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This past week I phoned Paul Thomas, former adult performer and film director, also known as PT. I’m heading out to LA shortly and was calling to set up a date with him and his wife. Seeing the two of them when I’m out west is one of my favorite things. It starts sitting together in their backyard under the Los Angeles sun, catching up on what’s been happening since my last visit. Then strolling slowly through the Venice canals as PT pontificates on one thing or another and his wife and I roll our eyes at him, before we end up at a local restaurant lingering over a meal and drinks.
PT’s wife picked up his phone. I said I was calling to make a date with them. She told me she’d found PT dead in their home a few hours earlier. She spoke with disbelief. PT had endured a few health challenges in recent years and apparently had been feeling ill over the past few days, but nobody saw this coming. On the contrary, he’d recently suggested to me that we all take a biking holiday together in the south of France.
PT’s wife said she couldn’t believe she’d never get to speak with him again. I feel the same way. PT and I had a playful relationship from the very start. While some found PT’s arrogance to be a flaw in his character, I always found it endearing – a feature, not a bug. And not because I enjoy egotism – humility is one of my favorite traits. But because with PT, you could put a pin in his balloon of self-importance and it would fast deflate, leaving us both laughing.
I last texted PT a few weeks ago to ask him what he remembered about a director of one of the old adult films he’d acted in. PT wrote back that the director was short and fat and could be overly prescriptive in choreographing the sex scenes. Then he countered saying actually the man was tall and skinny and that he left the performers to direct the scene themselves. Either way, he said, it was too early in the day to be sure, and that he was too sober to think properly about these questions. He wrote, “You know me well enough to know that I’d like to make up all sorts of shit right now because it would make good copy, but I know you don’t want me to stray too far from facts.”
He closed the text saying “We have much to talk about. I’ll leave the light on for you when you next come to California.”
He was one of the true originals: a talented performer, adult film director, husband, father, and my friend. I’m April Hall, and this is a reprise of my interview with PT.
Please leave the light on for when we meet again.
This podcast is 169 minutes long.
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Paul Thomas
Paul Thomas, or PT as he’s typically known, is one of the iconic names of the adult film industry.
He was born Philip Toubus, and started out as a porn performer for the Mitchell Brothers in mid-1970s San Francisco. Until the last few years, was still in the business as a director.
During the past four decades, PT won every kind of adult award – from Best Actor to Best Director, and was inducted into every Hall of Fame the sex film industry has ever invented.
But there are two aspects to PT’s background that make his presence and success in adult film even more interesting.
First he came from a wealthy family – one that owned household-name businesses like Sara Lee and Jim Beam – and he was brought up in relative luxury.
And secondly, by the time PT started his career in sex films in his mid 20s, he’d already achieved considerable success and fame on stage in musical theater. He’d starred on Broadway in Hair and played the role of Peter in the 1973 film version of Jesus Christ Superstar. In fact, he was being groomed by the William Morris Agency in Hollywood for a big career in mainstream television and movies.
So with all the money and success, what motivated PT to move into the newly formed adult industry – a business frowned upon by much of mainstream society, not to mention full of legal and reputational risks for its participants?
It all comes down to a series of questions: Why? Why did he do it, when he had so many alternatives? Why did he stay in the business for so long? And what effect has it had on him? These questions have stayed with PT to this day.
I’ve known PT for years, and we’ve talked about doing an interview for almost as long as I’ve known him. We actually started once, but after over five hours of conversation, we realized that we hadn’t even reached the time he’d started school, so we scrapped the idea.
Recently though we decided to try again, and this time I got PT to agree to a strict format. I would pick ten areas of his life that have shaped him. Ten provocations – in keeping with the biblical theme of his most famous role in Jesus Christ Superstar. I would ask him whatever I liked about these subjects – and nothing would be off the table. We’d cover adult films, both as an actor and as a director, his troubled relationships, his experiences with drugs, his multiple times in jail, and much, much more.
And we’d finally see if we could get closer to answering the question that has plagued PT for so long: why the hell did he go into, and stay in, the adult film industry?
This is the first time PT has told his story. These are the ten provocations of PT.
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Paul Thomas in Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
Paul Thomas in Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
PT and April Hall
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Thanks goodness for The Rialto Report. How many great pioneers of the adult film industry have they interviewed (with great intelligence and compassion) before they passed….?
We would never had heard from PT in this congenial manner were it not for this magnficent site.
I miss PT already. He was a constant and reassuring presence through the golden age.
Terribly sad news. PT was the last of the true giants: John Leslie, Jamie Gillis, Harry Reems, John Holmes, and Paul Thomas represent Mount Rushmore for our world.
Now all have passed.
They are missed.
Eric Edwards….
Nooooo… this is very sad news. I loved PT immensely. He will be sadly missed.
Epic interview, truly fantastic.
I met Paul Thomas when we were both waiting in line for food at the Venetian during the AVN Expo. He was very humble and polite. I’ve met a lot of people through AVN, some were great, others were absolutely awful. Paul carried himself with relaxed ease. Rest in peace.
There will never be another PT. Truly a one of a kind figure in the adult world. Immensely talented, yet totally flawed at the same time. Paul Thomas, we speak your name.
Such sad news. He was a true legend.
So sad.
And apart from the immediate loss to his wife, friends and fans I just get more downcast that I’ll never see a Rialto Report on his oft-times co-star Holly McCall.
Juliet Anderson, Herschel Savage, John Leslie, and now PT there’s hardly anyone left to talk to.
This was very unexpected. Paul Thomas born Philip Charles Toubus, he like Eric Edwards could actually act before and even entering into the Golden age of erotic films. It was hard to believe that he played Peter, the film adaptation of Jesus Christ Superstar before going into adult Cinema at a time where competing with mainstream Hollywood actors for television and film. I even heard how he had to get out of getting sent out to Vietnam when most people did not want to go and for good reason. Another one gone!
Sorry for your loss! He truly was a legend!
Thank you for the wonderful tribute!
All my favorite legends are passing way too soon!
I, for one, am not at all shocked that April Hall is as beautiful as she is smart and meticulous.
God Bless Paul Thomas You’re So Kindness Greatest Movie Star And Director From The 70s 80s And Early 90s Awesome Article And Podcast Keep Up Good Work
Very sad news, a true legend of the industry. HIs scenes with Annette Haven were hot.
I had a copy of “Autobiography of a Flea” when I was a teenager – I bought it, as well as “A Man and a Maid” at B. Dalton’s Bookstore at the mall! This would’ve around 1980 or so. I guess I better see the film adaptation after all this time, eh?
This is a wonderful interview. The work that’s done by TRR continues to satisfy my urge to learn more about something I didn’t know so much about in the past.
“Without going out of my door, I can learn all things on Earth.” – George Harrison
They Say death comes in threes.Sly Stone, Brian Wilson and now Paul PT Thomas. All 3 Had their problems during their lifetime.
All 3 were true geniuses. I must be getting old for all my hero’s are dyeing.
April, my deepest condolences on the loss of your dear friend. And condolences to Paul Thomas wife and family on their loss. When I first became interested in adult films in the late eighties, the group of adult film performers was relatively small, and each performer was so distinctive. Paul Thomas, Herschel Savage, Jerry Butler, Kay Parker, Honey Wilder, Taija Rae. You could not mistake one for the other. As a politician in “Public Affairs”, the father in “Taboo American Style” so many others, Paul Thomas was a wonderful performer, and I appreciate and respect his work, as actor and director. Now, to listen again to the Rialto Report podcast……
Watched ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ but a week back. What an odd journey for a fascinating, but complicated, person.
Not many left from the Golden Age of Porn. I can count them on my fingers.
RIP PT. 🙁
Paul Thomas was such a fascinating onscreen presence. Even in the most generic onscreen roles, he had a sense of regality, the air of importance. It’s hard to imagine now. He was also a good actor, and I never felt like he was slumming. I remember one of the earliest movies of his that I’ve watched – I can’t remember the title, but it’s some kind of story about a housewife and more and more people arrive at her place and this leads to an orgy. He plays a horny husband who slowly convinces his wife and sister-in-law to have a threesome with him. Paul’s performance is sensual and chilling as he slides through their rationality for what he craves.
There was another cheapie from this era where he played a man who turned to other men because a woman broke his heart. Of course, our lead female is the “cure” for his pain. Some actors played these parts with every lisp and swish you can imagine, but he didn’t. One little touch that showed the care in his work was that when he was gay, he wore a cravat, and after our heroine starts to seduce him, he carefully removes his cravat before he climbs on top of her.
We were lucky to have real stars in those years, and I’m glad that thanks to this site we will always have so many reminders of Paul’s work and legacy.
When I first started watching adult films in the late 70’s Paul Thomas was among the handful of male talent that regularly appeared on screen. Even then you could recognize his acting ability compared to some of the other actors. I wish to express my condolences to his wife and family as well as thanking your April for your continued dedication to bringing us the latest news concerning those involved in this era of adult entertainment.
So sorry for this sudden loss. I hope that the assumption that he died peacefully, and painlessly, offers a small dose of comfort. Like you, April, any judgment I had surrounding his arrogance or self-importance melted into awe for his common denominator: he was a buddha. He seemed effortlessly aware of universal laws that I’ve spent the better half of a lifetime trying to understand and actualize. He displayed that he understood what life (or, Earth School) is about, and lived and learned accordingly. Hate to see him go, but love to see him fly. He loved you April, it is so clear in these interviews and your stories. I know that light’s gonna be on for you, whenever the time comes.
