Gay Performer Erik Rhodes Dies

SAN FRANCISCO—Falcon Studios contract star Erik Rhodes, 30, died at 5:30 a.m. Thursday morning in New York from a heart attack during his sleep. Falcon officials, including Adam Q. Robinson, Falcon’s vice president of production, issued statements through various social media outlets this morning about Rhodes’ passing. “It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of Erik Rhodes this morning. Erik died of a heart attack in his sleep,” Robinson tweeted. “Erik has been an amazing friend & part of the Falcon family for 8 years, a man of steel on the outside but all teddy bear on the inside.” Chris Ward, Falcon/Raging Stallion Studios president, offered the following statement: "We are deeply saddened by Erik's passing. He was a part of our family and we are devastated.  Our thoughts are with his loved ones." A tweet on Rhodes’ Twitter account reads, “Erik Rhodes has left us this morning at 5:30am his family and boyfriend Riccardo are in deep pain, please respect this sad moment.” “It is with utmost sadness that we make the announcement of Erik Rhodes’ passing," the company said in a press release. "We offer our condolences to Erik’s family, friends and loved ones. He was a genuine and caring man with extraordinary attractiveness and a massive muscled frame. Erik was an equally beautiful human being who lit up a room, and brought fun and joy to our studio and his fans that was unparalleled. He was a giving person with a special wit, and he put his all into every performance. He wanted to give his fans the best he could every single time he stepped in front of the camera. Rest in peace, Erik and know that we are celebrating your life and your achievements, but we will miss you and all the special moments you have given us forever.” Rhodes, born Feb. 8, 1982, was an openly gay man, who topped and bottomed both professionally and in his personal life. He performed in 44 scenes for Falcon Studios, most recently in Body Shop, co-starring Landon Conrad, Marc Dylan and Trenton Ducati. Rhodes began his career with Falcon by signing as an exclusive in September 2004 at the age of 22, shooting only one scene prior to joining the Falcon team. He remained an exclusive ever since. Rhodes also directed eight Mustang Studios titles during his career. He recently began shooting with Raging Stallion Studios after it merged with Falcon in early 2011. His videography includes more than 40 scenes filmed over the past eight years.  He was also a troubled man, by many accounts, struggling with drugs and depression. “My name is James ... I have worked in the adult entertainment industry for the last 7 years of my life under the name Erik Rhodes. I'm not sure how I ended up here, and I don't know how I have survived this long ... all I do know is that it can a very lonely place and sometimes I need a blog to get shit off my chest. So take it or leave it ... here it is,” reads the profile on his Tumblr blog “Erik Rhodes: A Romance With Misery.” Many of his blog posts and several of the comments left on his blog refer to his drug use, and recent binges. “Well to be honest i’m on steroid overload right now… (not thats its much different from normal, but i’m just more focused looking to attain a certain goal),” he wrote two months ago. “For the first couple months, really up until last week, after my break-up, (which i’m sick talking about) but my strange lifestyle right now seems to be a direct result of it, well, anyways i was abusing Meth… and i mean hard… and since i’m not small boy and i wanna feel my high… i was shooting up syringes full of the shit… .8 - .9…  ask any meth head and they get retarded off .3… but i got myself to the point where if my high didn’t feel like a partial seizure i wasn’t happy with it.” Rhodes later updated the post to say he had written it in response to a man who wrote and asked him about trying meth for the first time. “I was hoping it would be something to change his mind, something to let my failure be his guide and hopefully have him not venture down that road,” he wrote. “But of course the whole story gets cut apart and i’m made to look like an asshole. I mean i go out of my way to make myself look bad enough only to have headlines written only about the juicy part of the story. Retarded.  “Oh well, whatever sells tickets to the circus.” His last post was four days ago, in response to a fan who said he was about to start a steroid cycle and wanted suggestions because he wanted to “be as huge as you.” “My cycle right now … 3000 mg of Test Enanthate a week, 2500 mg of Nandrolone Decaonate and 300 mg of Trenbolone Acetate. With 5iu of Human Growth Hormone everyday,”Rhodesreplied. “I’m waiting until I pop. Or my liver fails … which ever comes first.” No other details on Rhodes’ death were immediately available.