Porn star & model, Marilyn Chambers 1952-2009

Marilyn Chambers, who has died aged 56, delivered two "stunningly contrasting portrayals of woman-hood", said the New York Times. In the first, she was "the Ivory Snow girl": a fresh-faced blonde, pictured smiling at the baby in her arms, on packets of Ivory Snow soap powder in stores across America. In her second manifestation, as an adult movie actress, she played a woman who is forced to have group sex in front of a masked audience, then finds that she enjoys it.

Trendy couples went to see Behind the Green Door (1972) - as they had Deep Throat (1972), and would Devil in Miss Jones (1973) - as a sign of their sophistication. The discovery that its star had also advertised a product that boasted of being "99.44% pure" only added to the film’s success.

Marilyn Ann Briggs was born in Connecticut in 1952. The daughter of a nurse and an ad exec, she "went to all the right schools", said the Independent. But her secret ambition was to be an actress, and at the age of 18, she moved to LA to pursue this dream.

After a small part in a Barbra Streisand movie, and securing the Ivory Snow contract, Chambers' career stalled - until 1972, when she auditioned for Behind the Green Door.

At first, Chambers told interviewers, she had taken the part because she was "intrigued by the story"; then because she'd hoped it would "further my acting career". As it turned out, however, audiences were not much interested in her performances unless they were X-rated (her later adult movies included The Resurrection of Eve, in 1973, and a comeback, Insatiable, in 1980).

Chambers did well out of her most famous role financially, having cannily insisted on a percentage of the profits, which totalled $60m in the US alone. Nevertheless, when asked in 2004 what her advice would be to anyone considering going into porn, she replied: "Absolutely not! It’s heart-breaking. And it leaves you... kind of empty." Chambers was married and divorced three times. The cause of her death is unknown. ·