LOS ANGELES — Friends and relatives of retired performer Jeff Marton, known in the late 1990s as popular male talent “Hatman” due to his ubiquitous signature hat, have reported he has passed away in his San Fernando Valley home after an illness.
A thin, tall, brown-eyed performer with a goatee and character actor looks from a 1950s film noir, Marton donned his hat even during some of his sex scenes, occasionally putting it on his costars. This distinctive gimmick made him one of the more recognizable actors of the most successful period of the DVD era.
Jeff “Hatman” Marton began his career in 1996 and retired in 2003. He was associated with that era’s gonzo production companies like Outlaw Productions, Nasty Pixxx and Anabolic. He often worked in titles released by director Christoph Clark.
Marton was also widely known in the industry as one of the leading spokespeople for Evil Angel.
Marton is mentioned in David Foster Wallace’s 1998 Premiere magazine article about his visit to an adult industry convention in Vegas, later revised as his essay “Big Red Son” for the “Consider the Lobster” collection. In the original article, Hatman is misidentified as director Greg Dark.
According to his friend, comedian, podcaster and industry personality Yoshi Obayashi, Marton had been ailing for several weeks and passed this afternoon at home accompanied by a hospice nurse and younger brother Jason.
"Jeff Marton was truly one of a kind. He would give you his shirt off his back for you," studio head and producer Jules Jordan told XBIZ today. "When I joined Evil Angel in the early '00s he was working there and that is when I met him. The stories he would have about John Stagliano, Joey Silvera, John Leslie and Rocco [Siffredi] were incredible. He really was a free spirit and enjoyed being in the industry — he was definitely an industry ambassador. He later went on to work for me after my Evil Angel departure and I valued his employment and insight.
"I was hoping to visit him this week," Jordan added. "Joey [Silvera] was with him on Thanksgiving and he said he was in good spirits."
