Taija Rae

Taija Rae (born Tianna Reilly) is an American former pornographic actress and adult model who was one of the most popular performers of the late 1980s. She is sometimes credited as Tanja Rae, Taja Rea, or Taija Ray. Taija entered the adult film industry in 1983, after being discovered by a fledgling Philadelphia talent firm, Lynx Management. The first part of her stage name, pronounced Tayzh-a, came from an Oriental cocktail waitress she worked with before porn. The last name, Rae, was a tribute to Fay Wray, actress in the movie King Kong. (Incidentally, both the first name Taija (tie-yah) and last name Rae are typical Finnish names.) After a test photo shoot in New York City, she quickly made the rounds of the New York adult industry and kept busy in East Coast of the United States erotic films and photo modeling, working with directors such as Henri Pachard, Chuck Vincent, and Dave Darby. Her first films were Dangerous Stuff and Scenes They Wouldn't Let Me Shoot, filmed the same weekend. She became known for her rounded, softer figure, wide hips, and large, natural breasts with big, dark red nipples. In 1986, she changed her appearance by losing weight and dying her hair blonde, and began doing more work through a West Coast agent. With this, she reached the height of her success, when Hustler magazine referred to her as one of "porn's Big Four" (along with Traci Lords, Ginger Lynn, and Amber Lynn). She was proud of being able to charge $1,000 per day for her roles. She maintained her home in Pennsylvania, sometimes flying out to the West Coast to film scenes, until finally moving to Los Angeles, California in 1988. Rae left the adult film business in 1993. Fans report seeing her working as a hostess at a restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada