There’s probably only one man in America whose resume includes a stint as a special-education teacher, starring in over 1,600 movies and releasing a rap song that made the charts.

Of course, he has also had sex with over 4,000 women, on- and off-screen, and is probably most famous for the size of, well, a certain male body part.

That man is Ron Jeremy, the world’s most unlikely sex symbol and the subject of a new documentary, “Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy,” released on DVD March 25.

At first glance, Jeremy looks like someone you’d see on the street and not give a second glance to. He’s shorter than average, noticeably overweight and not conventionally attractive. This leads naturally to the question of just how a regular Joe like Jeremy turned into the world’s most famous porn star.

As the man himself explains on the DVD, his dream was always to be an actor. After graduating from college with undergraduate degrees in theatre and education, Jeremy went on to earn a master’s in education. “I wanted something to fall back on in case the acting thing didn’t work out,” he explains. “But after I taught for a year, I realized it wasn’t really what I wanted to do, so I decided to pursue acting.”

Jeremy started off in off- and off-off-Broadway plays, but soon realized that he wasn’t getting the exposure to the big time that he needed.

So naturally, when an opportunity came along for a part in an adult film, Jeremy took it, no questions asked. And the rest is history.

“Porn Star” delves into the specifics of Jeremy’s 25-year adult-film career, featuring interviews with everyone from Grandpa Munster to soft-porn mogul Larry Flynt and fellow adult-film actors and actresses.

Not surprisingly, almost everyone interviewed has nothing but positive things to say about Jeremy, both on-screen and off. “He’s just such a nice guy,” porn legend Jenna Jameson comments.

Even Jeremy’s father is interviewed, answering the question of exactly what his parents think of his occupation. “I think it’s great,” Jeremy’s father says. “If it helps him achieve his acting dream, more power to him.”

Jeremy himself provides the most material for the documentary, as he tells his story in brutally honest terms. As a whole, he is portrayed as a real person, rather than as the porn star the world knows him as.

Truly, this may be the area in which the documentary succeeds the most. Jeremy is shown as a whole person, rather than as just a porn star or just a middle-aged man. He expresses loneliness, regret, hope and satisfaction throughout, and this portrayal is what really gives viewers a glimpse into his real life.

His realness comes through in the interviews with his friends, family and colleagues, as well. As one adult-film actor comments, “Ron is one of those people who thinks the world disappears when he closes his eyes. He’d rather be out somewhere at all hours of the day and night than feel like he’s missing something.”

This seems to be the aspect of Jeremy that comes through the most in the film — he is constantly on the go, sleeping only a few hours a night.

A testament to this on-all-the-time persona is Jeremy’s homemade phone book, which he eagerly explains to the audience. The book is made from a regular binder, but it is stuffed so full that pages are falling out everywhere. Each page is scrawled with handwriting in every available space. “What I do is write someone’s name and number, then when I meet one of their friends, I draw a line from the first person’s information to the friend’s information. That way I can tell how I know people,” Jeremy comments.

In truth, it is easy to come away from the documentary feeling a bit sorry for its star. Although Jeremy admits that he is somewhat of the average-man’s hero (“When people see me, an average guy, getting all this action, they realize that anyone can do it,” he says), he seems to still be working toward a career in mainstream movies. This career will be hard to come by, however, with the porn stigma that’s attached to his name.

Overall, “Porn Star” succeeds admirably in providing a realistic and compassionate portrait of one of America’s most interesting characters.

Grade: A/B