Her dream, like some many others, was to get in the movies. "I thought one of the studios would take me in and shape me up. Of course it doesn't work like that anymore, but I believed the old legends. I wore tight sweaters, went to Schwab's Drugstore (where Lana Turner was first noticed) and had a Coke but I wasn't discovered," Desiree recalled. "I discovered that you had to do a lot of fucking behind the scenes to get in front of the camera. Everybody's 'friend' wants to meet you and ball you, and they expect you to do that." She did land minor roles as eye candy in 70s B-movie exploitation flicks Caged Heat and Super Lady, but it was clear no Hollywood studio was going to come calling.
At the time, busty 34D-25-35 Desiree was working as a stripper at porn director Alex De Renzy's club The Playpen, and it wasn't long before her curvy figure and raunchy lesbian stageshows caught his eye. He ended up casting her as the star of the 1977 golden age of porn classic Pretty Peaches, which won newcomer Desiree the Adult Film Association of America's best actress award. De Renzy would later call her his "all-time greatest actress, the biggest stage presence I ever had." Originally cut in the US version, but restored in later European releases, Pretty Peaches included a rare early enema scene where Desiree shoots water out of her ass. "Me and my boyfriend used to give each other enemas. We liked it. That's how I got my name Cousteau (after the famed marine biologist). My boyfriend gave me that name because he said I was always under water," Desiree once admitted.
The success of her debut flick quickly saw Desiree Cousteau become one of the biggest stars of 1970s adult cinema. A string of lead roles followed in classics like Daddy's Little Girl and Ms. Magnificent. Away from work, Desiree didn't go in for the swinger lifestyle. "I'm just very old-fashioned and romantic," she once confessed, adding the kinkiest thing she got up to in her private life was an occassional play spanking session from her husband after flirting too much with other guys. It was this traditional grounding that was responsible for Desiree ultimately abandoning her adult career.
She became simply too big a star in the ever-growing porn business to keep what she did secret from her family. Her pictures even made it to ads in papers her conservative parents read. They were deeply upset and Desiree decided to quit. She shot her last feature, the mock autobiographical Inside Desiree Cousteau in 1979, although a few movies that were in the can that she had made earlier like Delicious and Sweet Alice kept her light burning through the early 1980s. Despite the huge demand from fans for a comeback, Desiree Cousteau never returned to porn again. She appeared under a variety of aliases over the years, which included Desiree Costeau, Deseree Cousteau, Desiree Cousteaus, Desiree Costau, Desiree Clearbranch and Deseree Clearbranch.
