Lexington Steele

Clifton Todd Britt, better known by his stage name Lexington Steele, is an American pornographic actor, director, producer, and former stockbroker. He is the owner of the adult production companies Mercenary Motion Pictures and Black Viking Pictures Inc.
In 2003, Steele became the first actor to receive the AVN Award for Male Performer of the Year three times. He has been inducted into the AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame. Steele has also made several mainstream appearances, including the film Crank: High Voltage and episodes of Weeds and Nip/Tuck.

Early life

Steele was born and raised in Morristown, New Jersey. After graduating from Morristown High School, he attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. After two years, he transferred to Syracuse University in New York. In 1993, Steele graduated from Syracuse's College of Arts and Sciences with Bachelor of Arts degrees in history and African American studies.

Career

Steele started out in finance as a stockbroker trainee at a brokerage firm. After earning his Series 7 trading license, he transitioned to working for Oppenheimer Financial at the World Trade Center. Steele believes he would've been a victim of the September 11 attacks had he continued working as a stockbroker.
In a 2015 interview in AVN magazine, Steele commented about his transition into the adult industry, "Once I was licensed, it opened the door to a whole new recreational side of the industry. The guy who trained me invited me to a party in a hotel suite, and it ended up being a sex party like the ones in The Wolf of Wall Street. It wasn't long before a bigger director from Los Angeles gave me a job and suggested I attend the annual porn industry convention in Las Vegas" and with regard to his decision to switch careers and industries and in consideration for how lucrative securities trading can be, Steele stated, "I tell them it's not like I was already a master of the universe. I was working 12 to 14 hours six days a week. I made six figures, but my quality of life wasn't commensurate".
Steele has said that his stage name came about back during the days when he worked as a stockbroker when he took the subway to visit a client, who was located in Midtown Manhattan and, Steele said, "I got off the subway at Madison , on the corner of Madison and Lexington Avenues" , where he was struck by the sound of Lexington as a first name. Steele moved to Los Angeles and joined the industry full-time, initially shooting mainly for companies such as West Coast Productions and director Spunky, before appearing on videotapes produced by Anabolic and Diabolic. At the beginning of 2008, he joined Red Light District Video for a brief period. He appeared in about 1,300 videos in his pornographic career. He is known for his highly productive ejaculation capability and is popular on set.

Directing

Steele directs and performs exclusively for his own production company, Mercenary Motion Pictures, which he founded in 2009 and serves as chairman and CEO since 2009, with the company reporting annual net profits of $2.6 million in 2011. In 2013, he joined the Evil Angel roster of directors.

Mainstream appearances

Steele has worked as a model on the side and acted in minor TV roles. He appeared in two episodes of Showtime's Weeds in 2003 playing himself at a movie shoot filming a scene with Jessica Jaymes and Kirsten Price. He appeared in the 2009 feature film Crank: High Voltage and also appeared in an episode of the FX series Nip/Tuck as a male escort at a party.

Personal life

Steele dated for several years and was at one point engaged to adult film actress and director Vanessa Blue. The two appeared together on Playboy TV and in several movies. On June 20, 2006, Blue announced that she would be leaving Steele's production company Mercenary Pictures. In 2008, Steele and Blue filed federal lawsuits against each other over the ownership of numerous videos that were released under Mercenary. The suit was ultimately settled in March 2009 after the two met with an alternative dispute resolution jurist.
In October 2016, Steele and French Canadian actress Savana Styles launched Mercenary Enterprises, a division of Mercenary Pictures focusing on fetish-themed productions. In a 2017 interview with AVN, Steele revealed he had been married to Styles for a year.
In 2019, Steele underwent hip replacement surgery. During recovery, he experienced complications that required another operation. In November 2019, a crowdfunding campaign through GoFundMe was launched to help pay Steele's medical expenses.

