Daughter of San Francisco porn king talks about new play

SAN FRANCISCO

It's a one-woman show about the family business -- the business of pornography.

"I started being aware when I would tell people what dad did for a job, that you know, 'oh, he owns the O'Farrell Theatre,'" she said. "The looks I'd get."

Liberty Bradford Mitchell is the daughter of Artie, who along with his brother Jim became trailblazers in the X-rated industry. They opened the O'Farrell Theatre in San Francisco back in 1969, and later they produced one of the first full length porn movies, "Behind the Green Door."

"I loved my dad, I loved my family, but it was very difficult as a child to have to balance all those emotions and the judgment of it," said Mitchell.

She remembers hanging out at the theatre. And now her play, "The Pornographer's Daughter," explores the contradictions.

"Mom, who had until recently defended the Mitchell brothers' right to produce porn, banned us from watching Three's Company because of its sexual innuendos," she said.

The play's emotional core is the painful Cain versus Abel family drama that made headlines in 1991.

Mitchell's uncle Jim killed her father Artie. He was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. She testified at the trial.

In the lobby of Z Below, where her play has just opened, Mitchell has photos of both Jim and Artie and other family members. This production has been cathartic.

"I'm not here just to lacerate and drag up the past for no reason," she said. "It's really about being a survivor and how we can survive anything."

She is now a 43-year-old mother of two living in Los Angeles, no longer connected to what is still a family business

To watch the entire interview, click here.

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