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When Harry Reems died last week at the age of 65, the mainstream press contacted Ron Jeremy for his thoughts. It was Jeremy’s contention that Reems who co-starred in “Deep Throat” and whose real name was Herbert Streicher, paved the way for the adult film industry to enter the mainstream.

Reems, who grew up in the New York’s Bronx, “was the original,” Jeremy said. “It was Reems and John Holmes. They were the biggest names at the time.”

“Deep Throat” went on to make hundreds of millions of dollars after criminal investigations and the prosecution of Reems for obscenity and conspiracy brought it global attention.

Reems’ obscenity conviction was overturned on appeal, but the legal battle became an important First Amendment fight for some in Hollywood.

Hollywood stars including Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty supported Reems’ defense, Jeremy said.

“It made him a pioneer.”

Jeremy spoke fondly of his 1980s friendship with Reems, with memories of hanging out in Bernards, a bar off New York’s Times Square that attracted both Broadway and porn actors. It was a hangout where the two men would pick up women and sometimes “go to the bathroom to do a little smoochie.”

“We were on a bunch of sets side by side,” Jeremy said. “We did threesomes on set a couple of time.”

“We were both Jewish boys with a big mustaches,” he said. “We both loved doing dialogue in movies, more than just an ‘uuuuhh!’”

Reems left the adult movie business in 1987 and moved to Utah, where “somehow he found Jesus and decided to go Mormon,” Jeremy said.

“He said he was glad to be far away from it,” Jeremy said, referring to the porn industry.

Reems’ new career was real estate, which he initially sold using his birth name, Herbert Streicher.

Eventually, though, he decided to use his famous name to sell real estate. “Maybe he wasn’t selling enough,” Jeremy said. “He used Harry Reems, and business was booming.”

Jeremy said Reems’ death was not a shock because he had known his health was deteriorating.

Reems’ friends held a memorial on Saturday after a performance of a stage play that tells his infamous story — “Deep Throat Sex Scandal” — at the Zephyr Theatre in West Hollywood, California.