Although she was primarily known for her adult film work, she made a successful transition to mainstream projects and has been called "porn's most famous crossover".

[2] Born Marilyn Ann Briggs[3] in Providence, Rhode Island,[4][5] Chambers was raised in Westport, Connecticut,[6] in a middle-class household.

She was the youngest of three children, a brother, Bill Briggs (keyboardist for 1960s Boston band The Remains), and a sister, Jann Smith.

[10] While in high school, she landed some modeling assignments and a small role in the film The Owl and the Pussycat (1970),[3] in which Chambers was credited as Evelyn Lang.

Chambers was highly dubious about accepting a role in a pornographic film, fearing it might ruin her chances at breaking into the mainstream.

But she was turned on by the fantasy of the story and decided to take a chance, under the condition that she receive a hefty salary and 10 percent of the film's gross.

[20] The porn industry and viewing public were shocked by the then-taboo spectacle of a white woman having sex with a black man.

[22] Although she said at the time the film would help "sell a lot more soap", Procter & Gamble quickly dropped her after discovering her double life as an adult-film actress,[3] and the advertising industry was scandalized.

[15] The fact that Chambers's image was so well known from Ivory Snow[23] boosted the film's ticket sales, and led to several jokes on television talk shows.

[11][12] Green Door, along with Deep Throat, released the same year, and The Devil in Miss Jones, ushered in what is commonly known as the porno chic era.

It also helped set Chambers apart from her contemporaries Linda Lovelace and Georgina Spelvin as the wholesome, all-American girl next door.

In retaliation, the brothers created a documentary in 1976 called Inside Marilyn Chambers, which was composed of alternate shots and outtakes from Green Door and Eve, as well as interviews with some of her co-stars.

This was done without Chambers's knowledge or approval but when she learned of it just prior to its release, she negotiated a deal that would offer her 10% of the gross as long as she would contribute interviews to the film and promote it nationally.

"[18] Chambers reunited with the Mitchell Brothers in 1979 for two 30-minute features called Beyond de Sade and Never a Tender Moment, which explored BDSM.

[24] Chambers dreamed of having a career in mainstream films and believed her celebrity as the star of Behind the Green Door and the Ivory Snow girl would be a stepping stone to other endeavors.

Her biggest opportunity came in 1976 when it was announced in Variety that she was to star alongside Rip Torn in City Blues, a film about a young hooker defended by a seedy lawyer.

[25] Chambers claimed that Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel brought her in to talk about a role in the 1978 film Goin' South, then asked her for cocaine and grilled her about whether her orgasms in Behind the Green Door were real; she was angered to the point where she stormed out of the interview.

"The Hardcore people wanted a woman with orange hair who chews gum, swings a big purse, and wears stiletto heels.

Chambers won the starring role in film director David Cronenberg's low-budget Canadian movie, Rabid, which was released in 1977.

[3] Cronenberg stated that he wanted to cast Sissy Spacek in the film lead, but the studio vetoed his choice because of her accent.

"[9] In 1974, she starred in the dinner theater production of The Mind With the Dirty Man in Las Vegas and received favorable reviews for her work.

[30] The one-woman show Sex Surrogate, in 1979, caused controversy in Las Vegas as it featured full-frontal nudity, which was banned from all major hotel casino showrooms.

[33][34] Chambers had some chart success with the disco single "Benihana" in 1976, produced by Michael Zager on the Roulette Records label.

[35] Billboard magazine said, "She... sings quite nicely in a sexy little voice in this catchy disco tribute to an oriental lover man.

Mayor Willie Brown proclaimed a "Marilyn Chambers Day" for her unique place in San Francisco history, and praised her for her "artistic presence", her "vision", and her "energy".

Chambers claimed that the more laid-back pace of these roles suited her as "there's a lot less pressure on you to perform [and] you don't have to be young and skinny".

"[46] Chambers' arrest came three days before the Board of Supervisors were to vote on a proposed ordinance to eliminate police permits for adult bookstores and theaters.

In the 2008 United States presidential election, she was again Charles Jay's running mate, this time as an alternate write-in candidate to his primary national Boston Tea Party running mate Thomas L. Knapp in the states of Arkansas, Hawaii, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah.

In the mid-1980s, Chambers was "on her way to an early grave, consuming massive amounts of alcohol and cocaine daily when she met her husband-to-be",[18] William Taylor, Jr., a truck driver, on a blind date.

[55] The LA County Coroner's autopsy revealed Chambers died of a cerebral hemorrhage caused by an aneurysm related to heart disease.