"Pornography will be my legacy."

That was one of the first things Peter Berlin told me when I spoke to him about his films, his influence on gay erotica, and the resurgence of interest in him. Since the DVD releases of his two (and only two) seminal films of the 1970s, That Boy (2005) and Nights in Black Leather (2006), and the intervening release of Jim Tushinski's film documentary, That Man (2005), Peter Berlin's name has again become a household word in gayporn circles.

How many people can boast to have been drawn by Tom of Finland and photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe and Andy Warhol? How many people have become an enduring global image of gay sexuality based on two films made over 30 years ago?
No one ever had to tell Peter Berlin, "If you've got it, flaunt it." It started in Europe, in 1961. Before he came to the United States, when he was still living in his native Germany, Peter says, "When I went out of the house, I was Peter Berlin, I was living that legend. But in my apartment I was me."

The Peter Berlin name had not actually been created yet, but the character had. And that image is unmistakable. The long legs, yellow page-boy hair, impossibly thin waist, broad shoulders and prominent basket barely concealed by tissue-thin, specially made pants. As James Purdy observed, "you may safely gaze." This image was manufactured expressly for public consumption.

Berlin expresses surprise: "I never thought I was creating a character that would survive, that made an impact, but it was honest. Now [my image] floats around in the ether without my doing anything."

To me, the iconic image of Peter Berlin is the one we see in That Boy, just after the opening pastoral sequence, when the narrator takes us to Polk Street in San Francisco. The camera looks across the street and we see Peter, in a brimmed leather cap, bare chest under an open leather jacket, and skin-tight white bell-bottoms leaning against a 12-foot high billboard that proclaims in black letters on a buttercup-yellow background, "We'll turn you on." It was pure serendipity; the billboard was advertising a TV program.

That Boy was a remarkable film. Filmed in 1974, it captured the essence of the fading hippie "movement" and free love. Peter's character is a loner, who relishes being an object of desire but at the same time does not want to be touched. He forms a strong bond with a blind boy who is aware of Peter's reputation "on the street" and the powerful eroticism Peter's image conjures up, but who, because he is blind, can appreciate Peter for his other qualities (while indulging in elaborate sex fantasies Peter may not be aware of).

That blind boy, billed as Arron Black in the film, recently returned to Peter's life. Peter told me, "Because of the documentary (That Man) he has come back into my life. He is an English teacher in L.A. and we talk on the phone every week." It's an example of life mirroring art.

Peter flew to New York in 2005 for a screening of That Man, the documentary about him. He was astonished: "I couldn't believe how many people were there. Young people."
Today, he says, "I rarely feel sexy; that's one regret I have. The thrill of exposing myself as a sex object is completely gone. Peter Berlin is far away from me, but when I want to get him, I know how to get there."

"Getting him" is something Peter had to do for the 2007 GayVN Awards show at San Francisco's venerable Castro Theatre. This year, he was inducted into the GayVN Hall of Fame, to standing ovations. He laughs, "Peter Berlin wouldn't be at an event like that, but I have a sense of humor about it."

Peter has taken photographs and home movies of himself his entire life, and he prides himself on still being able to achieve a "no-hands" orgasm. You can watch examples in the DVD extras of That Boy. He still takes photos and makes films - digital ones, these days - to document his sex life, either alone or "sometimes with a partner."

"Watching a man get off in my presence was always the hottest thing," he says. "It was always very thrilling to me to confront a guy in a public arena and get him off at a distance, from my image. Today, that's exactly what's going on, on the Internet."

Today, at 65, Peter is thinking about a biography: "My screenplay is in my head," he says. "It would demystify that iconic thing - the story behind it - there's a lot I would like to express. Since I didn't do anything in 30 years, I've had a lot of time to think."

For more information about Peter Berlin, please visit www.peter-berlin.com and www.thatmanpeterberlin.com.

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