Aja (Pornstar)

About Aja (Pornstar)

Aja, born Barbara Lynn Tanguay-Emert on July 14, 1963, in Westbrook, Maine, was an American adult film actress, director, and exotic dancer who left a lasting impact during her brief career. The daughter of David Tanguay and Diana Giguere, she grew up in Westbrook, graduated from Westbrook High School, and lived in Portland, Maine, Germany, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, due to her father’s military background, per Find a Grave and es.wikipedia.org.

She entered the adult industry in 1988 at age 24, introduced to stripping by a friend and mentored by Sharon Mitchell, adopting the stage name Aja (pronounced “Asia”) from a Steely Dan album, per IMDb and es.wikipedia.org. Standing at 5’6” with a 38D-23-36 figure, brown hair, and brown eyes, she appeared in approximately 300 films (estimates vary), including Mad Love (1989, AVN Best Video of the Year), Ghostess with the Mostess (1988), The Naked Stranger (1988), and Stairway to Paradise (1990), per IMDb, IAFD, and biographies.net. Known for her natural beauty and intense performances, particularly in anal scenes with her then-husband John Derringer, she won the 1989 AVN Best New Starlet Award and 1989 XRCO Star of the Year, per es.wikipedia.org. Aja married Derringer, with whom she had two children, Donald and Elizabeth Cunningham, before divorcing, per Find a Grave. After a 1992 break from adult films to focus on stripping, she returned to direct and act, founding Golden Orchid Productions in 1997 and acquiring Pleasure Dome Productions in 2000, per es.wikipedia.org.

She got introduced to heroin through Sharon Mitchell and became addicted to the drug. In 1992 she was helped by John T. Bone, a pornographic director, and was also on a methadone maintenance program. In Canada, Bone later locked her in a hotel room for three weeks, thus helping her go "cold turkey". She was one of the few box cover girls(a pornstar who often appeared on a movie's box cover using her beauty to sell the movie) to ever do scenes with shemales, which was heavily frowned upon, especially in the 80s when AIDS was so prevalent. She did two movies with various shemales near the start of her career in 1988 but never did any movies beyond those two. Her mentor, Sharon Mitchell, booked her in the movies and also starred in one of them. In a 1998 lukeford.com interview, Aja said that Sharon Mitchell, was did a number of shemale movies, told her that transexuals were the future and would be a normal part of straight porn like girl/girl was. "My agent told me top girls don't have sex with shemales and it devalues you. So I only did those few scenes. The shemales were gay men and had zero attraction to women. They would inject their penises to get hard."

Fans (2024) praised her as "stunning beyond words,” noting her Ghostess with the Mostess role (comment: “Aja’s beauty was timeless,” user: retrofan63). A 2024 X post called her “an 80s icon in Mad Love” (@RetroPornFan). AVN (1989) lauded her as “a natural talent with captivating presence.” Porn legend Joey Silvera called Aja in a 1989 AVN interview "one of the prettiest women to ever do movies". The Rialto Report highlighted her “meteoric rise and lasting legacy,” cementing her as a pivotal figure in 1980s adult cinema.

She retired in 1992, citing recovery from her heroin addiction and wishing to focus on stripping. She moved to Mexico in 2003, and worked as a fitness trainer. Aja died on September 18, 2006, at age 43 in Mexico, with sources citing suicide and intoxication, though details remain unconfirmed, per es.wikipedia.org and deadorkicking.com. Survived by her parents, children, and siblings Michael and Renee Tanguay, she has no documented net worth or active social media presence, with her work preserved in 1980s–1990s adult film archives.

⭐ Aja – Awards & Honors
🥇 Award Wins

🏆 1989 AVN Award – Best New Starlet
🏆 1992 AVN Award – Best Supporting Actress (Video) – Wild Goose Chase

🏅 Nominations

✨ 1991 AVN Award – Best Actress (Film) – Wild Goose Chase
✨ 1992 AVN Award – Female Performer of the Year
✨ 1993 AVN Award – Best Supporting Actress (Video) – House of Dreams

🎖️ Hall of Fame

🌟 AVN Hall of Fame (Inducted 2005)