Tori Welles grew up in sunny California, but her early years were anything but bright. Growing up a punk rock kid in a conservative, religious household was difficult for Welles. At 17, she was convinced to participate in an amateur night at a strip club. She wound up winning and soon after began working as a stripper at Seventh Veil strip club; she worked there on and off for years.
Going from stripping to performing in XXX movies was a natural move for Welles. She made her porn debut in 1988 when she was 21 years old and quickly became one of the most recognizable and sought after actresses in porn. Many websites credit Welles with having worked in the industry for over a decade, but the truth is that she was only in the biz for a little over 2 years. Welles spoke on this topic in an interview in 2011, "I was in for just a little over two years and I'm 44. So that's a pretty small slice of my life. It's really interesting when you think about the fact that I didn't do anything outrageous or a ton of stuff. I was in a few magazines and did the covers for my boxes of course but I didn't really do that many movies. Definitely not by today's standards. I'm always amazed to go to an adult store and see that they have a Tori Welles section. It's like "Really?" I only did like 15 or 20 films. I know now that on Wikipedia or IMDB they count compilations and there are a ton of those and they still put them out, but I am talking about actual individual movies that I was in and shot covers for. There weren't very many."
Although her career was short, Welles is widely considered one of porn's most famous faces. Over the course of her career, she had the opportunity to work with some of the best production companies in the industry, including Adam & Eve, Evil Angel, Moonlight Entertainment, Pleasure Productions, and many more. She was even a contract girl - Vivid Girl - for Vivid Entertainment. Welles had a very tame contract that included directives such as NO Ron Jeremy, no midgets, no circus fare, no anal, etc. She was willing to do girl/girl and boy/girl content only. Movies like Busted (Caballero Home Video), Late Night For Lovers (Moonlight Entertainment), Miss Directed (Vivid), and a lesbian performance in Sextectives (CDI Home Video), show Welles at her finest.
Welles left the industry somewhere around 1991, but movies continued to be sold using her star power for many more years. In 1997, her ex-husband released a private movie they'd made together. Welles admits she signed an agreement with Paul Norman Productions to release the film. The film, Private Diary of Tori Welles, is one of only 2 instances where fans can see Welles have anal sex on camera. In 1998, she made a comeback in the film Return Of Tori Welles, released by Vivid. While fans adored her comeback and hoped for more, Welles did just that one film and then left the industry for good.
She may have stopped performing in films, but Welles hasn't left the porn world altogether. In 1998, in partnership with Erostar, Welles released a sex toy molded from her genitalia. She then went on to become the regional sales manager for Peach DVD, and later was hired as a sales associate by Metro Entertainment. In 2012, Welles and porn star Tom Byron launched Hall of Fame Management, a talent agency that represents adult film actors, directors, editors, photographers, and other industry workers. She also has her own production company called Tori Welles Entertainment. Welles has director, producer, costume & wardrobe, and writing credits to her name. Welles directed films from 1990-1992, producing films for Paladin Video and Fat Dog. She directed 4 films in total. Directorial projects include the following 3 titles for Paladin Video: Girlfriends, Personalities, and Red Line. She also directed Tori Welles Goes Behind the Scenes for Fat Dog.
In addition to her long and storied career in the porn industry, Welles has also had several brushes with mainstream media, as well. She appeared in the 1995 horror/comedy film Ice Cream Man, and a 2006 episode of the TV series Scrubs. She was also a featured guest in 1993 on the Swedish late night talk show, Adam. And more recently, Welles hosted an internet radio show for Vivid radio.
1990 AVN Award for Best New Starlet
1990 XRCO Award - Starlet
1990 XRCO Award for Female Performer of the Year
1990 XRCO Award for Best Sex Scene in The Chameleon
1991 FOXE Female Fan Favorite
1996 induction into AVN Hall of Fame
1999 induction into XRCO Hall of Fame
2002 induction into Legends of Erotica
