Soaking wet and naked Pamela Anderson chased me… but I wouldn’t do what she desired: Famed photographer tells all (and the night he thought he’d die at Mike Tyson’s house)

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Pamela Anderson, after having several margaritas, was naked and playfully chasing a frightened Sante D’Orazio around the pool at the Chateau Marmont hotel.

In 2000, renowned American photographer D’Orazio was shooting with the popular actress for a Playboy magazine cover.

His evening with Anderson ultimately led to him losing the job, a story he later shared in his memoir, ‘A Shot in the Dark,’ which was released last month.

This book tells the complete story of D’Orazio’s life, from personal struggles with heartbreak, depression, and addiction, to a successful career filled with glamorous magazine photoshoots and lively nights at now-closed, iconic New York City clubs – a glimpse into a vanished era.

I’ve been following Sal D’Orazio’s work for years, and it’s amazing to think about the four decades of history he’s created and carefully recorded. I recently read an interview with him in the Daily Mail, done at his New Jersey studio, and he’s 69 now – it’s incredible to see everything he’s accomplished.

And with it comes a few good stories along the way.

He began writing down the stories he’d always shared with friends, a few pages at a time. After a year, those fragments had grown into a 300-page manuscript.

In them, notably, is the moment he met Anderson.

D’Orazio described her as stunning, cheerful, and full of life, but noted she was also very flirtatious with him.

‘So, by the next to last shot, she’s like, “We should all go out drinking.”‘

For most people, it would have been an incredible opportunity. But for D’Orazio, who had just finished 30 days of rehab for an oxycontin addiction stemming from a knee surgery, it felt like a terrible ordeal.

D’Orazio, only agreeing to come if his team could join, drank Diet Coke while Anderson ordered margaritas for everyone. Throughout this, D’Orazio repeatedly tried calling his sponsor, but couldn’t get a response.

He recalled thinking the Diet Coke seemed to be saying, “You’re ruining the fun.” He added that surprisingly, no one had ever accused him of being a downer. (He admitted to living a very social life at the time, once telling the Daily Mail that the party was always wherever he happened to be.)

D’Orazio, who was completely sober, went with a very drunk Anderson and her friends back to the Chateau Marmont to keep partying. He said that Anderson then took off her clothes and sat down on his lap.

‘Believe me, I’m palpitating, and not because of my desire,’ he recalled. ‘It was my desire to get out of the situation and keep my sobriety.’

Anderson suddenly ran to the pool and dove in, urging D’Orazio to come with her, even as he tried to convince her to get out. When he kept saying no, she climbed out of the pool and chased him, still naked.

D’Orazio said he couldn’t believe what was happening: Pam Anderson was running after him around the pool, completely nude, and trying to catch him.

Despite the difficulty, he finally got her into a car and sent her home, figuring she’d be late for the second day of the Playboy photoshoot.

But she never showed.

D’Orazio remembered that Pam accused him of being responsible for her getting drunk and said she didn’t want to work with him anymore.

The Daily Mail contacted representatives for Anderson for comment.

He was able to keep both the payment and the photographs, which sat unused in his collection for five years. Then, gallerist Stellan Holm contacted him with a chance to display the work in an exhibition.

‘I showed him the Pam Anderson pictures, and he flipped out.’

In his memoir, Anderson, age 58, surprisingly revealed he agreed to the release of the photos and even traveled to New York to see the exhibition, “Pamela Anderson: American Icon.” D’Orazio jokingly noted that, of course, Anderson is actually Canadian.

D’Orazio remembered the exhibition being incredibly popular. People formed long lines, even spilling out onto the street, just to get a look. The huge amount of attention led Playboy magazine to decide to feature the photos, and they were eventually published.

D’Orazio photographed actresses Stephanie Seymour and Tahnee Welch for the magazine, known for its provocative images, but his portfolio included much more than just those glamorous photoshoots.

He photographed Prince for Gotham magazine, noting the musician arrived surprisingly alone. He also shot Kate Moss for Italian Vogue, and worked with many of the era’s top supermodels, including Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, and Naomi Campbell. He’d known many of these models since they were teenagers and felt a protective instinct towards them.

He explained that they’d often go out to clubs and restaurants, and he was the only male in the group. He also played the role of a fake boyfriend to help them if they ever ran into problems while they were out.

I have a large loft space, and friends used to visit every weekend, arriving on Fridays and leaving on Mondays. It was always a good time.

They frequented popular Manhattan spots like Bowery Bar and Cafe Tabac in the East Village – the latter briefly became a favorite among celebrities, and is where Kate Moss first met Johnny Depp. According to D’Orazio, they received VIP treatment at these places because he was with five well-known models.

But there was one night in particular with Campbell, now 55, that is burned into his memory.

He described dating Naomi as an exciting surprise. She was a lot of fun and had a wonderfully wild side.

In 1993, while at Cafe Tabac, George Wayne – a columnist for Vanity Fair originally from Jamaica – boldly accused Naomi Campbell of pretending to be Jamaican.

According to D’Orazio, a very angry Campbell first threw her drink at Wayne. He retaliated by pouring a pitcher of water over her head, completely soaking her dress. The argument escalated into a chase around the restaurant, during which Campbell even threw a piece of cake at the well-known columnist.

D’Orazio remembered it as complete chaos. Someone was drenched, George had cake stuck to his head, and that was how the night ended.

But some of his best stories happened away from the party.

I remember reading about how photographer David D’Orazio was supposed to shoot Mike Tyson back in 1996 for Esquire magazine. He actually went all the way to Tyson’s house in Las Vegas, but surprisingly, he wasn’t allowed in! Can you believe it? He just got turned away.

‘Mike doesn’t want to shoot today,’ Tyson’s assistant said when answering the bell.

D’Orazio tried again later that day, to no avail, and was denied a third time the following day.

Photographers on these types of shoots need to be incredibly resourceful, able to make things happen even when it’s difficult,” D’Orazio explained to the Daily Mail. He was referring to Russell Simmons, the once-powerful hip-hop executive, now 68, who faces accusations of sexual misconduct and hasn’t paid millions of dollars in agreed-upon settlements to those who have accused him.

D’Orazio was friends with Simmons, who happened to know Mike Tyson. He asked Simmons for a favor, and shortly after Russell called, the gates to Tyson’s property opened. D’Orazio remembered finding Tyson casually playing pool with friends when he went inside.

While scouting Mike Tyson’s property for a photoshoot, photographer D’Orazio heard something running towards him. He assumed it was a dog, but turned around to find himself nose-to-nose with one of Tyson’s white Bengal tigers. Tyson owned three of these tigers at the time, each said to cost around $70,000, but he no longer has them.

The large cat jumps on me and covers my face with licks,” D’Orazio explained. “I was relieved I didn’t have an accident!”

Despite being incredibly nervous, Tyson couldn’t help but laugh at what happened next. Mike Tyson joked, ‘It’s just a little puppy, guys!’

Tyson treated the tiger as if it were another creature like himself, playfully even putting it in a headlock, which D’Orazio captured in a photograph.

According to photographer D’Orazio, successful photography requires letting go of conscious thought. If you try to plan a shot or anticipate the moment, you’ll miss it. Instead, you need to rely on your instincts and let your senses guide you – that’s where true talent lies.

He also mentioned his close friend, Mickey Rourke, whom he’s known for over thirty years. The 73-year-old actor often joined D’Orazio’s family for meals at his mother’s house in Brooklyn, and even came to visit when D’Orazio was sick with E. coli.

D’Orazio described feeling an instant connection with Rourke, saying, ‘Some people you just click with, and it felt like I’d known him before, even if he looked different.’

‘Mickey came from a background people don’t know, they don’t understand.’

D’Orazio doesn’t recall exactly how they first met, but he clearly remembers when Rourke called him at 5 in the morning, after a night out, and asked for a spontaneous photoshoot right in the heart of Little Italy.

Earlier that evening, D’Orazio ran into actor Mickey Rourke at the Rose Bar, a now-closed spot in the Gramercy Park Hotel. Although he’d photographed Rourke before, Rourke told him they needed to take new photos.

They said goodnight and D’Orazio got home around 2am. He didn’t get much sleep, though, because his phone rang just three hours later. It was Rourke, who wanted to book a photoshoot.

Fifteen minutes later, D’Orazio stood outside Ferrara Bakery and Cafe with his camera and three rolls of film. Inside, Rourke was repeatedly knocking on the window, trying to get a coffee, but they wouldn’t serve him.

Walking through Little Italy, D’Orazio was taking pictures constantly. Suddenly, for no clear reason, he and Rourke switched shirts, with Rourke putting on D’Orazio’s simple tank top. He then posed in front of the former John Jovino Gun Shop, a landmark store on Grand Street known for the large pistol displayed in its sign.

D’Orazio remembered that Rourke resembled someone you’d see in that area years ago. Interestingly, that same neighborhood was where Rourke filmed ‘The Pope of Greenwich Village’ in 1984, and D’Orazio felt a strange change come over the actor while they were there.

It really scared me, because it wasn’t like seeing my friend Mickey anymore. He transformed into someone else entirely. He avoided looking at the camera… it felt like he was giving me a personal, private show.

D’Orazio described the sunrise as feeling like a signal to vampires that the night was ending.

‘So, we gave each other a big hug, and he went back to his hotel,’ he said. ‘And I went back to bed.’

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2025-12-26 17:36