She sat in a small apartment in a quasi-safe area in Southern California. Her flaming red hair was accentuated by the blueness of her eyes. Behind a blockade of tables with computers, cables, dolls and a baby monitor to watch her much loved, yet elder husband who needed constant attention, Norma Jean sat a cup at her side in case her throat got dry. I scanned the room, and my eyes fell on classic Annie Sprinkle posters which lined the walls. Each poster dotted with nudes during the days that pornography needed to have an element of art or the authorities that be could arrest you. I sat opposite Norma Jean Almodovar…. she was animated, alive and a woman who knew this realm better than most. On the left from where I was sitting were rows of binders neatly lined with thousands and thousands pages of documentation about the Sex industry and police brutality, a topic that Norma Jean was very familiar with, even though her first encounters with sex workers were very different than the other women who were interviewed. Norma Jean had been a Cop. In fact she worked for the LAPD, as a traffic cop, who later became a high class call girl.
Today, NJ is a sex workers rights activist. Her phone number 818-892-2029. She makes is public so that any sex worker in need has a someone to call. Her story one that few would believe could even happen. I spent the day listening to this brilliant woman, who’s IQ was clearly off the charts, as she described her life from childhood through the point where she became one of the first female cops in the LAPD. After spending 10 years with the LAPD, she needed to leave. Norma Jean takes us through a tale of police corruption, the life of a LA call girl, and her 3+ years in prison. She describes the lengths that people actually went through to stop her from publishing her book Cop to Call Girl (1993- Simon and Schuster).
Norma Jean knows exactly what she stands for. She today is a pro-sex advocate who can probably more accurately quote the violent statistics relating to this industry than those who compile them. She finds escape from the brutality of her past in Art and Activism. One might ask, what she is escaping from, but sit for a moment and listen to Norma Jean recant her tale of solitary confinement and police brutality and you will know that it is a miracle that she is here today. Today Norma Jean is the LA face of COYOTE, and a 501 (c ) 3 non profit International Sex Worker Foundation for Art, Culture and Education (ISWFACE). Norma Jean Almodovar has been a guest on well over a thousand radio and television shows and been interviewed by everyone from Larry King to Ed Bradley.
Just to name a few:
THE O’REILLY FACTOR 2007
HISTORY OF PROSTITUTION – DISCOVERY CHANNEL 2000
A&E- PROSTITUTION IN AMERICA 2000
GERALDO SHOW National TV 8/21/96
CNN CABLE NEWS national TV 8/9/93
INSIDE EDITION national TV 8/9/93
HARD COPY TV National 5/3/93
JOAN RIVERS TV national 5/4/93
HBO World Ent. NEWS cable TV 5/93
MONTEL WILLIAMS TV National 5/4/93
CBS NIGHTWATCH 4-1-87
JOAN RIVERS SHOW 4-2-87
DONAHUE SHOW 3-9-87*
NBC NGHTLY NEWS TOM BROKAW 12-10-86
KCBS TV MICHAEL JACKSON 12-29-86
JOAN RIVERS SHOW 12-31-86
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW 11-6-86
JOAN RIVERS SHOW 11-13-86
CANADIAN BROADCASTING CO. "The Democracy Project" PBS 1988
PBS TV "LATENIGHT AMERICA" De, Mi. 10-85
CNN LARRY KING LIVE (cable TV) 9-85
But I was lucky, I got to sit for a day, in the home of NJ, and speak with her sex worker to sex worker. She walked us back to her days in Prison and her fears for her life, the games played with her emotions and the threats to her life….Her story: intense, her determination: unwavering, her husband: a true pillar of strength. There were moments that the room seemed to sit still, the air so thick you could cut it with a knife. I remember her eyes welling up and one point, as she fought back tears, her voice barely audible, as she said….”I just can’t go there”….A story of passion strength and fortitude, this woman will amaze even the most incredulous among you. Norma Jean Almovodar is a true “American Courtesan”. Check out her website at: or better yet, donate to her charity and help those women out there that are still in harms way. For more information go to www.normajeanalmodovar.com . You never know who’s life you just might save….
