Introduction
Amanda Hardy, known professionally as Shyla Stylez (September 23, 1982 — November 9, 2017) was a Canadian-born American pornographic film actress from Armstrong, British Columbia. A prolific hardcore performer, she appeared in more than 400 adult films during her career and was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2016. Stylez passed away on 9 November 2017, at the age of 35.
Career
Stylez first became interested in entering the pornography industry in her teens, and later moved to Vancouver where she worked as both a stripper and a webcam model, in addition to appearing in nude pictorials in adult magazines such as Hustler and Swank. In her off-time, she would contact studios by email and phone to find out how to appear in films. Stylez shot her debut adult scene in 2001 and received her first AVN Award nominations in 2003, including one for Best New Starlet.
Stylez was involved in a sex scandal with former Orange County assistant-sheriff George Jaramillo, where she was noted as having had several sexual encounters with him.
Stylez signed on as exclusive contract performer for Jill Kelly Productions and later married its CEO, Bob Friedland, on October 25, 2002. The couple divorced in August 2003, but Friedland held Stylez to her contract, making it impossible for her to shoot hardcore scenes for anyone else. In September 2004, she met Michael Whiteacre, who cast her in a series of softcore late-night films in 2004 and 2005. In August 2005, Jill Kelly Productions filed for bankruptcy. Stylez returned to starring in hardcore movies the following year. Stylez was nominated at the 2007 XRCO Awards for Best Cumback. She hosted the Los Angeles independent TV show Un-Wired TV that same year.
In 2008, Stylez was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the AVN Awards. The following year, she was nominated for Female Performer of the Year at the XBIZ Awards, in addition to AVN Awards for her performances in the movies Curvy Girls, Full Streams Ahead and Pirates II. On 30 July 2009, Stylez was a guest on The Howard Stern Show along with fellow adult actress Gianna Michaels. In 2010, she was named by Maxim as one of the 12 top female stars in porn. Stylez was inducted into the Halls of Fame of the Urban X Awards and the AVN in 2011 and 2016, respectively. She retired from the adult industry in 2016.
Death
On 9 November 2017, Stylez was found unresponsive in her bed at her mother's house in Armstrong. She was pronounced dead shortly after, aged 35. The cause of death was not publicly reported.
Awards and nominations
- 2003 AVN Award nominee – Best New Starlet
- 2003 AVN Award nominee – Best Group Sex Scene, Video – Ass Worship 2
- 2004 AVN Award nominee – Best All-Girl Sex Scene, Video – When The Boyz Are Away, The Girlz Will Play 8
- 2007 AVN Award nominee – Best All-Girl Sex Scene, Video – Girlvana 2
- 2007 XRCO Award nominee – Best Cumback
- 2008 AVN Award nominee – Best Supporting Actress, Video – Coming Home
- 2008 AVN Award nominee – Best Interactive DVD – My Plaything: Shyla Stylez
- 2009 AVN Award nominee – Best Tease Performance – Curvy Girls
- 2009 AVN Award nominee – Best POV Sex Scene – Full Streams Ahead
- 2009 AVN Award nominee – Best Group Sex Scene – Pirates II
- 2009 XBIZ Award nominee – Female Performer of the Year
- 2010 AVN Award nominee – Best POV Sex Scene – Jack's POV 12
- 2011 AVN Award nominee – Best Anal Sex Scene – Big Butts Like It Big 6
- 2011 AVN Award nominee – Best Threeway Sex Scene – Pornstar Workout 2
- 2011 XRCO Award nominee – Orgasmic Analist
- 2011 Urban X Awards Hall of Fame
- 2016 AVN Hall of Fame
References
External links
- Shyla Stylez at IMDb
- Shyla Stylez at the Internet Adult Film Database
- Shyla Stylez at the Adult Film Database