She met Larry Flynt at age 17 in 1971, when she applied for a job as a go-go dancer at his Hustler club in Columbus, Ohio.

She was Hustler's first life-size centerfold, and as Publisher/Editor was involved with the development, management and publication of the magazine until her death; she ran the magazine and kept it afloat during Larry's "born again" experience brought on by a psychotic bipolar manic episode in 1977, his subsequent near-fatal crippling shooting in Georgia in 1978 and multiple bouts with bipolar disorder which also led to his campaign for President of the United States in 1984.

She was diagnosed with AIDS in 1983; Flynt stated that she contracted the disease from an untested blood transfusion during a hysterectomy, and that she always used clean needles when using drugs.

[4] Althea died at age 33 when she drowned in the bathtub at the couple's Bel-Air mansion in Los Angeles on June 27, 1987.

[6] Courtney Love portrayed Althea in the 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flynt, earning a Golden Globe nomination for her performance.