🕊❤
Here is an 11th Provocation about Paul Thomas. Early in his career he made a gay loop called “Nature’s Man”, and he was, shall we say, quite an enthusiastic participant. Since his death, it’s been popping up repeatedly on gay X sites. It would be an interesting post to discuss the number of gay/bi performers who primarily starred in straight X films like Zebedy Colt, Dean Tait, Jamie Gillis, Wade Nichols, George Payne, and Jack Wrangler, to name a few. And the opposite: straight men who began their careers in gay porn like PT; and Peter North who began his career as Matt Ramsey, a “power bottom” in gay flicks like “Like a Horse,” “Cousins,” and most memorably “The Bigger the Better,” where he is bent over a school desk and railed into the next century. And, most notably, the founder of the Gold’s Gym franchise, Ken Sprague, who began as Dakota before moving on to bodybuilding, one of the earliest gay superstars (and another quite enthusiastic performer. I wonder how many bodybuilders wearing the Gold’s Gym T-shirts are aware that he initially appeared with another “crossover” musclehunk named Jim Cassidy (gay) or Rick Cassidy (straight) who were nicknamed the Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy of gay erotica). Speaking of the Gold’s Tee, it was designed by Ric Draisin who appeared in early gay muscle X flicks as well (“California Supermen” and “Lodestar” to be precise). The mind boggles.
There’s another way to look at all that: do the labels of “straight”, “gay” and “bi” really matter? I always admired the person who once said “I’m not heterosexual, I’m not homosexual. I’m not bisexual. I’m just sexual”. Perhaps that’s what PT was, and if so, we should all be OK with leaving it at that.
Very sad news – PT will be missed. While my time in the industry was brief, it was a pleasure to work with him. RIP
“I too often felt about the x-rated community that I wouldn’t want
to belong to any club that would have me as a member. Howie, aka
Richard, was one of the few with whom I always thought I could have
been friends. His intelligence and sensibilities, his bright character and
demeanor begged the question…’what’s a nice boy like you doing in a
place like this?’ And yet when the time came he always ‘rose to the oc-
casion.’ The business was much better for having Richard in it.”
“Let the side show begin!”
Paul Thomas.
Hall of Fame Adult Actor, Writer,
Producer and Director
I’ll miss you, Phil. Say “hi” to Herschel for me. See you on the other side.
– Howie, aka the ghost of Richard Pacheco
Condolences to Paul Thomas’ family, friends and associates. A talented, skilled professional.
When Ron Hudd died in 2021, and I was interviewed about my Adult Film relationship with him, I coined the term “Porn Widow,” with humor but in a bittersweet sort of way because the loss really, really hurt. I wrote that I wondered how Vanessa del Rio would feel when Paul passed because they worked together all the time. I assume she’s still alive? I want to pass along my condolences to HER– I’m going to take the liberty of saying I know just how she feels– probably shattered, even if they haven’t been in touch in years. –Lisa Be
What a fantastic interview, April. Truly, one of the best Rialto Report offerings. Your friendship with PT ultimately allowed us all to share in the unique life experiences of one of the true pioneers of adult cinema. I got the sense that PT sincerely wished to share these experiences and what he learned from them – the good, the bad and the ugly. PT was a proud exhibitionist (in my humble opinion), and he took to these interviews as yet another opportunity to bare himself to the world. I would hazard a guess that your dedication to this work of chrocicling such a fascinating subject is what ultimately brought him to the table. While I may not agree with some of the choices he made, I am grateful he chose to share his life with you, and with all of us. Carpe Diem!
Love these, April and Ashley! So literate, affirming and warm! Also love the design, the feel of this site!
It’s not uncommon that as people age and see their body and/or mind deteriorate, they simply choose to not continue. We are all free to make the Shakespearian choice: to be or not to be. It is a choice solely to be made by each person for themself, and it should be respected as there is no right or wrong answer – only a personal choice.
What a shame, I’m so sorry for your loss. PT was such an interesting performer. Watched him in Sweet Captive last night. He had such a presence and I can’t take my eyes off of him in a scene. Can’t imagine how he must’ve been “in real life”! I enjoy anything with him or John Leslie: RIP Paul Thomas.
This might just be me, but PT with a beard and ‘stache resembles acleaned-up Chris Elliott in “Schitt’s Creek”.
Yeah, it’s just me, lol. If PT’s looking down on us from wherever he may be, I hope he gets a good laugh out of this.
It’s sad, and he will be missed, and will never ever be replaced.
Caught the reprise of the two part Paul Thomas interview. Thank you so much for these interviews.