Amy Fisher

Amy Fisher
Fisher in 2004
Born
Amy Elizabeth Fisher

(1974-05-21) May 21, 1974 (age 50)
Merrick, New York, U.S.
Known forLong Island Lolita incident
Height5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)[1]
Spouse
Louis Bellera
​
​
(m. 2003; div. 2015)​
Children3

Amy Elizabeth Fisher (born May 21, 1974)[2] is an American woman, who, in 1992, at the age of 17, shot and severely wounded Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of Joey Buttafuoco, who had initiated a sexual relationship with the underaged Fisher in 1990.[3] Initially charged with first-degree attempted murder, she eventually pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated assault and served seven years in prison. Due to her age and her affair with a much older man, she became known in the tabloid media as "the Long Island Lolita". Fisher was paroled in 1999 and became a writer, a webcam model, and a pornographic actress.

Early life

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Fisher was born in Merrick, New York, on Long Island,[2] to Elliot and Roseann Fisher;[4] her father was Jewish while her mother's family, Fisher has said, was "a mixture of a lot of different things, including English."[5] As a 16-year-old student at Kennedy High School in Bellmore, New York,[6] Fisher allegedly met 35-year-old Joey Buttafuoco in 1990, when her father took his car for repairs to Buttafuoco's auto body shop; Fisher later said she had damaged her own car several times as a pretext to see him[7] and later admitted that they had an affair when she was still underage.[8]

Crime and prison

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In their conversations, Joey often complained about his wife, and occasionally casually insinuated to Fisher it would be nice if someone killed Mary Jo. In an effort to please Joey, the still underaged Fisher obtained a FIE Titan .25-caliber handgun[9] with the assistance of Peter Guagenti, a Brooklyn auto supply salesman who acted as her getaway driver.[10][11] When Mary Jo Buttafuoco answered the door, Fisher told her that Joey Buttafuoco was having an affair with Fisher's (imaginary) younger sister, providing a T-shirt advertising Buttafuoco's auto body shop as "proof." The conversation lasted about 15 minutes, during which Buttafuoco became increasingly angry. She finally told Fisher to leave and then turned her back to return to the house. In a panic, Fisher took out the gun and struck Buttafuoco twice with it, which caused the gun to go off. The bullet hit Mary Jo in the right side of the head, severely wounding but not killing her. Later Fisher said Buttafuoco fell on her.[12] Fisher dropped both the shirt and the gun and ran towards the car, but then returned for them and Guagenti drove off. Neighbors called 911; Buttafuoco was operated on all night, and although they could not remove the bullet, doctors were able to save her life.[13]

When interviewed by police, Joey Buttafuoco told them that Fisher could be the shooter. When Mary Jo Buttafuoco regained consciousness the next day, she recognized Fisher from a photo. Fisher was arrested and charged with attempted murder, and on September 23, 1992, after accepting a plea bargain, she pleaded guilty to first-degree assault.[12]

Paul Makely tape

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In September 1992, the tabloid television show Hard Copy broadcast a videotaped conversation between Fisher and Paul Makely, the owner of a gym in Massapequa. In the tape, recorded hours before she agreed to the plea in court, Fisher could be seen talking about her future, saying that she wanted to marry Makely so he could visit her in prison. Fisher explained that her lawyer believed requiring people to be married for such visits was unconstitutional and that she intended to challenge the law on this matter. Fisher could be seen on the tape saying: "That will keep my name in the press. I want my name in the press. Why? Because I can make a lot of money. I figure if I'm going through all this pain and suffering, I'm getting a Ferrari."[14][15][16]

Imprisonment

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On December 2, 1992, Fisher was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison.[17] She served seven years and was granted parole in May 1999 after Nassau County Court Judge Ira Wexner shortened her maximum sentence to 10 years, which made her immediately eligible for parole. Wexner acted after having found that Fisher had not been appropriately represented by her lawyer at the time of her 1992 guilty plea.[18]

Joey Buttafuoco denied having an affair with Fisher. In October 1992, the Nassau County District Attorney stated that Buttafuoco would not be prosecuted. However, in February 1993, the case against him was reopened due to rape charges made by Fisher. She testified against him in court and based on this testimony and hotel receipts (dated before Fisher's 17th birthday) with Buttafuoco's signature on them, Buttafuoco was charged with statutory rape. Buttafuoco pleaded guilty in October 1993. He served four months in prison.[19]

