Lost Boys: Vintage Images of Scorpio

Lost Boys: Vintage Images of Scorpio

The subject of today's post has been referred to as "the first gay porn superstar." His professional name?  

Scorpio! 

And while his personal history and career are interesting enough, it's a story he played a small part in and bore witness to which continues to cause eyebrows to raise and Hollywood to come calling. 

The cocaine-fueled dream of a wanted fugitive would result in the most expensive gay film (at that time) to ever be made. It's that story which will help keep the legend of Scorpio alive

Who was he? This one-named phenomenon?

To answer that, let's take a deep dive into the fascinating life and times of this classic gay icon.

Scorpio

AKA: Wilbur James Weiss Jr. 

Birthdate: November 1, 1952

Birthplace: Trenton, NJ

Death: December 24, 1998

Hair: Blond/Brown

Eyes: Brown

Tattoo: A scorpion on his right bicep

Years Active: 1979-1986

Films: 13

Compilations: 14

Studios: Hand-In-Hand, PM Productions, HIS, Blue Video, Bijou, Live Video, Big

Wilbur James Weiss Jr. was born on November 1, 1952 in Trenton, New Jersey to parents James and Mildred. He was the first of four children, all of which grew up together in a country trailer park.  

Scorpio once said he knew he was gay when he was only eight years old. Dating boys felt natural to him as a teenager, and it was only when his doting mother, Mildred, took him aside and told him what he was that he realized he was different than most of the boys around him.

Once he turned eighteen, Scorpio left home to work in a factory in Washington, D.C. Seeing it as a dead end, he quickly left that position for one as a salesperson in Miami, Florida. That job lasted until the day he was recruited to skate in the roller derby in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When the derby circuit went belly-up, he decided to try his luck in New York City, where he sought out work as a model. However, after an unscrupulous agent pocketed an upfront fee of $750 and disappeared, Scorpio found himself broke, desperate and disillusioned. 

Broke, desperate and disillusioned? Isn't that the perfect recipe to create a stripper? 

Which is exactly what he decided to do. Adopting his astrological sign as his stage name, Scorpio started stripping in straight clubs in New Jersey. He liked his new moniker so much, he had a scorpion tattooed on his right bicep.

Sensing there was something missing, he decided to come out to the world and devote his talents to the patrons of the city's gay clubs. He made regular appearances in  Long Island, New York City, and parts of Connecticut. Having always considered himself an exhibitionist, Scorpio found the work easy and fun. 

He soon caught the eye of several photographers who offered nude magazine shoots which paid quite well. These photo spreads, in turn, helped him get higher-paying club gigs. In the process, Scorpio became an established, well-known local catalog model. Photographs of him with Baxter, a tiny stuffed teddy bear he carried in his back pocket, made him a favorite with his gay clientele. Baxter became part of his brand; his trademark and talisman.

Surprisingly, given the times, Scorpio's choice of career and coming out didn't cause much fuss in the Weiss family. This was most likely due to the influence of his exceptionally-understanding mother, Mildred. She was very proud of her son. Not only did she design and make his stripper costumes, she was also his number one fan, showing up at gay clubs wherever her son appeared. Mildred thought Scorpio was a bona fide star. And once he began to appear nude in photo shoots, she would buy copies of the pictorials and show them off to all her friends at the trailer park. 

Back in New York, with industry interest growing rapidly, Scorpio decided to take his career to the next level. He happened to answer an ad in Topman magazine seeking models which put him in touch with the trio behind Hand-In-Hand Films: Jack Deveau, Bob Alvarez, and Case Chapman. They were well aware of  Scorpio's previous work in the clubs and his photo spreads; they liked what they saw. They immediately set up a shoot for a one-man short called Double Scorpio, which later found life as part of  a 1978 compilation titled Hand-In-Hand's Private Collection. The team then swept him off  to Fire Island to appear in his first feature film, Just Blonds. Scorpio had never heard of Fire Island before the film shoot, but ended up liking it so much he decided to stay.

As for his first film experience, Scorpio is on record stating that he was not much impressed with his co-star, Lee Marlin, who he thought "was on his own little planet." He also didn't mince words when it came to Eric Ryan, calling him "even a bigger turn-off than Lee Marlin." 

At the crux of the problem? Eric, already an established name in the business, claimed to be straight, which did not sit well with the young up and comer. "I'd rather work with a complete gay cast instead of straights. I don't like straight people in a gay film. I want someone that's going to reciprocate. I don't need a 'do-me queen'."

The Hand-In-Hand films featuring Scorpio proved to be huge hits, and when he returned to New York City the actor was surprised by the number of offers from magazines, filmmakers, and strip clubs. 

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He would go on to work with directors Arch Brown and Christopher Rage, the latter of which was the actor's "favorite director." 

And while plenty of offers came from west coast production companies, Scorpio turned them all down, preferring to work exclusively for east coast companies, thus ensuring that he would never be far away from his beloved mother. 

 

Of the other big name porn actors he worked with, Scorpio complained that Jack Wrangler was "always blitzed," and that Roy Garrett was someone he "didn't get along" with. His favorite co-star?  Superstar Casey Donovan.

1979 

Death Of Scorpio
In Search of the Perfect Man
Just Blonds

1980 

Boots and Saddles

1981 

Centurians Of Rome
New York Men
Solo Jerk

1982 

All Tied Up - Scorpio
Sleaze

1983 

Rock Creek Gang

Street Kids

1984 

In Heat

1986 

Swallow It

One of the people who contacted Scorpio after his initial success was director Chris Covino, who offered the actor a lead role in his new big-budget film, an all-male drama set in ancient Rome. Covino, (who had previously only directed straight porn), liked Scorpio's look: trashy, rebellious, but vulnerable and sensitive.

