Michael Thevis

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. While young, he served as a Greek Orthodox altar boy and had thoughts of entering the priesthood. However, he grew up very poor and after being convicted of attempted armed robbery, he reconsidered his future. At the age of 19, he married Joan, three years his junior, and fathered 5 children: George, Christina, twins Tony and Stephanie, and Jason. ==Career==

Thevis was in the pornography business and made a fortune with peep show machines. He was known as "The King of Pornography" and "The Sultan of Smut", and 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. Other artists who recorded for GRC included Sammy Johns (million-seller "Chevy Van"), Moe Bandy and Loleatta Holloway. He commissioned one of the largest residences to be built in Atlanta in 1972, a 30-room British Tudor-style mansion called "Lion's Gate." During the 1990s, the Thevis mansion was the home of singers Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. ==Legal history==

In November 1970, Thevis shot and killed business rival Kenneth Hanna. Thevis died in prison in Bayport, Minnesota, on November 20, 2013. ==References==