Trailblazing porn director Candida Royalle has died of ovarian cancer at the age of 64, after tracking down her long-lost mother and discovering she had already perished of the same disease

• Candida Royalle, a former porn star who went on to direct adult films, died early Monday morning of ovarian cancer; she was 64 years old 
• Royalle - whose real name is Candice Vandala - had been working at a documentary on the search for her biological mother
• A private detective helped track down her mother, but not before the woman died of ovarian cancer herself
• It's unclear if the documentary will be released posthumously 
• Royalle was one of the first female pornography directors in the industry 

Candida Royalle, a former porn star who went on to become a pioneering female director in the adult film industry, died early Monday morning at the age of 64.

Royalle - whose real name is Candice Vandala - succumbed to ovarian cancer not long after tracking down the mother who abandoned her as a child and discovering that she had already died of the same disease. 

At the time of her death, Royalle had been working on a documentary about the search for her mother and friends say most of the footage had already been shot. It is unclear whether the film will be released posthumously. 

Pioneer: Candida Royalle, a former porn star and one of the first female directors in the adult film industry, has died at the age of 64 after battling ovarian cancer 

Legend: Royalle, whose real name was Candice Vandala, grew up in New York City and trained in dance and music before entering the adult film industry in 1974 

Royalle was raised in New York City by her father, a professional jazz drummer, and step-mother and studied dance at music at the High School of Art and Design, Parsons School of Design as well as the City University of New York.

As a young woman in the 1970s, she started acting in erotica - going on to star in some 25 adult films. 

In 1984, she decided to try her hand at producing the movies herself, and founded Femme Productions in 1984 - becoming one of the first female directors in the porn industry. 

'Everyone assumes I was probably given a hard time by the adult film biz but they always treated me fairly, even if they at first doubted me,' Royalle said of her time in the industry, on her website. 'They've come to respect that I was the first one with vision and recognition of what would become the "couples" market.'

Somber: At the time of her death, Vandala was working on a movie about the mother who left her at 18 months. A private detective helper her track her mother down, but not before the woman died of ovarian cancer as well

After becoming a director, Royalle became a feminist figure in the industry and was well known for her outspoken support of female porn workers. 

When she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Royalle intensified her search for her long-lost mother, fearing that she did not have much time left. 

'Nothing replaces a mother’s love,' Royalle told the New York Post of the film. 'There is nothing worse than thinking your mother didn’t want you.' 

With the help of a private detective she was able to track down the woman who abandoned her at 18 months, but discovered that she had already died of ovarian cancer herself. 

She was documenting the search for a movie titled While You Were Gone.  

Supporting women: After starting her own adult film production company in the 80s, Royalle became a feminist figure in the industry and an outspoken defender of female porn workers. Pictured above accepting an award for her work in 2009