After Holmes experienced setbacks due to drug and legal problems, Leslie inherited the mantle of the porn industry's top male superstar with the success of Talk Dirty To Me in 1980.

[5] In the mid 1970s, Leslie relocated to the Mill Valley area in California and began performing in adult films.

He appeared with some of the era's most noted porn stars, including fellow Ohioans Traci Lords and John "Johnny Wadd" Holmes, as well as Seka, Kay Parker, and Annette Haven.

His most noteworthy roles were in Obsessed (1977), Desires Within Young Girls (1977), A Coming of Angels (1977), Dracula Sucks (aka Lust At First Bite) (1978), Pretty Peaches (1979), Insatiable (1980), Nothing To Hide (1981), and Talk Dirty To Me, Part II (1982).

Despite much of his later work being in the gonzo genre in keeping with current trends in adult video — such as the "Fresh Meat" and "Crack Her Jack" series — Leslie continued to make feature films, or "sex dramas".