After leaving the military he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as an ambulance driver and forklift operator. At age 16, escaping a troubled home life, John joined the army and spent the next three years in Germany with the Signal Corps. John's mother married Harold Bowman when John was eight. It was a troubled marriage lasting only two years. When John was two, his mother married Harold Holmes and changed her children's last names. Holmes was born John Curtis Estes on Augin Ashville, Ohio. He is said to have had sex with as many as 3,000 women during his career. Holmes rose to stardom because of his legendary penis size, which was promoted as the largest in the business - as big as 12.5 inches. His filmography is comprised of as many as 2,500 hardcore movies and film loops over nearly 20 years, from 1969-1988.
John Holmes is the biggest male star to have ever worked in the adult industry, achieving household name status during the 1970s-80s.
