Michael Thevis

Michael George Thevis (February 25, 1932 – November 20,[1] 2013) was an American millionaire businessman, pornographer and convicted murderer. After escaping from prison on April 28, 1978, he was put on the FBI Most Wanted List.[2][3]

Michael Thevis
Born
Michael George Thevis

February 25, 1932
Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedNovember 20, 2013(2013-11-20) (aged 81)
Bayport, Minnesota, U.S.
Spouse(s)Joan
Partner(s)Jeanette Evans
Patricia McLean
Children5 (Mike Jr., Christina, Tony, Stephanie and Jason)

Early years

Thevis was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, and raised by his Greek immigrant grandparents after his parents separated. He dropped out of high school at the age of 17 and hitched his way to Atlanta in 1951 where he completed high school and enrolled in Georgia Tech, although he would leave before graduating to become the manager of a newsstand, earning $50 a week.[2] While young, he served as an altar boy and had thoughts of entering the priesthood. However, he grew up very poor and after being convicted of attempted robbery, he reconsidered his future.[3]

At the age of 19, he married Joan, three years his junior, and fathered 5 children: George, Christina, twins Tony and Stephanie, and Jason.[3]

Career

Thevis was in the pornography business and made a fortune with peep show machines.[4] He was a millionaire by age 37. He was also involved in music recording: rock group Flood recorded a soundtrack for the US release of the martial arts movie Blood of the Dragon starring Jimmy Wang Yu, which was produced by author William Diehl. Flood disbanded when Thevis' GRC Records label folded after his arrest.[5] Other artists who recorded for GRC included Sammy Johns (million-seller "Chevy Van"), Moe Bandy and Loleatta Holloway.[6]

He commissioned one of the largest residences to be built in Atlanta in 1972, a 30-room British Tudor mansion called "Lion's Gate."[3] Lion's Gate was designed by Robert M. Green, an Atlanta architect who studied under Frank Lloyd Wright, and was originally valued at an estimated $3.3 million.[7] During the 1990s, the Thevis mansion was the home of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown.[8]

High level associations

Once imprisoned, Thevis was able to secure help from Congressman Andrew Young (D-GA), who contacted Norman Carlson, chief of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, on behalf of Thevis. Having just been appointed United States Ambassador to the United Nations by newly elected President Carter, Young wrote to Carlson on his new stationery, convincing him that Thevis needed to be moved in order to receive appropriate medical attention.[9]

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See also

References
  1. BOP inmate Locator
  2. The Washington Post 'I was the GM of Pornography', November 11, 1978
  3. The Daily Beast The Scarface of Sex: The Millionaire Playboy Who Murdered His Way to the Top of Porn, June 16, 2017
  4. Newser.com He Made Millions Off Porn. And Killed to Keep It That Way: Meet Michael Thevis, the 'Scarface of Sex', June 20, 2017
  5. "Golden Isles Records | Music Studio and Publishing | Flood". goldenislesrecords.com. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  6. "GRC Label | Releases | Discogs". Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  7. Trocheck, Kathy (March 3, 1985). "Future looking brighter for stately Lion's Gate". The Atlanta Constitution. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  8. Sun, Feifei (March 18, 2015). "5 not-so-true romances: The couples who kept our tongues wagging". Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  9. The New York Times Porn free, June 15, 1978
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