Devereaux was introduced to the adult industry when her then-husband, Patrick, got a job working as a bouncer in a strip club and Devereaux would occasionally visit him there. The other dancers encouraged her to enter the club's amateur contest which she won; this led to her working there to make extra money.[1]: 554 A number of established porn stars visited the club as feature dancers—names such as Victoria Paris, Jeanna Fine, and Samantha Strong.[1]: 555
Seeing the extra money that the features made, Devereaux sent pictures of herself to Hustler magazine for their "Beaver Hunt" feature, which was published. At the same time Devereaux came in fifth in Déjà Vu's national Stripper of the Year. She then flew out to Los Angeles at Joey Silvera's request (he had seen pictures Devereaux had sent of herself to Jim South), where she made her first on-camera scene with Silvera in Fashion Sluts 7.[2]
In 1998, Devereaux was infected with HIV during a scene with Marc Wallice.[3]
Now known as Karen Stagliano, she is also the co-owner of Evil Angel, a production company, with her husband John Stagliano.[4]
Devereaux grew up "in a small town a couple hours outside of Chicago," where she had a strict upbringing and attended a private Catholic high school.[1]: 552
She attended college in the Midwest, got her bachelor's degree in Biology[6] from a college in Missouri, then attended one year of medical school.[1]: 552 Before starting medical school, she had married her boyfriend Patrick.[1]: 553 After she had appeared in a number of films, Devereaux was dismissed from medical school after the school accused her of cheating on a test; Devereaux claims the charge was rigged and that the real reason she was dismissed was due to her involvement in pornography.[1]: 559 Soon afterwards, Devereaux divorced her husband; she later said that "Patrick was too much of a pushover personality-wise, and we'd been having problems financially."[1]: 560
She married former porn star and current director John Stagliano on November 26, 2008.[7] She now is known as Karen Stagliano.[3]
References
^ abcdefgMcNeil, Legs; Jennifer Osborne (2006). The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Industry. with Peter Pavia. New York: ReganBooks. ISBN0-06-009660-8.
