Richard Holt Locke

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Richard Holt Locke (June 11, 1941 – September 25, 1996) was an American actor known for gay erotic films in the 1970s and 1980s. After leaving movies, he became an AIDS educator and activist, using his fame to promote safer sex.

Early life
Locke was born in East Oakland, California. He finished high school in Pleasant Hill, then spent three years in the Army in Germany as a tank mechanic. He studied History and Film at Chico State University. He openly talked about his sexuality with his family, and his brother Robert H. Locke is also gay.

Film career
One of his first film roles was Passing Strangers (1974), directed by Arthur Bressan, followed by Dreamer (1974). He became widely known for his leading role as “Hank” in Joe Gage’s Working Man Trilogy: Kansas City Trucking Co. (1976), El Paso Wrecking Corp. (1978), and L.A. Tool & Die (1979). Locke’s height, muscular build, dark hair, and rugged look helped popularize a macho gay image in cinema. He viewed his screen name as simply his own name and took pride in his work. His last adult film appeared in 1988, and he was honored in 1994 with induction into the Gay Erotic Video Awards Hall of Fame. He briefly returned to film in 1995 for a non-sexual role in The Diamond Stud.

Activism and writing
Locke was diagnosed as HIV positive in 1983 and retired from porn to focus on activism. He trained with organizations like the American Red Cross and the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, and he studied early safe-sex materials. In New York, he volunteered at Bailey House (AIDS Resource Center) and gave talks at “sensible sex” seminars around the country. He helped popularize the safer-sex message and worked at Ward 5B, the first AIDS inpatient ward at San Francisco General Hospital, where he supported patients and offered care. He wrote about safer sex for the Bay Area Reporter and collected his pieces in In the Heat of Passion: How to have hotter, safer sex (1987).

Later life
Locke lived for a time in Desert Hot Springs near Palm Springs, where he built a geodesic-domed home and spoke about living in the desert. He appeared in Take One (1977), a docu-porn film, and did volunteer work with the Desert AIDS Project. In 1995 he returned to Sacramento to be near his family and medical care, but he passed away from AIDS-related complications on September 25, 1996, in Sacramento. His services were held in Sacramento, and he was buried near Oakland.