Politics

During his time studying African-American studies, Steele developed an awareness of American politics and African-American rights. In 2008, he expressed his support for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2000	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Won
2001	West Side	Best Couples Sex Scene - Video	Won
2002	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Won
2003	Babes in Pornland: Interracial Babes	Best Anal Sex Scene	Won
2003	Lex the Impaler 2	Best Couples Sex Scene	Won
2003	Balls Deep 5	Best Director - Non-Feature	Nomitated
2003	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Won
2004	Chasing the Big Ones 17	Best Sex Scene Coupling - Video	Nomitated
2004	Initiations 12	Best Three-Way Sex Scene - Video	Nomitated
2004	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Nomitated
2005	Lex Steele XXX 3	Best Anal Sex Scene	Won
2005	Invasion!	Best Couples Sex Scene	Nomitated
2006	Lex Steele XXX 5	Best Anal Sex Scene	Nomitated
2006	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Nomitated
2008	Lexington Steele	The Jenna Jameson Crossover Star of the Year	Nomitated
2009	Lexington Steele	AVN Hall of Fame inductee	Won
2009	Lex the Impaler 3	Best Couples Sex Scene	Nomitated
2009	Pole Position POV 8	Best POV Sex Scene	Nomitated
2009	Lexington Steele	The Jenna Jameson Crossover Star of the Year	Nomitated
2010	Breast Worship 2	Best Anal Sex Scene	Nomitated
2010	Lex the Impaler 4	Best Couples Sex Scene	Nomitated
2012	Lex the Impaler 6	Best Anal Sex Scene	Nomitated
2012	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Nomitated
2013	Alexis Ford Darkside	Best Anal Sex Scene	Nomitated
2013	Massive Asses 6	Best Boy/Girl Sex Scene	Nomitated
2013	The Avengers XXX: A Porn Parody	Best Supporting Actor	Nomitated
2014	Double Black Penetration	Best Double Penetration Sex Scene	Nomitated
2014	Lex Turns Evil	Best Double Penetration Sex Scene	Nomitated
2014	Slutty & Sluttier 19	Best Double Penetration Sex Scene	Nomitated
2014	Lex Poles Little Holes	Best Three-Way Sex Scene - B/B/G	Nomitated
2014	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Nomitated
2015	Allie	Best Anal Sex Scene	Nomitated
2015	The Lexecutioner 2	Best Anal Sex Scene	Nomitated
2015	Rump Raiders 5	Best Anal Sex Scene	Nomitated
2015	Nikki Benz Jungle Fever	Best Boy/Girl Sex Scene	Nomitated
2015	Lex's Point of View	Best POV Sex Scene	Won
2015	Anal Boot Camp 2	Best Three-Way Sex Scene - G/G/B	Nomitated
2015	Lex the Impaler 8	Best Three-Way Sex Scene - G/G/B	Nomitated
2016	Angela 2	Best Double Penetration Sex Scene	Nomitated
2016	Lex's Point of View 3	Best POV Sex Scene	Nomitated
2016	Lex Is Up Her Ass	Best Three-Way Sex Scene - G/G/B	Nomitated
2016	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Nomitated
2017	Orgy Masters 8	Best Group Sex Scene	Won

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2004	Up Your Ass 18	Best Threeway Sex Scene	Won
2004	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Won
2005	XXX	Sex Scene	Won
2009	Lexington Steele	XRCO Hall of Fame inductee	Won

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2004	Lex the Impaler 2	Best Sex Scene	Won
2004	Up Your Ass 19	Best Anal Sex Scene	Won
2004	Lexington Steele	American Male Performer of the Year	Won

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2005	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Won
2005	Lexington Steele	Favorite Male Performer	Won
2005	Lexington Steele	Male Fan Favorite	Won

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2005	Lexington Steele	Best Actor	Won
2006	Lexington Steele	Best International Director	Won

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2004	Lexington Steele	Best Actor	Won
2014	Lexington Steele	Best Male Performer	Nomitated
2015	Lexington Steele	Best Male Performer	Nomitated

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2008	Lexington Steele	Crossover Male	Won
2008	Lexington Steele	Urban Spice Award – Visionary	Won

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2009	Lexington Steele	Best American Male Performer	Won

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2010	MILF Magnet 4	Best Couple Sex Scene	Won
2010	Lexington Steele	Best Gonzo Director	Won
2011	Lexington Steele	Director of the Year	Won
2017	Lex'd	Best Couples Scene	Won
2017	LexingtonSteele.com	Best Male Website	Won

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2015	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Won

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2008	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Nomitated
2010	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Nomitated
2011	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Nomitated
2012	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Nomitated
2014	Samantha Saint is Completely Wicked	Best Scene - Vignette Release	Nomitated
2014	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Nomitated
2015	Allie	Best Scene - Non-Feature Release	Nomitated
2015	Lexington Steele	Male Performer of the Year	Nomitated
2017	Suicide Squad XXX: An Axel Braun Parody	Best Actor - Parody Release	Nomitated
2018	Interracial Fiends	Interracial Release of the Year	Nomitated
2024	Lexington Steele: The Connoisseur 2	Best Sex Scene - Performer Showcase	Nomitated