Randy West, born Andrew Jay Abrams, came to the University of Miami in 1965 to study business. As an incoming freshman he was shy and had sex only once in his life.
However, his time at the University of Miami gave him the skills to thrive in the porn industry.
West’s timid nature was ended by UM’s diverse student body. This college experience also made him more sexually experienced: a Cuban lady picked him up hitchhiking and took him to Crandon Park.
“She threw me behind the trees and we did the wild thing,” West said.
Then came his first real girlfriend.
“I started exploring my sexuality,” West said. “We started having sex and I realized I was good at it. I turned her inside out.”
Eventually, he realized that school was not for him. He started playing music in Coconut Grove and around his home in New York.
During this time, he also modeled nude for art classes. Some girls in his class sent his picture to High Society, a pornographic magazine, which responded by offering him a photo shoot.
“I was playing a mechanic,” he said of the shoot. “I did not service her car but I serviced her.”
During the shoot, he was able to have an erect penis for several hours, something not common in the porn industry before the advent of Viagra. This type of talent is necessary for adult films.
“Everyone thinks they can do [porn movies] – get it up, get it in, get it off – but it’s harder to do it with hot lights on you, a director telling you what to do and in between breaks,” he said.
West did these movies for the money, not the fame, as he still wanted to pursue his music career, but he soon became very successful in this business.
Known in the industry as “The Gentleman,” Randy West is concerned about his female co-stars – something he learned from his girlfriend at UM.
“In working with Randy…I can tell you that he treats the females of the industry, in all aspects, with the utmost respect,” said Michael Mark, West’s camera man and a former DJ at the Rat.
This caring nature made him the de facto choice to work with new girls, and West developed this talent into a producing career. His series Up and Cummers debuted in 1993 and focused on new female actors. This series was responsible for discovering industry legend Jenna Jameson.
Overall, West has appeared in 1300 adult films with 2,500 different female co-stars.