Thom Becomes Keith Anthoni Full Time

Thom had gone back & decided that the legit hetero & two faced closeted gay world was never going to treat him with respect because his physical assets out weighed his artistic talents. He decided that since everyone loved his body & his acting talents in film that he would go into erotica full time as Keith Anthoni. I'd had the joy of watching him in the Gage Brothers highly regarded 1977 film "El Paso Wreaking Corp.". Keith had a VERY hot scene on a black set. He and cute blond Ken Brown with moustache on a motorcycle. The high point was Keith urinating on Ken  & into his mouth, just TOO hot. And remember I was seeing it in a theatre then,  on the silver screen. It's now a highly prized lost classic. When the film first came out on video it was included. But to get the widest possible distribution the scene had to be edited to remove the water sports section.

We got in touch again in 1978. Thom called me out of the blue to say he was now living in Manhattan. I had just started my own studio, Man-Age Studios, and he said he wanted me to be his personal photographer. From then on, other than stills for films (and the occasional well paying opportunity) he posed exclusively for me. My partner/model, Al Richards/Richard Allen, brought him out to my home in New Jersey for the weekend. We had a wonderful time with Keith & Al posing alone & together. We watched cable television, then still new and novel. We ate and talked and relaxed

  THE DARKNESS

During this time I had been contacted by a publisher named Mel who had a new magazine out of Cleveland. He and his partner were in town looking for models and they were very interested in Keith. He knew Keith was an exclusive model and he needed my okay to talk to him about work. I called Keith and he said he'd like to meet the guy. After their meeting Keith came over to the office & told us Mel wanted him to do a hardcore film & said he was going to pay him the unbelievable sum of $5000.00. Keith's eyes had glazed over at the thought & his mind had gone into neutral. I told him something was very odd. No one paid a model $5000 for a film. He was absolute that he was going. Odder still he said Mel & his partner were going to pick him up very early the next morning, drive him to a location in New Jersey but wouldn't tell him where. Red lights went off in my mind but all Keith could see was $5000. He left and Mel called asking us out to drink. I had work to do but Richard loved to drink and talk and wanted to find out what was going on so he went. Two hours later I got a frantic call from Richard. He said he & Mel had been packing away drinks & talking. Mel had told him that he & his partner were going to make a "snuff" movie. They wanted a model with a big dick who was a known porn star to assure the film would get the highest price from their wealthy private clients. They were going to take Keith out to a warehouse they had rented in New Jersey. They would shoot the film as  Keith was restrained and sexually tortured. He would then be castrated & killed on film. They'd make it look like he was killed by "fag bashers" & his body left to rot. Richard was sure he was serious & extremely dangerous. He had said he had work to do to & had to get back to the office to get away from Mel.

I then freaked. Richard didn't know where Mel was staying but he knew someone was at Mel's Cleveland number and could reach him. I called Keith & told him but all he just kept saying $5000 what if you're wrong. Richard called with the same results. We told him we would be over early the next morning. If he was fool enough to go we'd get the license number. It was on our mind that there two might have guns & we didn't want our lives put a risk. I called the Cleveland number & left a message that I knew what they planned & that we were going to be at Keith's and would be witnesses if they tried to carry out their crime. Richard made a number of calls. I got little sleep & was up early. I had to work at waking Al so we could be at Keith's before the appointed time. We waited & waited but Mel never showed up. We found out later that he & his partner had fled NYC after my initial call had been relayed. We spent the rest of the day getting the word out on Mel. And no, Keith didn't throw his arms around me showering me in kisses & thanks. Never said thank you. All he did was whine & moan about the fantasy $5000. By then, as I'm sure you've guessed, Keith had ceased being an actor/singer and was now a hustler and lived for money.

THE SHOW PALACE

In the fall of 1980 a new strip joint opened on 8th avenue called THE SHOW PALACE. You entered at street level, walked up a flight of stairs to the 2nd floor where there were 3 theatres. Two had screens for films & a small stage. The main one, in the center, had a good size stage with seating in a U shape around it. It was was being managed by one of the biggest turds in the business, Tray Christopher (Christopher Rage, Mary-Jim Stunning).  Keith had been hired to be the opening act. Tray had insisted on doing some pictures of Keith in the theatre which Keith could sell prints of in the lobby. Keith brought them to me to see & they were just awful. We decided that I'd let Keith sell select prints of my work. My friends Chris Michaels (one of Hand-In-Hand's exclusive Stars) & stripper Ricky Valentine & I had been trying to put together a group of male strippers. There was a lot of money in playing the NJ-CT-NY circuit of better type strip clubs both Gay & those for women. It was going no place so Keith asked us if we would be his managers. I knew press & publicity, Chris knew staging & lighting as well as mixing dance music (he was also one of the big names at The Gaiety) & Ricky knew make-up & costuming.

