Lisa De Leeuw, real name Lisa Trego, was born in Moline Illinois. She grew up in the midwest, having an average childhood and worked at various jobs including at a car dealership where she was fired for not having sex with her boss.
Her dream at the time was to get into films but she was about 50 pounds overweight and had no training. She began doing swedish hardcore films after shedding the weight on a vitamins only diet. This was during the late 1970's and she took up the name Lisa de Leeuw for these films. She married her boyfriend and they began appearing in full feature films by 1979. Her husband rarely appeared by Lisa was a hit.
In 1984 they divorced and Lisa took a year off, put on weight and married a musician. Lisa continued to make movies until 1991 when she became less and less popular due to the change in the porn scene. The golden age of plots and production values was over and the gonzo porn era was beginning with it's low budgets, emphasis on youth and more outrageous sex acts.
Lisa de Leeuw was also known to be a heavy IV drug user and she died in 1993 due to complications from AIDS. It's believed she contracted AIDS thru her drug user. She is the only female pornstar to ever die of AIDS.