Joe Davian

Joseph Davian was born on January 7, 1934. His family were Eastern European Jews who fled France at the end of World War II when Davian was eleven years old. Joe's family eventually settled in Nice on the south coast in 1948. Davian attended Lycee M. Sebastien where he excelled as an athlete and proved to be especially adept at hammer throwing. Joe subsequently joined his local athletic club and, after mastering the craft of hammer throwing, was selected by France to represent the country in international junior competitions. From 1951 to 1955 Davian always ranked in the top three throwers in Europe in the Under-21 category. However, Joe's burgeoning career as a top hammer thrower was prematurely cut short after he suffered a serious injury to his right shoulder in 1956. Davian then enrolled in a school for athletic instructors and, upon completing the qualification, returned to his local athletic club in Nice as an assistant throwing coach. Joe went on to join the French junior national team as an assistant coach for throws. Following a two year stint as a guest coach and lecturer at the Institute for Physical Education in Romania, Davian returned to France in 1964 and acquired Bachelor and Masters degrees in a STAPS (Sciences and Techniques of Sports and Physical Activities) course from the University of Nice between the years 1965 and 1971. Joe set up an athletics consultancy to advise coaches and throwers. Davian soon found himself in demand with many athletic federations across Europe: He lectured at the Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports in Israel, advised the country's elite shot putters in Germany, worked with world-class javelin throwers in Finland, and coached discus athletes in Poland. Joe started traveling to America in 1973 and eventually decided to move to New York City. After facing difficulty with his attempts to break into the elite level of US track and field athletics, Davian found his way into the New York porn industry through his mobster neighbor Joe Peraino, who provided Davian with the necessary contacts to break into the adult film industry. Joe directed his first explicit hardcore movie in the mid-1970's. This was followed by a series of raw and shocking roughies that were full of all kinds of kinky and perverse content. After making a handful of X-rated features for producer Murray Offen, Joe set up his own production company in the early 1980's and made a few more porn films prior to dropping out of the adult entertainment industry in 1982. In the wake of quitting porn, Davian went on to become one of the most prominent and successful throwing coaches in the North East: Over the course of thirty years he worked for colleges, athletic clubs, universities, and ultimately USA Track & Field. In addition, Joe also raised a family. Davian died in January, 2020.