William Glen Harold Herrington (July 14, 1969 – March 2, 2018), was an American model and pornographic film actor.[4][5] In the late 2000s, his appearances in various gay pornography movies led him to become a popular Internet meme on video-sharing websites such as Japan's Nico Nico Douga, where he was referred to by the sobriquet "Aniki" (兄貴, lit. "older brother"). Since then, at least 15,000 short mash-up parodies of his clips—known as "Gachimuchi Pants Wrestling" (Japanese: ガチムチパンツレスリング, Hepburn: Gachimuchi Pantsu Resuringu, lit. "Gutsy Pants Wrestling")—have been produced by users.[6]
Early life and career
Herrington was born in North Babylon, New York. Herrington grew up in Long Island learning karate from his father, a sensei. He had interests in boxing, wrestling and martial arts, but did not start bodybuilding until he was 24 years old, after moving to New York City.[4]
Herrington began his erotic career when his then girlfriend surreptitiously submitted his nude pictures to Playgirl magazine. The photographs won him a "Real Men of the Month" contest and a $500 prize.[4] His appearance in the magazine caught the eye of famed photographer Jim French, but it was two years before Herrington posed for his first Colt calendars for French.[4] Soon after, Herrington was filming hardcore gay adult films for All Worlds Video, and appearing on mainstream TV programs such as Love Connection and the Ricki Lake talk show.[4][7] In 2002, Herrington said the adult film industry helped him to understand his bisexuality.[5]
Among his starring roles is the Roman emperor in the Danish feature film HotMen CoolBoyz (2000). Herrington's scene in Conquered (2001) with Nino Bacci, Colton Ford, Blake Harper, and Jay Ross won the "Best Group Sex Scene" at the 2002 Adult Erotic Gay Video Awards ("Grabbys").[8] Occasionally, Herrington performed striptease acts at gay clubs in the United States.[9][10]
Herrington gained fame in Japan as an Internet meme,[11] after a clip from one of his movies, Workout: Muscle Fantasies 3, was posted on Nico Nico Douga, a Japanese video sharing website, on August 10, 2007.[12] At least 15,000 mash-up parody videos of him have been made, many of which utilize deliberate mishearings (soramimi) of lines from his films.[13] Most notably from Workout: Muscle Fantasies 3 and Lords of the Lockerroom. However, the scenes from the movies were heavily edited with another Japanese meme at the time with censorship, "Aka-san" (赤さん, lit. mr. baby), shown in the 4th film of Herrington that was excavated by the Japanese: Buckshot Minute Man Series 18;[citation needed] this would become practice on the videos on Nico Nico Douga. In addition to this, carefully selecting the title of each video to sometimes be based solely on one: the character name, and two: what the person/people in the video does/do (e.g. "Pants Wrestling Aniki Workout Edition" (パンツレスリングの兄貴 ワークアウト編, pantsu resuringu no aniki wãkuauto hen)). The soramimi reflects on several references: from Japanese commercial products to subtle references to Hawaii Five-O. Herrington is affectionately called "Pants Wrestling Aniki" (パンツレスリングの兄貴, lit. pants wrestling older brother) or "Aniki" (兄貴, lit. older brother) among the Nico Nico Douga community, and most of his videos are deliberately mistagged with "Wrestling Series" (レスリングシリーズ, resuringu shirīzu), "Forest Fairy" (森の妖精, mori no yōsei), "Philosophy" (哲学, tetsugaku), or all three.[14]
The three most notable soramimi from Billy Herrington that comes from Workout: Muscle Fantasies 3, that would later make up the "Fairy Philosophy's Sanshin" (妖精哲学の三信, yōsei tetsugaku no sanshin) tag, are "Huh? Like embarrassing me, huh?" (あぁん？最近だらしねぇな？, aan? saikin darashi nee na? "What? You are slacking off these days?"); "You got me mad now." (歪みねぇな, yugami nee na, "You are not distorted."); and "That's not right, man." (仕方ないね, shikata nai ne, "It can't be helped.").[14][15][16][user-generated source][17][user-generated source][18][user-generated source][19][user-generated source]
In February 2009, Herrington visited Japan to attend a live online event hosted by Nico Nico Douga and garage kit maker Good Smile Company.[20] Herrington said that he was flattered and humbled by his fans' creativity.[21][22] A limited-edition Herrington figure was announced for a July 2009 release.[23] Two other limited-edition Herrington action figures were announced for the Halloween and Christmas holiday. The Halloween figure was released in October 2009 and the Christmas one was released in December 2009; both are Nico Nico Chyokuhan exclusives.[24]
In total, there are 4 figmas related to Billy Herrington: The base undergarment figma that was released in July 2009 that alludes to Herrington's famous appearance in Workout: Muscle Fantasies 3;[25] the leather harness Birthday figma that is associated with the infamous smile produced by Herrington that alludes to Herrington's appearance in Buckshot Minute Man Series 18, was released in August 2009;[26] the Halloween figma that does not allude to anything; and finally the hoodie, and booty pants with the same wrench, found in Buckshot Minute Man Series 18, Christmas & New Year figma that was released in December 2009.[27]
In April 2013, Herrington went back to Japan for Nico Nico Chokaigi, under his own event: Billy Cruise 2. He was able to meet Nishimura again, and ZUN of the Touhou Project acclaim.[citation needed]
As of February 2023, over 15,000 Gachimuchi Pants Wrestling videos had been uploaded on Nico Nico Douga alone.[6]
During the evening of March 1, 2018, Herrington was involved in a car accident on California State Route 111 in Rancho Mirage. He was found trapped in the wreckage and was brought to a Palm Springs hospital, where he died the next day.[11][30] News broke of his death one day later.[31] Fans responded with hundreds of tributes across video sharing sites and message boards. One tribute video uploaded on Nico Nico Douga accumulated over 80,000 views in less than one week.[6] Services for Herrington were held at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City, California.[32]
Legacy
Frame from Workout: Muscle Fantasies 3 and revamped Nico Nico Douga thumbnail. Characters: "Pants Wrestling Aniki" (パンツレスリングの兄貴) (right) and "Kiyoshi Kazuya" (木吉カズヤ) (left).
It is not known how much of Herrington's influence affected Japan, but it led to visual novels, TV shows, manga, anime, and video games in Japan to reference Billy Herrington, and his opponent Danny Lee.[33] He is survived by a son.
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