Eric Stryker

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Eric Stryker

Gay porn star and model Eric Stryker, also known as Noel Kemp, Mike Kelly, and Michael John Saunders, was born Michael Skrzypczak in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1954. He was known and very popular for his handsome blond features and his muscular physique.

He served in the U.S. Air Force, where he rose to the rank of sergeant. After retiring, he worked for a time as a construction worker in Phoenix before moving to Los Angeles, where he began modeling for Colt Studios. He appeared in over fifty porn films, chiefly for Le Salon, Huge, and Buckshot. His most popular titles included A Matter Of Size, Arcade, Asian Knights, Student Bodies, Good Hot Stuff, and Rawhide. Stryker's co-stars ran the gamut of the classic porn star roster, including J.W. King and Bill Henson.

In 1984, shortly after his lover died from AIDS, Stryker was himself diagnosed with the disease. His response was to focus his activities away from the life of a porn star and become an activist for AIDS awareness. Stryker continued his studies in architecture at Woodbury University and his regular workouts, refusing to let the disease stop him. As he put it, "I live for the day." He worked with the AIDS Couples Group and lectured around the country for the AIDS Project Los Angeles. In 1987, he appeared in the PBS documentary, It Starts With A, his last film appearance. In his last public appearance, his body ravaged by Kaposi's sarcoma, he marched in the Christopher Street West parade in Los Angeles in a tank top and shorts, becoming one of the first persons with the disease to publicly display its symptoms. Shortly afterwards, on February 19, 1988, he died at Sherman Oaks Community Hospital. He was 33 years old. Eighteen years after his death, he remains popular with many fans, one of the icons of the classic era of gay porn.