Paul Johnson (February 25, 1944 â€" October 19, 1982), better known as
Paul America, was an American actor who was a member of Andy Warhol's
Superstars. He starred in one Warhol-directed film, My Hustler (1965),
and also appeared in Edie Sedgwick's final film Ciao! Manhattan
(1972).According to America, he met artist Andy Warhol at Ondine, a
New York City discotheque in mid-1965. Warhol found America to be
"unbelievably good looking - like a comic strip drawing of Mr.
America, clean cut, handsome, very symmetrical". Warhol invited
America back to his studio called The Factory located at 231 East 47th
Street. America ended up moving into the studio and was eventually
christened "Paul America" by Warhol. The name may have derived from
Paul's former residence, the Hotel America. America later said he
often had problems with the name given:In 1965, America was cast as
the lead character in My Hustler, written by Chuck Wein. My Hustler
was the first of Warhol's experimental films to utilize camera
movements and to feature a loosely structured plot. The film was shot
over the Labor Day weekend in 1965 on Fire Island for $500. It
premiered at the Hudson Theater on July 10, 1967 and became Warhol's
first financially successful film. The role propelled America to fame
and would eventually earn him the title of gay icon. In an interview
with The New York Times shortly after the film was released, America
claimed he had "was completely unaware of what 'My Hustler' was all
about. They didn't tell me. I was on LSD the whole time, and I thought
I was just going through some practice motions." He added that the
success of the film, along with his constant use of LSD, had made him
paranoid: "... I saw cameras coming at me everywhere I went. Even the
Con Ed men were shooting me from down in their manholes." America
appeared in only two other films for Warhol, neither of which were
publicly released. Two sequels followed My Hustler entitled My
Hustler: In Apartment and My Hustler: Ingrid. He also had a role in
Dan Williams's silent film Harold Stevenson, that also featured,
Gerard Malanga, Stevenson, Edie Sedgwick.
Paul America, was an American actor who was a member of Andy Warhol's
Superstars. He starred in one Warhol-directed film, My Hustler (1965),
and also appeared in Edie Sedgwick's final film Ciao! Manhattan
(1972).According to America, he met artist Andy Warhol at Ondine, a
New York City discotheque in mid-1965. Warhol found America to be
"unbelievably good looking - like a comic strip drawing of Mr.
America, clean cut, handsome, very symmetrical". Warhol invited
America back to his studio called The Factory located at 231 East 47th
Street. America ended up moving into the studio and was eventually
christened "Paul America" by Warhol. The name may have derived from
Paul's former residence, the Hotel America. America later said he
often had problems with the name given:In 1965, America was cast as
the lead character in My Hustler, written by Chuck Wein. My Hustler
was the first of Warhol's experimental films to utilize camera
movements and to feature a loosely structured plot. The film was shot
over the Labor Day weekend in 1965 on Fire Island for $500. It
premiered at the Hudson Theater on July 10, 1967 and became Warhol's
first financially successful film. The role propelled America to fame
and would eventually earn him the title of gay icon. In an interview
with The New York Times shortly after the film was released, America
claimed he had "was completely unaware of what 'My Hustler' was all
about. They didn't tell me. I was on LSD the whole time, and I thought
I was just going through some practice motions." He added that the
success of the film, along with his constant use of LSD, had made him
paranoid: "... I saw cameras coming at me everywhere I went. Even the
Con Ed men were shooting me from down in their manholes." America
appeared in only two other films for Warhol, neither of which were
publicly released. Two sequels followed My Hustler entitled My
Hustler: In Apartment and My Hustler: Ingrid. He also had a role in
Dan Williams's silent film Harold Stevenson, that also featured,
Gerard Malanga, Stevenson, Edie Sedgwick.
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