AUTO-FELLATIO

Thom had been hard at work mastering a skill he had practiced since his teens. He could suck his own penis. He had started practicing yoga to be as skilled as possible at the art. It was & still is a show stopping act that can add bucks to live, film/video & hustling fees. Keith had been doing work for Arch Brown & others but always the lower budget stuff. He was a Falcon class model but never did work there. The truth was that he just didn't have the will to properly promote himself in film, stage or hustling. That ghost of his dream to be a "legit" actor/singer never left him. His segment of Arch Brown's 1979 film "All Tied Up" features his skill. A hunk in chair calls up a hustler to come over. It's Keith who appears in well worn jeans, light blue shirt, leather vest & gloves. He slowly strips with the hunk gasping as Keith slowly reveals his equipment, which even soft was huge. Totally nude he gets on the couch & flips on his back with legs over head & his penis dangling like grapes over his mouth. He then goes into his act & does one of the all time best jobs of making love to himself.

At The Show Palace he was provided with a padded bench type thing that he used to perform auto-fellatio. By now he was able to penetrate much deeper into his mouth & his act was a show stopper. The Show Palace had a very strict no hustling on the premises policy for fear of police raids. Performers had to get off the stage & go immediately into their dressing room. They could then shower, change & leave the theatre till the next show. Since Keith was a Star & one of his managers was always with him, mainly me, he was allowed to have a card table set up to offer prints. He'd clean up & dress then sit at the table talking to patrons.

COCAINE

What we hadn't known was that Keith's state of unrest had led to his using cocaine. Chris Michaels found out in the period before the opening when he had Keith over to select music for the act & Keith was so out of it he gave up in disgust. Chris worked out the music based on his own judgment. Upon leaving Chris' apt. Keith passed out on the street & damaged his front teeth. I did a photo session with him a few days later. In exchange for sex the owners of a Village guest house let him live there. We used the backyard & one room to shoot some general poses and then he did his act for me to photograph. You can see the damaged teeth in some shots. You can also see that the cocaine was taking a toll. Only a few years from our initial session it looks more more. Sales of prints were low & at the end of the run Keith decided to move down to Florida to try his luck there, He was even more embittered over how his life had turned out. One call from Florida to say he arrived safely & that was the last I heard of him.

A few years after than I read that he had returned to Manhattan (he really did love this city) & was working in a video rental store in sales & promotion. The store hired him because of his name & I understand he did well. The final word, via the ever bubbly Tony Mansfield - porn star & disco promoter - was that Keith had contracted A.I.D.S. & died. He didn't know the details.

HOMEWARD BOUND

In 1988 Thom had had enough horse shit & decided to return to his family. Having been privy to his High School yearbook in 1980 I was aware that while he had legally changed his name to Thom Amorelli that wasn't his true name nor was Ragusa Sicily his birth place. Like many young actors, Thom had reinvented himself for his journey to "the big city" & fame. He was Thom Plaski & was born & raised in Wisconsin. He was now infected with A.I.D.S. & like Dorothy knew there's no place like home. He returned to the loving embrace of his Mom and his brothers, sisters & in-laws. And he returned to a town that loved him. In 1990 he received that fatal diagnosis. He decided to devote whatever time he had left to educating his town to the black plague of the '90s. He worked with A.I.D.S. groups & gave lectures. He didn't want others to suffer & die. That was the sweet, caring man I had the honor & joy of meeting in 1975.

Thom was checked into the Hospice Unit at St. Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield. At 12:25 am on Monday July 9th, 1991 Thom A. Plaski-Amorelli returned home to the loving embrace of God & his Dad.

If any of you ever had contact with Keith/Thom & have memories you'd be will to share they would be most welcome. The Archive

EPILOGUE

I still think of Thom a lot, esp. that first meeting. Mandate is researching an article on director Tom DiSimone and asked to borrow my copies of Tom's Hand-In-Hand films. I took the time to watch Thom's debut performance in "Catching Up"& still felt the way I did that first time over 20 years ago in a dark theatre. I just wish things had turned out better for him. He had the potential to be a wonderful actor/singer but not the drive. Show business is hard & you really do have to have an unbreakable spirit & drive to get in the door. Thom was too naive to grasp that.  He had the potential to have been a porn superstar & work for the better studios but here too no drive. This wasn't his dream. It was a harsh reality that broke his heart & little by little his spirit. He just floated in that limbo of longing for the Broadway career he dreamed of growing up and coping with the fact that it was the size of his penis & his sexual talents that everyone wanted. Knowing that in the end he found joy & peace and a purpose eases the pain. You should have gone home sooner Thom and done local theatre. You should have grown old like me. You should still be here. I'll always love you. Maybe we'll meet again in another life.

John Michael Cox, Jr.
in the 21st Century