The son of an upper-middle-class couple from tiny Winnetka, Illinois, Thomas (ne Philip Tobus) studied political science at the University of Wisconsin- Madison and starred on Broadway in HAIR and JESUS CHRIST SUPER STAR (and in the Norman Jewison movie version) -- all before age 22.
In 1973 PT signed with the William Morris Agency and moved to Hollywood, landing parts on such TV shows as "Mannix," and "Police Story." But he quickly tired of the Hollywood rat race. Discouraged, he signed on for the musical BEACH BLANKET BABYLON in San Francisco. There he met pornographers Jim and Art Mitchell (BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR) in 1974, and the meeting changed his life. "It was the era of porn chic," he recalls, so he had little apprehension about acting in adult films.
As an actor in sex films, Thomas' perception of the adult industry was that of an extension of the hippie lifestyle he had come to embrace in San Francisco. "It was a different time," he recalls. "Doing porno movies then was a celebration and a rebellion against the establishment." Thomas worked with all the big names in adult films, from Seka to Traci Lords. At the age of 35, he switched from acting to directing.
Since 1986, Thomas has been the "auteur in residence" at Vivid Video. He shoots 20 projects a year, including eight films. He also has directed R-rated movies that have the same plot and character driven elements that have made his adult features so recognizable and popular.
"He makes real movies," says Paul Fishbein, publisher of Adult Video News. "If you take the sex out of his movies, you still have an interesting film," Paul Thomas is one of the few directors shooting "big budget" porn (like BAD WIVES and BAD WIVES 2)on film.
At the 2002 AVN awards, Paul Thomas' creative "sexual vision" helped garner him and Vivid an unprecedented 61 nominations and 6 AVN awards including Best Film and Best Director for FADE TO BLACK. It's no surprise that Paul Thomas has also won the award for Best Non-Sex Performance. He has been selected by AVN as Director of the Year three times, and was elected to the AVN Hall of Fame. In 2005 he won the AVN Award for Best Director for "Jenna Jameson Is The Masseuse," which also was selected as best adult film.
In a profile of Thomas in early 2005, the BBC said --: "Now 53-years-old, Thomas is virtually unique among his porno peers as someone who not only had mainstream ambitions but the talent to realize them. The young Paul Thomas starred as Peter in the film "Jesus Christ Superstar" as well as on Broadway, before tiring of the constant auditions and falling into a more lucrative, less demanding means of making a living. Famed for making plot-driven sex films, he is now regarded as the Fellini of adult entertainment and is now under contract to Vivid Video. It is the biggest company in the business, and one of the only producers in America which requires its male performers to wear condoms on the set."
Thomas told AVN in an interview after taking multiple awards for his 2002 movie "Fade to Black"-- "It's not like there's any limit to material. The choices are endless. It seems like everything in porn has been done, but only 1 percent has been done right. Most of my very best material is from my own life. You've got to keep a little bit of an edge, you don't want to get too relaxed. You have to be careful. When you get too familiar and too comfortable, you lose the edge."
photo courtesy of ClassicPorn.ca
