R.I.P.: ARPAD MIKLOS (1967-2013)

Last month Arpad Miklos AKA Peter Kozma took his own life on Sunday the 3^rd of February. He was Born in Budapest,Hungary at the 11^th of September 1967. Arpad was mostly known as a pornographic actor, who appeared in gay and straight porn movies. He appeared in more than 60 movies and was discovered in Hungary by Kristen Bjorn in 1995.

A letter from Kristen Bjorn after he found out that Arpad was not alive anymore:

I first met Arpad Miklos in Budapest, Hungary in 1994. He performed in 3 films during my 6 month stay in that country; COMRADES IN ARMS, THE VAMPIRE OF BUDAPEST, and HUNGARY FOR MEN. At that time, Arpad was a chemist, and didn’t speak English. He did speak quite good German though, which is the language we spoke to each other back then. Arpad’s Hungarian co-stars nick named him ¨Frankenswanz¨ (¨Franken-cock¨) because of his monster sized penis. Over the following years, Arpad travelled back and forth from Budapest to Miami to perform in THICK AS THIEVES, BONE ISLAND, and THE ISLE OF MEN, which was shot in Puerto Rico. Arpad was also a production assistant during the filming of those three films. Back then, we used to take a month to film each video, and so I got to spend quite long periods of time with Arpad. Hungarians almost always use diminutives of their names. Thus names like Zoltan, Gabor, and Attila become Zoli, Gabi, and Atti. Arpad, whose real name was Ferenc Korma, was known to friends as Feri. When Arpad came to the USA the first time, I suggested that he use his full name rather than the diminutive, since the way Americans pronounced it, his name sounded like ¨fairy¨. Arpad decided to adopt the Peter instead. Arpad loved to travel, and his sexual appetite off camera was as ferocious is is was on camera. He was a pretty good cook, and he enjoyed working out at the gym, which made his body grow much more muscular through the years. Arpad wasn’t an open book; he was very analytical and intelligent, but he didn’t often express his feelings to me. Arpad moved to Miami in 2002, and went on to work for many other studios, for which he is now so well known for. It has been at least five years since I have had direct contact with Arpad, although I was kept aware of what he was up to through his former partner in Hungary, whom I had a closer friendship with. I was sad to hear of his passing, and I hope that he has found the peace he deserves.

– Kristen Bjorn

Before becoming a porn actor he was a chemical engineer and when he came to America he could not speak any English. Arpad appeared in both gay and straight films but achieved the most attention when he starred in artist Perfume Genius’s controversial music video for Hood in 2012, which was eventually banned from YouTube. In his 15 years as a porn star, he made almost 60 films. He also was voted Best Top Escort at the 2007 International Escort Awards and won some Grabby, GAYVN AND Hookie awards.

The news of Arpad Miklos’ suicide was shared by a friend in a webcast hosted by publicist Howard Bragman. New York writer Randal Lynch confirmed the news and said a suicide note had been left. Lynch said: “He was a great guy on top of [being a porn star]. There was a lot more to him than just that surface persona. He was a very active person in the gay community. He wasn’t happy, I would say, but he wasn’t going into crying fits. He was a hard nut to crack. I knew he was depressed but I didn’t realize the severity of it, because he was not a very talkative person about his own emotions. He wanted people to know that he was OK and wanted to put on a front for everyone around him.”

In his suicide note Arpad Miklos wrote that though he ‘knows there will be judgement, the haters can hate and speculate’ but that he wasn’t going to give a specific reason as to why he took his own life. He then left instructions for his close friends on what to do with his body and what he wanted for memorial.

Arpad was known for his bearish and brooding good looks, which were of course belied by his gentle and sweet disposition. During his career of being a porn star Arpad also did charity work. In June 2010 Miklos was chosen to feature on the BUTT Magazine beach towels sold at American Apparel; for every towel sold a portion would be donated to the Ali Forney Center, an NYC organization providing housing and services to LGBTQ youth.

He became 45 years old and last resided in New York City, where he also worked as an escort. Because he committed suicide there is a lot of condemnation in the industry about why he did this, but we should remember him as a sexy man behind the scenes and in front of the camera who gave so much of himself for our desire. It is a private and probably a well-considered decision and personally significant enough to result in such extreme measures.