Life after prison

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After her release from prison, Fisher became a columnist for the Long Island Press. Her biography, If I Knew Then..., written by Robbie Woliver, was published in 2004[20] and became a New York Times bestseller. In 2003, Fisher married Louis Bellera. The couple had three children before divorcing in 2015.[21]

Fisher and Buttafuoco revisited

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In 2006, Fisher reunited with Mary Jo Buttafuoco in sessions televised for Entertainment Tonight and its spinoff, The Insider. Fisher said she wanted to heal and move on with her life. However, two years later, she said she felt "no sympathy for Mary Jo,"[22] without giving an explanation. Fisher and Joey Buttafuoco eventually reunited for the first time at the 2006 Lingerie Bowl for the coin toss.

In June and July 2011 Fisher appeared as a cast member in the fifth season of the reality-television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which aired on VH1.[23]

Sex tape and adult entertainment career

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Fisher in 2010

In October 2007, Red Light District Video published a press release stating that it intended to release a sex tape of the couple that Fisher's husband, Lou Bellera, had sold the company.[24] On October 31, frames from the video, showing Fisher naked, were posted at websites; on November 1, 2007, a teaser clip was released by Red Light District Video, showing Fisher naked while she showered and sunbathed. Visible were a tattoo around her navel and the results of breast surgery. On November 6, 2007, Fisher sued Red Light District and its owner, David Joseph, claiming copyright infringement and other damages.[25] But by November 8, 2007, amyfisher.com, a website, whose ownership Fisher had previously fought to win,[20] had begun pointing directly to the Red Light District website.[26]

In early January 2008, Fisher announced that she had settled with Red Light and agreed to do a related promotional appearance. The same announcement indicated that she and Bellera had reconciled.[19] The promotional appearance took place at Retox in New York City on January 4, 2008.[27] Clips of the video were played on The Howard Stern Show. On March 6, 2008, Fisher was a guest on the Stern show, and one topic of discussion was meant to be her video. After the first phone call, which was from Mary Jo Buttafuoco's daughter, Jessica, Fisher left the show, six minutes into her interview.[28]

On January 12, 2009, Fisher released a pay-per-view adult film, Amy Fisher: Totally Nude & Exposed.[27] She signed a deal with Lee Entertainment to become a stripper doing club shows at least once a month. Fisher said she planned to strip until her fans told her, "Dear, please put your clothes back on. You're too old."[29][30] In September 2010, DreamZone Entertainment released the adult film Deep inside Amy Fisher, calling it the first of eight such films Fisher would produce and in which she would star. The company had announced the movie in July 2010 under the working title The Making of Amy Fisher: Porn Star.[31] In June 2011, Fisher said she was no longer making adult films.[21] As of 2024, Amy Fisher is still a webcam model.[32]

Books and films

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Books by Amy Fisher
  • Fisher, Amy & Robbie Woliver (2004). If I Knew Then. iUniverse. ISBN 0-595-32445-2.
  • Fisher, Amy with Sheila Weller (1994). Amy Fisher: My Story. (Reprint edition.) ISBN 0-671-86559-5. (Originally published by Pocket Books in 1993; ISBN 0-671-86558-7.)
Books about Amy Fisher
  • Dominguez, Pier (2001). Amy Fisher: Anatomy of a Scandal: The Myth, the Media and the Truth Behind the Long Island Lolita Story. Writers Club Press. ISBN 0-595-18417-0.
  • Eftimiades, Maria (1992). Lethal Lolita: A True Story of Sex, Scandal and Deadly Obsession. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-95062-4.
Movies about Amy Fisher

According to Alan Ball, Fisher's story was an inspiration to him in writing the script for the 1999 film American Beauty.[33]

