Paul America

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Paul Johnson, born September 7, 1945 and better known as Paul America, was a member of Andy Warhol's Factory group who starred in one Warhol-directed film, My Hustler. He also appeared in Edie Sedgwick's film Ciao! Manhattan and in the documentary Superartist.

1 Biography
2 See also
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Biography

He was discovered by Warhol in 1965 at a Manhattan disco, then led back to the Factory studio, where he would live for three years until 1968. He claims to have been given the name "Paul America" by Warhol, though Warhol had said he doesn't specifically remember doing so. During his time with The Factory, he appeared as a gigolo in My Hustler, a Warhol movie filmed in a house on Fire Island. After leaving The Factory in 1968, he lived with Edie Sedgwick for a time, and was fourth-billed in Sedgwick's autobiographical Ciao! Manhattan.

It is known that he was alive until 1982, when he tried to contact Warhol for the last time. After that, his exact fate is unknown, but he is generally believed to have spent some time in jail in the midwest and died afterwards. If still alive (as of 2006), he would be 61 years old.