Draft:Nikki Fritz

Early life

Fritz was born Roberta Lynn Fritz in Pittsburgh (Bellevue), Pennsylvania on April 7, 1963. She was the third and last child to be born to Robert Gilbert Fritz (1936 to 1997) and Patricia Ann Fritz (née Wigley; 1937-2021).^[1] Fritz has two older sisters, Barbara Lee (1959) and Pamela Mary (1961), and no brothers. Her family called her Bobbi, which was short for Roberta (a name she never appreciated). During the gas crisis in the late 1970s, the Fritz family traveled south and relocated to Homestead, Florida, a small city south of Miami. Later on, after reaching some degree of fame, she commented in an interview on a difficult home life as a child and being bullied in high school.^[2]

Fritz started working in restaurants as a teenager as soon as her age permitted. By 16 years of age, she had proven financial independence and was granted legal emancipation as a minor. Despite excelling in math-related subjects and participating in school plays, she dropped out of high school.^[3] In 1982, she passed the GED and received her high school diploma. By the age of 18, she had become a dancer in local gentlemen’s clubs in the Ft. Lauderdale - Miami area. In 1985, she married Joseph Daniel Comeau and was briefly named Roberta Fritz Comeau. The marriage lasted a few years, and around 1989-1990, Fritz and her husband moved to San Diego, California. By 1991, her marriage was over due to her husband's frequent run-ins with the law. Soon after her divorce, she changed her legal name to Roberta Lynn Nikki Fritz, then later legally dropped the “Lynn” part of her name. She then adopted Nikki Fritz as her stage name and soon began using it in all aspects of her life.

Career as an actress

After moving permanently to California, Fritz continued to dance in clubs, both on and off screen, and to work toward her goal of becoming a well-established actress. She went to great lengths to educate herself in the field of acting. She studied the Alexander technique under Debbie Jay, voice under Rowana Balos and basic acting technique with Howard Fine. It was at this time in the early mid-1990s that she was working at the well-known, award-winning, topless bar Fritz That’s It - Gentlemen's Club in Bellflower, Los Angeles, near Anaheim. Many assumed that the "Fritz" in her name came from her work at the bar. Initially, her acting roles were small “under-five” roles for over 10 years. “Starting out in pictures was tough for her. Regardless of her acting abilities and education, Nikki only found bit roles in A films, such as Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983)", in which she was not credited by name.^[4] Fritz received her first supporting role in the 1983 film Spring Break by Columbia Pictures. She was credited in the film as Bobbi Fritz. She mentioned in an interview that "the director picked me over hundreds of other girls because he said I made him laugh". She also sometimes worked as a body double, as in New Kids (1985).^[5]

It was around this time that Fritz began dedicating a lot of time to her acting lessons with Howard Fine and later with Michael Arabian at the Howard Fine Acting Studio. She also studied Shakespearean themes at the Stella Adler Academy of Acting with Maria Chambers and Dan Chase. In the course of her career, she played several supporting roles in larger productions such as Go - Life begins at 3:00 a.m. and Diamond Men; however, most of her work was in B-movies. She was often referred to as the “true Queen of Cinemax”, the “Queen of Softcore”, or one of the “Queens of B-Movies”^[6], although these were titles that sometimes changed hands depending on how recently one of the “queens” had appeared in a popular movie. Fritz worked with directors such as Jim Wynorski and Fred Olen Ray in mostly erotic films, but she also worked several times with the well-known producer Roger Corman. “Roger gave me my first starring role on Where Evil Lies. It was the turning point in my career. He was the first one to take a chance on me.”^[7]

