Nina Hartley is an American pornographic actress, pornographic film director and sex educator. She made her foray into the world of pornographic movies during her junior year of nursing school, in 1984. Her debut performance was in the film Educating Nina, which was produced by the veteran porn star Juliet Anderson (better known as Aunt Peg), and this proved to be a massive hit. Since then she has gone on to feature in over 400 first-run adult films, and has become one of the most enduring and recognizable performers in the industry.
She said in an interview that she chose the name “Nina” because it was easy for Japanese tourists to say during the time she was a dancer in San Francisco. She chose “Hartley” because she liked the popular camera commercials Mariette Hartley was making with James Garner at the time.