Larry Claxton Flynt Jr. was born November 1, 1942 in Lakeville, Kentucky. He was the oldest of three children. His four year old sister died of leukemia in 1951. After his parents separated a year later, Larry moved to Hamlet, Indiana with his mother.
During his younger years, he spent a year in the U.S. Army and five years in the U.S. Navy. After the navy, Flynt returned to his mothers home, now in Dayton, Ohio. He then bought a local bar and turned it into a successful strip club. Eventually owning a chain of them. In 1971, Larry met Althea Leasure, a 17 year old dancer. They wed in 1976.
In 1974 he used his bars newsletter as a template for a national version of Hustler magazine. Aimed at the regular man, Flynts magazine pushed the envelope by featuring hard core content. He has fought a long censorship battle, even being convicted and sentanced to 7-25 years in prison before being overturned. Flynt has been a major player in the anti-censorship fight. While outside a Georgia courthouse in 1978, Joseph Franklin shot Larry and his lawyer, Gene Reeves. Larry's injuries left him paralyzed from the waist down as well as a minor speech impediment.
Flynt's wife, Althea, was diagnosed with an illness in 1983 and died at home June 27, 1987, as a result of drowning in a bathtub.
In 1996, 'The People vs. Larry Flynt' was released starring Woody Harrelson and Courtney Love. In the film, Larry portrayed Cincinnati court judge, William Morrissey Jr. Flynt lives in Beverly Hills with his current wife, Liz Berrios, whom he married in 1998.
(read less)Larry Claxton Flynt Jr. was born November 1, 1942 in Lakeville, Kentucky. He was the oldest of three children. His four year old sister died of leukemia in 1951. After his parents separated a year later, Larry moved to Hamlet, Indiana with his mother.
During his younger years, he spent a year in the U.S. Army and five years in the U.S. Navy. After the navy, Flynt returned to his mothers home, now in Dayton, Ohio. He then bought a local bar and turned it into a successful strip club. Eventually...
(read more)