Fritz was considered by her peers in the industry to be among the great actresses in the B-movie genre. “Nikki Fritz brings not only buxom curves and bodacious beauty to the B-films blessed with her presence; she is also an enormously gifted thespian who has studied with some of today’s finest acting teachers”.^[8] Fritz had the “unique ability in her chosen genre to remember and deliver her lines. She proved to be one of the most memorable actresses of her genre who regularly gives thoughtful interviews that are filled with an insight into her industry”.^[9] “Nikki’s comic skills and knockeriffic star presence has lit up modern softcore classics…”.^[10] She once said that "with all the stipulations out there that you can't do nudity and be a successful actress, I want to prove all of that wrong...I can be naked, I can do erotic film, I can be sexy, and still be an intelligent woman who is taken seriously as an actress."^[11] Fritz has stated that while the Bare Wench Project was the most fun to shoot, her series Night Cap was her favorite acting role. “I was able to play such a wide range of emotions on that show. I think it really showcased my abilities”.^[12]

In 1996, Fritz developed her own website www.nikkifritz.com. Having a knack for electronics to promote herself. She became proficient in Photoshop, HTML, JavaScript, Linux, Premiere in order to be completely self-sufficient.^[13] In interviews, she describes herself as Internet-surfer, reminiscent of the role she played in the Cinemax TV show Nightcap. "...in one of the episodes I play a girl who finds love through a chat room. Since I'm very much an internet fanatic, I felt at home in this role and it turned out to be one of my better pieces of work").^[14]. Fritz was well known for her generous and non-competitive nature and helped numerous B-movie actresses by creating a website for them and showing them how to market themselves via the internet. In the early 2000s, Fritz started spending more time behind the scenes than in front of the camera. To devote her time entirely to her online presence, she retired from the film business in 2005.^[15]

Nikki Fritz was also seen in at least one or two pornographic productions, such as Cargo by Wicked Pictures and in photo shoots. However, her work in this genre is limited to lesbian soft pornography. While some films released after 2005 featured Nikki Fritz on the roster, these were all composed of archival footage worked into the film.

Life Post retirement from the film industry

By 2002, Fritz had decided that she would soon be retiring from her film career in the next few years. She had found it increasingly difficult to maintain the physical image she was well known for. As soon as she began to gain a little weight, it started to affect her confidence in her acting. Additionally, a skiing accident led to a severe ankle fracture that made it difficult for her to continue wearing high heels, despite several surgical procedures. She started to look for ways to re-invent herself while still promoting her Nikki Fritz image online. She changed her name to Sage Makayla Greer, adopting the surname from her mother’s second husband, Robert Greer. By this time Fritz had re-established communications with her estranged family - particularly her mother, who had remarried in 1984.

Nikki Fritz was married for the second time to porn actor and director Jonathan Morgan (legally Scott Jonathan Gallegos) on October 5, 2003 and changed her name at that time to Sage Makayla Gallegos. She divorced Morgan a few years later. Sage Gallegos had always been an advocate for all animals and, throughout most of her acting period, had owned a horse and taken formal riding lessons. In her last 15 years, she became a certified dog groomer and was very involved with numerous pet rescues. She showed her three dogs, Rhodesian ridgebacks, and finished them. She also frequently helped in the care and nursing of orphaned wildlife at the local wildlife rescues, working mainly with baby squirrels and opossums. She had been working on getting Ruff Diamonds, her own pet rescue organization, established when she started experiencing health problems.

Sage Gallegos developed breast cancer in 2016, and complications with the treatment led her to develop acute myelogenous leukemia. Her leukemia relapsed repeatedly and became refractory to treatment. She died at City of Hope Hospital on February 25, 2020. By the time of her death, Sage had already created a significant distance from her life as Nikki Fritz, had shut down her website due to a lack of new content, and surrounded herself with a small group of close friends and her partner, William Chávez.

Misreported information

Nikki Fritz is often reported as being born in 1964 or 1967 when she was actually born in 1963 and was 56 years old when she died. The date of her passing has also been misreported as February 26 when it was actually February 25, 2020. Additionally, there are several sites that have confused Nikki Fritz with Dr. Nikki Goldstein, the Australian sexologist. This has led some sites to inaccurately report that Nikki Goldstein is either Nikki Fritz’s birth name or an acquired name by marriage, when they are, in fact, two different people. Despite numerous name changes, Nikki Fritz has never used the name Nikki Goldstein. Finally, many have assumed that the “Fritz” in her name came from her time working at the well-known topless bar Fritz That’s it, when it was, in fact, coincidental. Fritz was her legal surname at birth.

