Angel Kelly was one of the very first African American women to successfully make it in the porn industry. Her contributions to the industry helped make interracial sex less taboo and paved the way for many other aspiring ebony starlets. The Lansing, Michigan starlet was born on December 7, 1962. Growing up Angel was a late bloomer and admits in interviews she was a bit of a tomboy. While her girl friends were starting to get into boys and makeup Angel was climbing trees and playing ball with her guy pals. When she turned seventeen Angel started modeling locally. While she gained quite a bit of attention modeling her 5 foot 6 frame wasn't tall enough for runway so a career in mainstream modeling was quite limited. Shortly after Angel turned eighteen she became an exotic dancer in Michigan, where she worked regularly for over three years. One evening while working at the club a man approached her about doing some nude magazine work. Angel was extremely interested and immediately started posing for nude photography. She'd always admired the ladies in centerfolds and knew someday she wanted to take her adult career to the next level. Angel was hired to do a local x-rated magazine cover and a film producer in Los Angeles took notice. He offered Angel a few adult films working with a cast of all white men. She took him up on the offer and her first film was released in 1985 at the age of twenty-three. During her many years in adult Angel starred in over one hundred x rated films. Her career spanned six years and Angel's final performance was in 1991. Angel made movies for a wide variety of studios over the years, including Vivid, Wet Video, VCA, Fantasy Home Video, Coast to Coast, Essex and Metro. She appeared in Hustler, Player and dozens of other adult magazines. Many of Angel's films have become solid classics among porn aficionados worldwide. Movies like Black Magic Clinic, Black Voodoo, Addicted to Love and Chocolate Delights 2 are staples for anyone into steamy 80s interracial adult films. During her career she worked with other Hall of Fame starlets including Nina Hartley, Porsche Lynn and Sharon Mitchell. Angel has said in interviews before she came around film producers would primarily make ebony starlets play maids and street walkers. She was able to play main characters such as high-class housewives, business associates and other key figures previously only available to her Caucasian counterparts. Her heavier roles can be seen in movies such as Princess Charming, Naughty Girls Like It Big, Tracy Takes Paris and The Red Hot Road Runner. In 1988 Angel Kelly launched the Pink Ladies Social Club, a support organization for female adult actresses. With help from friends Porsche Lynn and Nina Hartley the group focused on the importance of knowing your partners in the business, being tested and practicing safe sex. During Angel's career she toured all over the world, from Europe to Canada and throughout the United States. She was one of the first black stars to feature dance nationwide. In a 2009 television interview Angel said all of the fans she met on tour were always extremely respectful and she cherished them very much. In 2005 Porsche Lynn inducted her into the Legends of Erotica Hall of Fame. Angel made it into the AVN Hall of Fame on April 16, 2009. Toward the end of her long running adult career Angel directed two films for Soho Video. In 1990 she produced and directed Even More Dangerous, starring Dominique Simone, Randy West, Jeannie Pepper and Chi Chi La Rue. The same year Angel also directed Lesbian Liasons starring Jeanna Fine, Lauren Brice and Lois Ayres. In January 1988 Angel started to have a change of heart when it came to working in the adult industry. She briefly retired, sighting in an interview on the television talk show Our Voices that the industry wasn't the same anymore and she was ready to move on. She said early on in her career she worked for big budget movies and lately the quality of films she was being offered were too amateur in nature. Angel took several months off and returned later that year to star in Fatal Passion, starring alongside Alicia Monet, Peter North and Shanna McCullough. When it came to her personal life Angel said on Our Voices that she had very supportive parents who were by her side no matter what she wanted to do with her career. She also mentioned she considers herself bisexual and she never had a real relationship while working in the industry. "I wanted to find a special someone who would be all mine and I wanted to be all his, so I didn't plan to get into a relationship until I retired," Angel said. In 1996 Angel met hip hop mega star Tupac and the two became friends. He had her appear alongside her industry gal pals Champagne and Nina Hartley in his music video "How Do You Want It." Angel said in a 2009 interview for City Beats TV she learned quite a bit from Tupac about the music industry and it ignited a passion in her to explore the business further. In 2006 Angel launched her own hip hop promotion company called AK Enterprises. She recruited several independent musical acts and created the "Dirty South College Tour" which ran in small college towns for a couple of summers. AK is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee and Angel is still involved in the hip hop industry today.