Christy Canyon is half Armenian and half Italian; at age 17, she moved out of her house and worked two part-time jobs. In 1984 she met adult star Greg Rome, who introduced her to a respected agent in the industry, Jim South, at World Modeling Agency. South immediately took Christy under his wing and arranged for her to do exotic photo layouts and a loop for Swedish Erotica with Ron Jeremy—with their assistance, she quickly established herself as a superstar in mid-80s XXX movies. At the height of her career, Christy was working a full schedule while under contract to Vivid, touring as an exotic dancer, and yet managed to earn a post-secondary Marketing degree from Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising and be named F.O.X.E. Female Fan Favorite in 1991 and 1992.