References

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  1. ^ "Amy Fisher stats". Adultfilmdatabase.com. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
  2. ^ a b "Amy Fisher: Reality Television Star, Criminal (1974–)". Biography.com (FYI / A&E Networks). Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  3. ^ "Amy Fisher, 'Long Island Lolita,' granted parole". CNN. 1999-05-06. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  4. ^ Schemo, Diana Jean (June 12, 1992). "Hidden and Haunted Behind the Headlines; Parents of an Accused Long Island Teen-Ager Are Prisoners of Sensation-Seekers". The New York Times. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  5. ^ In My Story, Fisher says her maternal grandfather "wasn't Italian, he was a mixture of a lot of different things, including English".
  6. ^ "Classics: 'Long Island Lolita' May 19, 1992" Archived May 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, WCBSTV.com, May 18, 2006
  7. ^ Barron, James (October 18, 1992). "Amy Fisher Case: Parable or Aberration?; How Shooting Lives On". The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  8. ^ "Buttafuoco Admits to Sex With Amy Fisher". The New York Times. October 6, 1993. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009. Retrieved February 21, 2009.
  9. ^ "Relive the Amy Fisher story 25 years later". Newsday. May 19, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  10. ^ Schemo, Diana Jean (June 13, 1992). "Man Held In Gun Sale To L.I. Girl". The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  11. ^ "Jail for Accomplice In Amy Fisher Case". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 5, 1993. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  12. ^ a b Schemo, Diana Jean (September 24, 1992). "Amy Fisher Pleads Guilty To Assault". The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  13. ^ Bell, Rachel. "Amy Fisher". truTV. Archived from the original on 2009-01-25. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  14. ^ "Amy Fisher Taped Saying She Deserves A Ferrari For Pain". Associated Press. September 25, 1992. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  15. ^ "Trial of Long Island teen takes strange twists Tape shows Fisher bragging about her notoriety". The Baltimore Sun. September 25, 1992. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  16. ^ "Secret videotape: Amy wants sex in prison". UPI. September 25, 1992. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  17. ^ McQuiston, John T. (December 2, 1992). "Amy Fisher Gets a Maximum of 15 Years". The New York Times. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  18. ^ McQuiston, John T. (May 11, 1999). "Amy Fisher Is Released After Almost 7 Years in Prison". The New York Times. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  19. ^ a b Davis, Richard (January 4, 2008). "Amy Fisher to promote sex tape with husband". CNN. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved February 21, 2009.
  20. ^ a b Kilgannon, Corey (2004-09-29). "Lolita's Chapter 2: Motherhood and Memoirs". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  21. ^ a b "Amy Fisher: 'I Need to Drink'". The Insider. Archived from the original on July 9, 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2011. 'In my private life I'm married... I have three children.' ... Amy has been married to her husband Louis since 2003.
  22. ^ "Amy Fisher: 'I Feel No Sympathy' for Mary Jo Buttafuoco". Fox News. 2008-02-11. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  23. ^ Ward, Kate (March 3, 2011). "'Celebrity Rehab': Michael Lohan, Amy Fisher, Bai Ling join season 5". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  24. ^ "Red Light District to Distribute Amy Fisher Sex Video". PR Newswire. 2007-10-31. Archived from the original on 2012-12-11. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  25. ^ Warren, Peter (2007-11-06). "Amy Fisher Files Complaint Against Red Light". Adult Video News. Archived from the original on November 9, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  26. ^ "Amy Fisher.com - lalate news exclusive about AmyFisher domain name". lalate. 2007-11-09. Archived from the original on January 7, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  27. ^ a b Boyka, Olga (2009-01-21). "Amy Fisher stars in a pay-per-view porn special". Daily News. New York City. Archived from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  28. ^ "Amy Fisher storms out of Howard Stern chat". United Press International. March 6, 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-09-15. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
  29. ^ "Amy Fisher: My Kids Are My Life But Porn Is My Business". TheBosh.com. February 3, 2009. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved February 21, 2009.
  30. ^ Valenti, John (2009-02-18). "Amy Fisher to tour country as high-paid stripper". Newsday. New York City / Long Island. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved February 21, 2009.
  31. ^ Lovece, Frank (September 29, 2010). "Amy Fisher visits 'Maury' to promote her adult films". Newsday. New York City / Long Island. Archived from the original on 2011-12-09. Retrieved September 14, 2017.(subscription required)
  32. ^ "Interact LIVE (when online) with Amy on her webcam (ADULT / SEX)". amyfishersex.com. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  33. ^ Koenig, Alex (2014-09-03). "Anything But Ordinary: American Beauty Screenwriter Alan Ball on the Film's 15th Anniversary". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
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