Thomas was born in Winnetka, Illinois to an upper-middle-class family in 1949.[2] His father was of Greek-Jewish descent and his mother of Russian-Jewish descent.[6] His family moved to the nearby Village of Glencoe, Illinois where he attended Glencoe's Central School, played on the school's basketball team and graduated 8th grade in 1963.[7] He then attended New Trier Township High School and graduated in 1967.[8]
He began his acting career in the play Hair in both Chicago and New York. Then he appeared in the stage version of Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway and in a touring production, where he played all the male roles except Peter. After completing the touring production, Norman Jewison cast him as Peter in his film version of Jesus Christ Superstar.[6] He also performed in the long-running play Beach Blanket Babylon in San Francisco.[6]
He signed with the William Morris Agency and went to Hollywood, where he appeared in a few television shows.[6] At this point, he appeared ready to start a career in mainstream television and movie work, but instead he turned to the career for which he would become more famous.[9]
Thomas performed mostly using the stage name "Paul Thomas", but he has also appeared under several other names. In 1982, Thomas was arrested for smuggling cocaine into the United States from South America. Convicted, he served one year in jail.[2] Following his release from prison, Thomas resumed his career and, in 1983, won the Adult Film Association of America Award for Best Actor in Virginia. He had a starring role in the 1985 film series Taboo American Style.[citation needed]
Thomas is a member of the Adult Video NewsHall of Fame.[4] He is a personal friend of Jennifer Ketcham, who recounts Thomas' directing style as relying heavily on aesthetics with "one-hundred-page scripts" and "deftly placed lighting" in order to create shadow effects on his performers' bodies. She also stated that Thomas would require more acting from his performers than many other directors in the industry.[12]
