Porndom always seems to have a place for the nerd, the goofy geek who somehow finds himself in the sack with the video's hottest harlot. While the 90's has seen Jonathan Morgan and Mike Horner seemingly corner the market on such roles, during the 70's the main man when it came to geekiness was Richard Pacheco. A thin, wiry guy with a ready and reliable tool, Richard got into hardcore as something of a lark.

Pacheco was drifting through life fairly aimlessly, having left his job working in Florida for the Hollywood Sun Tattler newspaper. He moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 70's, where he met and married the "love of his life" in 1975. Richard considered attending rabbinical college, and had also applied to the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. In the end, though, neither option turned out to look as good as porn.

Working as a day laborer breaking concrete for $5 an hour certainly had its thrills, but Richard leapt at the chance when he was offered a small role in 1978's 'Candy Stripers 1.' His wife was a product of the free-love 60's, so thought that his move into porn was 'cute.' Pacheco's first scene was an oral segment in a closet, and his trouble finishing the job forced production to run almost the whole afternoon. It wasn't until he fell under the wing of fellow stud Anthony Spinelli that Pacheco began to master the skills needed to perform under porno conditions. Once he found his groove, though, Pacheco quickly shot up the studly charts.

Pacheco became known as one of the finest actors and most steady performers of his era. Over the next ten years Richard appeared in some of the hottest hardcore classics of the time, flicks like 'Bad Girls 1,' 'Ten Little Maidens' and 'Insatiable 1,' where he enjoyed the oral attentions of Marilyn Chambers in a steamy sequence. Richard's best known for his role as Lenny in 1980's 'Talk Dirty To Me 1,' where he played the nerdy goof opposite John Leslie's suave smooth talker.

Pacheco won an AVN Best Supporting Actor award for his work in the sort-of-sequel to 'Talk Dirty,' 1983's 'Nothing To Hide.' Again playing a character called Lenny, Pacheco played a dumb guy who fell for sexy Chelsea Manchester. Richard was also honored for his work in 1987's 'Sensual Escape,' winning a Best Supporting Actor nod as well as a Best Couples Sex Scene prize for his blistering session with Nina Hartley.

Pacheco moved out of the business during the mid-80's, when the specter of AIDS first reared its ugly head in the industry. Richard's desire to work with condoms led to his being eased out of the business by most producers. Eventually, citing health concerns, Richard left the business for good. He worked as an assistant director for John Leslie for some time, but the constant visual stimulation with no hope for release drove Pacheco up the wall. When Leslie moved his production company to L.A., Pacheco took the opportunity to leave the industry altogether.

A true hardcore original, Pacheco was a unique talent in an industry that all too often calls for its males to be from the same studly cookie-cutter. Richard may not have been the best looking or most well-equipped stud on the block, but his willingness to do whatever it took to make a sex scene work made him a fave of producers, directors and co-stars alike.