Thomas was born in Winnetka, Illinois to an upper-middle-class family. His father was of Greek-Jewish descent and his mother of Russian-Jewish descent. He is the nephew of businesswoman. Although he attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison on a basketball scholarship and studied political science, he turned to acting as a career. 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. He also performed in the long-running play Beach Blanket Babylon in San Francisco. He signed with the William Morris Agency and went to Hollywood, where he appeared in a few television shows. 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. Thomas started working in pornography in 1974. He met the porn producers the Mitchell Brothers while playing in a musical in San Francisco. He performed in several porn loops for them and, in 1976, appeared in his first porn feature, The Autobiography of a Flea. 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. Following his release from prison, Toubus 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 seriesTaboo American Style. Thomas started directing porn films in 1985, and has directed for Vivid Entertainment since 1986. Thomas has acted in over 500 films and directed nearly 300 films, winning seven Adult Video News Awards and two X-Rated Critics Organization Awards for best director. He was inducted into the X-Rated Critics Organization Hall of Fame in 1986. Thomas is a member of the Adult Video News Hall of Fame. 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.