Filmography

•1983: Spring Break · as Girl In Corvette

•1983: Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 · as S & M Hooker

•1985: New Kids · as body double

•1990: Beverly Hills, 90210 (TV Series) · as Stripper

•1993: Beach Babes from Beyond · as Sally's Model

•1994: Dinosaur Island (Island of the Giant Dinosaurs) · as High Priestess

•1994: Saturday Night Special · as Line Dancer (uncredited)

•1994: Bad Blood · as Topless Dancer (uncredited)

•1994: A Low Down Dirty Shame · as Exotic Dancer

•1994: Indecent Behavior II · as Woman On Balcony

•1995: Rebellious · as Lake Bed Girl #1•1995: Hot Ticket · as Crystal

•1995: Showgirl Killers: Where Evil Lies · as Alex

•1995: Bikini Drive-in · as Susan

•1995: Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold · as Rosita

•1995: Stripteaser · as Sandra

•1995: Burial of the Rats · as Rat Woman

•1995: Future Force - Virus der Apokalypse (Terminal Virus) · as Cassandra

•1996 : Secret Places · as Lily

•1996: Showgirl Murders · as Dancer #1

•1996: Caged Women II · as Sheriff Riley

•1996: Beverly Hills Bordello (TV Series) · as Paige

•1996: Night Shade · as Leopard Girl

•1996: Fugitive Rage · as Nurse Wendy

•1997: Hybrid · as Susan

•1997: Illicit Dreams 2 · as New York Woman

•1998: Ultimate Love Games · as Dungeon Slave Girl

•1998: Together & Alone · as Barmaid

•1998: Intimate Sessions (TV Series) · as Tamara / Stella

•1998: The Exotic Time Machine · as Marie Antoinette

•1998: The Pandora Project · as Enrique's Girl (uncredited)

•1998: Vice Academy Part 6 · as Savvy

•1998: Virtual Encounters 2 · as Biker / Worker

•1998: Hotel Exotica · as Zeke's Lover

•1999: Crime & Passion · as Alexis

•1999: Stealth Fighter · as Massage Girl

•1999: Veronica 2030 · as Camilla Likenthrow

•1999: Go · as Noelle

•1999: Nightcap (2000) (TV Series) · as Trina

•1999: Sinful Obsession · as Zanthe Fabian

•1999: The Pleasure Zone (TV Series) · as Laura

•1999: Final Voyage · as Flight Attendant (uncredited)

•1999: Black and White · as Dancer

•2000: Pleasure Zone: Volume 4 - Promiscuous · as Laura (episode "promiscouos")

•2000: Sex, Secrets & Betrayals · as Maggie Madison

•2000: The Bare Wench Project · as Nikki

•2000: Mach 2 · as Jill

•2000: Fast Lane to Malibu · as Officer Casey

•2000: The Law of Enclosures · as (uncredited)

•2000: Bedtime Stories (TV Series) · as Susan

•2000: Diamond Men · as Fran

•2000: Crash Point Zero · as Linda, Air Traffic Supervisor

•2000-2001: The Money $ hot (TV series)

•2001: The Bare Wench Project 2: Scared Topless · as Nikki

•2002: The Bare Wench Project 3: Nymphs of Mystery Mountain · as Nikki

•2002: Secret Pleasures · as Ginger • 2003: Cheerleader Massacre · as Debbie

•2003: Cargo • 2003: Bare Wench Project: Uncensored · as Nikki

•2004: Bikini a Go Go (Curse of the Erotic Tiki) · as Darvella

•2005: Bare Wench: The Final Chapter · as Nikki

•2005: The Witches of Breastwick 2

•2006: Secrets Sins · as (archive Footage)

•2008: Insatiable Lust · as Colette (archive Footage)

•2018: Sex School: Final Exams · as Cast (archive Footage)