Paul America

Paul America
Paul America being filmed for one of Andy Warhol's Screen Tests in 1965
Born	Paul Johnson (1944-02-25)February 25, 1944 New Jersey, U.S.
Died	October 19, 1982(1982-10-19) (aged 38) Ormond Beach, Florida, U.S.
Cause of death	Road accident
Occupation	Film actor

Paul Johnson (February 25, 1944 – 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.