Cole Tucker

Cole Tucker is the stage name of Richard Allen Karp (October 23, 1953 – June 7, 2015), an American actor in the gay porn film industry. He became known for his participation as an interviewee in the documentary SEX/LIFE IN L.A. (1999, directed by Jochen Hick). The film sheds light on the lives and working conditions of men who make pornographic films in Los Angeles, and Tucker comes across as a deliberately ambivalent personality: charming, reflective, and part of a scene that oscillates between personal longing and commercial presence. In SEX/LIFE IN L.A., Tucker speaks openly about AIDS, social stigmatization, and the tension between personal identity and sexual publicity. The documentary was shown at the Berlinale and was praised as an important document of the 1990s. Tucker spent his later life with increasing health problems and died in 2015 from complications related to AIDS. He was openly involved in the community, participating in Pride events such as the “Pillage & Plunder Cruise” in 2000. His contribution is characterized by a calm, reflective voice that combines the themes of pornography, identity, and illness with human depth.