I'm having dinner with my ex-boyfriend Lane and his husband Ben and some of their conservative, assimilated Orange County friends, who surprisingly have quite a treasure-trove of celebrity hookup stories. Earle has just told about public sex with then-teen idol Matt Dillon.
"Kid stuff!" Stan exclaims. He's in his sixties, chubby, balding with a white goatee. "Anybody can hook up with a twink -- they're so horny, they don't even care who they're with. But it takes style and finesse to seduce a real man. And back in the 1980s, I had the biggest and the best -- John Amos."
"Wow -- I used to see him at the gym," I say. "Hung like a garden hose."
Born in 1939, former pro football player John Amos was very visible during the 1970s, playing Gordy the Weatherman on Mary Tyler Moore, the Dad on Good Times (1974-76), and the older Kunta Kinte on Roots (1977). During the 1980s, he did a lot of guest spots, and went to the gym a lot. He was very dark and very buffed, with easily a 50" chest ant 18" biceps, plus about a Mortadella+."
"I saw him, too," Stan says. "But I did more than look, let me tell you!"
"Wait -- was this the Holiday Spa on LaBrea?"
He nods.
John Amos often worked at the same time as I did. He became one of those "nodding acquaintances" you develop at the gym. You nod, ask "can I squeeze in between your sets," maybe say "nice workout today" if you see him in the locker room, but nothing more.
I never saw him having a cruisy conversation with anyone.
Lane lived five blocks from the West Hollywood Gym (now Basecamp Fitness), so around 1990, I started going there most of the time, dropping into the Holiday Spa only when I happened to be in the neighborhood. I rarely saw John Amos after that.
That's the end of my John Amos story.
But Stan has a lot more. He doesn't remember the year, probably 1987 or 1988.
Hollywood, 1987
Stan was 33 years old, black-haired, built, and horny. The AIDS crisis didn't bother him: you can't stop living your life just because of some virus. Just put a condom on it and be careful.
It was about 10:00 pm on a Thursday night, and Stan had just arrived at the Holiday Spa. He usually showered, hit the pool for cardio, did his weight training (lower body on Thursdays), and then hit the shower again. The locker room was nearly deserted, so he took his time showering, hoping that someone would show up and he could at least get a sausage sighting.
He got one: John Amos, the tv star, came strutting down the rows, naked, carrying a towel and grooming kit at his side.
The full story, with nude photos and explicit sexual situations, is on Tales of West Hollywood