Maria Tortuga

Maria Tortuga was born on September 14, 1949 in Seattle, Washington. Her mother was a member of the first Mexican folk dance company in the United States. Maria grew up in a family with three other siblings. Following graduation from high school Tortuga moved to California to pursue her interest in conceptual art. Maria studied with feminist artist Judy Chicago at the nonprofit arts and education center the Woman's Building in Los Angeles. In addition, Tortuga also studied both Spanish and flamenco dancing with renowned performer Roberto Amaral in the late 1970's as well as served as the flamenco soloist in the Layalina Folkloric Ensemble. After graduating with an MFA, Maria went on to work for many years as the principal designer at local carpet mills. Tortuga decided to supplement her income and express herself sexually by doing hardcore loops and modeling for assorted men's magazines (she often posed for photos with a bondage motif). Maria began appearing in explicit hardcore movies in the late 1970's; among the notable adult cinema directors she worked for are Gerard Damiano, William Margold, Don Christian, David Worth, Ed De Priest, Alan Colberg, and Vinnie Rossi. After retiring from the adult film industry in 1987, Maria decided to follow her key passion for dancing full time by moving to Chicago, Illinois and changing her name to Maria Gitana. Tortuga studied with the Spanish Dance Society and traveled over to Europe to dance for a while at Amor de Dios with Maria Magdalena, who was the Ballet Mistress of the Ballet Nacional de Espana. Maria was awarded a grant to study classical Spanish dance with Spanish Dance Society founding member Dame Marina Keet in 1992. After achieving the status of Maestra de Baile with the Spanish Dance Society, Tortuga returned to Chicago and started the flamenco dance troupe Manteca Colora. Maria moved back to her home state of Washington to be closer to her aging parents in 1998 and started the performing dance troupe Flamenco Gitana in 2004. Moreover, Tortuga taught dance and pilates at several local schools and community centers. Starting in 2010 Maria was the recipient of several Youth Arts Awards from the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture Affairs. Tortuga used the associated grant to establish cultural arts programs in flamenco dance at local youth centers. Maria also did the choreography for a number of local theater productions. Tortuga died from cancer at age 65 on November 3, 2014.

Known For: Acting

Born: Seattle, Washington, USA, 1949-09-14

Died: 2014-11-03

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1978	Susie's Bed		0
2	1978	Carnal Encounters of the Barest Kind	Brunette Frog	0
3	1978	Remember Connie		60
4	1979	Frat House	Wilcox' Daughter	48
5	1979	Pink Champagne	Tap Dancer	0
6	1979	Jezebel	Gypsy	0
7	1980	The Sensuous Detective		0
8	1980	Weekend Fantasy	Pussy	0
9	1980	Night Flight		0
10	1980	Hot Love		0
11	1980	Ballgame	The Beavers	54
12	1980	The Satisfiers of Alpha Blue	Pregnancy Pass Girl / Orgy Girl	53
13	1980	Plato's: The Movie	Vicky	50
14	1981	Trouble Down Below	Carol (uncredited)	0
15	1981	Skintight	Maria	55
16	1981	Never So Deep	Brandy Wine	60
17	1982	The New Erotic Adventures of Casanova 2	Girl in the News	75
18	1982	What Would Your Mother Say?		0
19	1982	Intimate Lessons	Monica Mock	60
20	1982	Foreplay	Social Worker	10
21	1982	Undercovers	Third Girl on Couch (uncredited)	0
22	1982	Love Goddesses		48
23	1982	Inspirations	Piglette's Maid	50
24	1982	Pleasure Dome	Maria	0
25	1983	Nude Aerobics		100
26	1983	Loving Lesbos		0
27	1983	Bad Girl	Maria	0
28	1983	Young and Restless	Jenny	0
29	1983	Burning Desire		0
30	1983	A Lacy Affair		0
31	1983	Why Gentlemen Prefer Blondes		0
32	1984	I Wanna Be Teased!	Tina	70
33	1984	Love to Mother	Michelle	30
34	1984	Deep Ghost	The Maid	10
35	1984	Heat of the Moment	Jeep Thief	0
36	1984	Cherry Ettes For Hire		0
37	1984	Let Me Tell Ya 'Bout White Chicks		30
38	1985	Sounds of Sex	Brunette	0
39	1985	For Services Rendered	Nocturna Vigil	50
40	1986	Bisexual Fantasies	Vanessa	0
41	1986	Voyeur's Delight	(archive footage)	0
42	1986	Taxi Girls 2	The Maid	65
43	1987	The Vanessa Obsession		30
44	1989	Ginger Lynn & Company	(archive footage)	0
45	2003	John Holmes: The Lost Tapes	(archive footage)	0
46	2004	Golden Age of Porn: Annette Haven		0
47	2005	Colleen Brennan Collection	(archive footage)	0
48	2005	Tawny Pearl Collection	(archive footage)	70
49	2008	Seka Triple Feature 2		0

Maria Tortuga

Film

Television