire Island and a man in his 70s approached us and said, \u2018I\u2019m so glad you\u2019re making this film,’\u201d co-director Schwam recalled, \u201c\u2018because in the \u201980s, when having sex was a death sentence, Robin made us feel less alone.’\u201d<\/p>\n
And when Time Warner made a move to scramble adult content unless subscribers wrote in to request otherwise, Byrd and Screw\u00a0magazine publisher Al Goldstein, who also had an adult talk-show on Channel J, filed a lawsuit in response \u2014\u00a0eventually leading the Supreme Court to rule that the company\u2019s demands were a First Amendment violation.<\/p>\nByrd has been with her husband, Shelley, for over 50 years. HBO Max<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cEverybody has their own idea of who I am and what I do, and they really don\u2019t,\u201d Byrd told Page Six. HBO Max<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOne thing viewers never saw, though, was Byrd\u2019s improbable love story. <\/p>\n
Although describing herself as bisexual, she is married to a man named Shelley, whom she has been with since 1974 and calls the \u201clove of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very soft and sensitive and caring and worrisome. He\u2019s like my little Jewish mother,\u201d Byrd said.<\/p>\n\u201cI go through life happy and spreading love to everybody,\u201d Byrd said. \u201cIt\u2019s easier to love \u2014\u00a0love is love, and it\u2019s so much easier than hate.\u201d Ryan Wendler for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nNow 86, Shelley suffers from dementia, and Byrd is his full-time caretaker at their home on Fire Island.\u00a0She confesses that \u201cit\u2019s hard for me to see him the way he is now,\u201d but shares that they are \u201calways\u00a0laughing and joking and\u00a0fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple\u2019s love for each other is clearly evident throughout the film.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe immediately fell in love with Shelley,\u201d co-director Gunther told The Post. \u201cYou could feel his love for her and her love for him \u2026 For us, the love story was a gift from the universe. I think it turned a historical look-back into something with a lot of heart and soul.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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