Scorpio accepted, inadvertently ending up a part of history, co-starring in the most expensive gay porn film of its time. Turns out the film was being financed by and was the brainchild of George Bosque - a Brink’s security guard who stole $1.85 million in August of 1980, only to disappear into thin air. While on the lam, the cunning fugitive took time out to bankroll his dream project, 1981's Centurians Of Rome. The film was originally to be called 'Centurions of Rome,' however, someone misspelled 'Centurions' as 'Centurians' in all the credits and publicity, so it stuck.

This epic production told the erotic story of two Roman countrymen (George Payne and Scorpio), who are sold into slavery after failing to pay their taxes. Payne is purchased by The Emperor (Michael Flent) and trained to be of use by super-hung Argus (Ed Wiley), while Scorpio ends up being bought by a sadistic commander played by Eric Ryan. Undeterred, the two men seek their freedom and a chance to reunite.

With a cast which was predominantly gay and a crew who were predominantly straight, the four-day shoot was scheduled for early 1981. It was all cocaine, catering and limos throughout, as the four-day shoot quickly stretched to twelve due to the producer insisting on last minute changes and additional scenes. Money flowed effortlessly from Bosque's mysterious brief case as everything was paid for upfront, in cash.

Things on the set were chaotic and tension-filled. Payne was unhappy with the amount of oral sex he was asked to do, and bristled with hostility if anyone suggested he should bottom. The actor whined and  complained, but ever the professional, was always good to go when push came to shove (so to speak).

Scorpio liked George Payne as a person, but later would comment that their scenes lacked fire because George had a streak of self-loathing a mile long. "This was especially true when he did any of the gay sex scenes. Who knows if he was bi-sexual anyway? We respected him, but he was intense and kept himself to himself, not wanting to mix with the rest of us."

The opening exterior scenes were filmed in upstate New York, where cast and crew froze their asses off during the filming. His first love scene with Payne was shot in a "fist fucking loft (club) over on the East Side." This occurred because producer Bosque was promised a free membership if he included a fisting scene shot in the club in the film. Payne complained loudly, but before his next breath was drawn, there he was, standing by with a handful of Crisco in his grip.   

Scorpio recalled that  Payne was awful at sucking cock. In addition, he still disliked Eric Ryan, but felt that considering he was supposed to despise the character Ryan played, perhaps that animosity fueled a more convincing portrayal.

Bosque and Covino had settled on an initial budget of $100K, which automatically qualified the film as one of the most expensive gay porn productions of its time. Over the course of the next few months? The budget would balloon still higher, peaking at $150K by the time filming was completed. 

Immediately after principal filming had been wrapped up, Bosque and his suitcase full of money up and disappeared!

Chris Covino, found himself left holding the bag, lacking the necessary funding needed for editing and sound production in order to finish the film. He turned to Jack Deveau at Hand-In-Hand, who agreed to finance the completion of the film for ownership of the final product. 

It would turn out to be a great investment.

The film proved quite popular with film goers and most film critics, Playing exclusively at the 55th Street Playhouse in New York City for three months, the Wall Street Journal claimed it earned $160K in its first few weeks.

As for Bosque? After a global search, he was apprehended and prosecuted by a young aggressive attorney named Robert Mueller. Sentenced to 15 years in prison, Bosque was released in 1986. He died of a suspected drug overdose five years later at the age of 36.

In 2019, two reporters for the website The Daily Beast wrote a story about Bosque and the making of Centurians Of Rome. It was quickly optioned and is now slated to become a major motion picture.

Scorpio continued to find work in the industry until 1985. By then, most of his contacts on the east coast had died due to AIDS and his career came to a close. In an interview given in the 1990's, he spoke about how the whole New York scene ended: "A number of the directors died, such as Jack Deveau and Christopher Rage, and others just stopped making films. I figured that by then I was too old to do films. And it bothered me to be honest."

Putting NYC in the rear view mirror, Scorpio was Florida bound. Initially moving to Miami, in order to be close to his family and work in an adult bookstore, he eventually set down roots in Pensacola as a hairstylist. 

He would attempt two comebacks; a non-sexual role in 1995's The Diamond Stud (the role went to an ailing Richard Locke,) and a non-sexual role in 1997's Family Values, playing a hippie pimp (the role went to Bo Summers.)

Scorpio died of stomach cancer and complications due to AIDS on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1998 at his home in Pensacola. A memorial service was held on December 30th in Pensacola and he was buried at the Resthaven Gardens Cemetery in Brent, Florida.

Hedonistic poet, Thom Gunn is said to have written a poem in his honor.

He was 46 years old. 

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To be honest, I had no idea who this was. 

I've never, to my knowledge, seen any of his films or photo spreads, though I do recall The Daily Beast article. One of his photos kept popping up while I was researching other porn stars from the era, so I decided to find out who he was.

In any event, based on what I've read about him,  I find him to be a very interesting person; honest, sincere and oddly ambitious. Despite all the dirt he spilled about his co-stars, I still think he was well-liked and respected in the industry. 

And his mother, Mildred? What an angel! Who wouldn't want her as an ally?

As for his brush with Bosque? That's one for the ages. 

It would, indeed, make for an awesome film. 

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That's it for now.

I hope you enjoyed this brief peek into the life of Scorpio. 

Thanks for reading. 

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