Mark Rutherford

Anthony Sansone

 Tony Sansone (1905–1987) was an Italian-American bodybuilder and model.
Anthony Joseph Sansone was born September 19, 1905 in New York City. His parents were both Sicilian immigrants: Ignazio (Charles) Sansone and Paolina (Pauline) Giardina. Sansone married Sophie Frank ("Rita") in 1926, and had two children, Pauline and Anthony Joseph, Jr ("Nino").

At an early age, Sansone (pronounced san-TSONE-ee, later Americanized to san-ZONE) had contracted scarlet fever and then typhoid fever, leaving him with a fragile build. At 14, he took an interest in sports and began working out at a nearby park, doing running, chin-ups, handstands, and other acrobatics. At 16, he came across magazine pictures of physique star Tommy Farber in Physical Culture magazine and became interested in physical development. He trained under the tutelage of bodybuilding publisher Bernarr Macfadden and bodybuilder Charles Atlas (aka Angelo Siciliano).

In October 1923, Sansone, 18, won a physique contest sponsored by Atlas. He did not pursue competitive bodybuilding as a career, however, and has never earned any titles like Mr America.

Much of Tony Sansone's enduring fame in bodybuilding history was the result of his success as a model.
Sansone began modeling when he was still a teenager. During the Depression, Sansone profited by selling pictures of himself through mail-order ads. He became a much sought-after model who posed for paintings, photographs, and sculpture. He was featured on many magazine covers, both American and European. He modeled for statues by James Earle Fraser ("Meriwether Lewis;" Fraser also designed the US buffalo nickel), Arthur Lee ("Rhythm" which was created over five years, 1925–1930), and Malvina Hoffman ("Nordic Type" and "Elemental Man").
Sansone published several photo books, including Modern Classics, Rhythm, Du-ets (sic), and Nudleafs. By 1936, he had sold over 15,000 copies of Modern Classics and Rhythm combined.

In the mid-1920s, Sansone began studying dance as an exercise. He was selected by Alexandre Gavrilov to

perform in "Ballet Moderne" which debuted on April 10, 1928. He also toured with Polish-Yugoslavian ballet dancer Desha Podgorska. His dance career was cut short by a knee accident, but the training influenced his style of posing.
From 1928 to 1929, Sansone performed in David Belasco's elaborate sci-fi theater production of "Mima." The show ran for 180 performances before being closed down due to money problems.
Among the spectators of "Mima" was photographer Edwin F. Townsend. Townsend took a great interest in Sansone and began photographing him in 1929. He went on to become Sansone's principal photographer.
In 1929, Sansone got a small part in director John W. Harkrider's Glorifying the American Girl which co-starred Eddie Cantor. But like competitive bodybuilding, Sansone never pursued acting as a career.
Sansone owned and operated three gyms (which he referred to as "body culture studios") in New York. (Bodybuilder Steve Reeves was among his customers.)

Tony Sansone stood 6 feet tall and weighed 185 lbs. His muscles were highly defined but did not display the massive bulkiness common in modern bodybuilding. Sansone, in fact, took no interest in measurements, preferring a look that was more slender and flexible. His training included weightlifting, running, swimming, and gymnastics. Sansone was especially strong in parallel bar work.
Sansone was photographed mainly in the nude, and was celebrated for his creative posing. Although naturally tan, Sansone enhanced his "bronze" look with body makeup. Charles Atlas called him "The Most Beautiful Man in America." Physical-culture historian David Gentle has said, "If Sansone had been born in Greek antiquity, he would have been immortalized as a god."

Tony Sansone retired from the gym business after thirty years. He went on to do volunteer work, especially teaching underprivileged children.
Sansone died January 13, 1987 after a five-year struggle with colon cancer.

WET VPL

Alonzo Hanagan aka Lon Of New York

He may not be a household name (even in gay households), but chances are you've gazed upon Lon of New York's work. A major figure in the post-World War II male physique photography boom, Lon's trailblazingly multicultural images graced the covers of many a muscle stud magazine like Superman and Strength and Health, and became huge favorites among gay collectors of the day.

Born Alonzo Hanagan in Massachusetts in 1911, Lon came to New York City in 1936, where he soon befriended gay neighbor and painter George Quaintance. Lon would later claim that in preparation for his first photo catalog in 1941, Quaintance painted "luminous leaves" directly onto the prints to remove hints of any naughty bits. Such humility and his steadfast refusal to shoot porn images unfortunately didn't save Lon from police raids, most tragically in 1961 when cops came to his Upper West Side home at 266 West End Avenue (between 72nd and 73rd Sts., and the former home of no less than Mae West, the ornate detailings of which sometimes appeared as backdrops to Lon's work) and brutally beat him and destroyed and/or confiscated every single piece of his work. Fortunately, Lon had locked some pieces in a trunk, but those few were the sole survivors of the raid. Devastated by the incident, Lon gave up photography for years.

Lon's excellence was rediscovered in the '80s and '90s by a new generation of gays, who appreciated his clear eye for Greco-Roman statuesque perfection. "I'd say, 'Now Sal, or Raul, or whoever, you're up there for one reason,'" Lon explained as a key to his work's quality in a 1999 Village Voice article. "You're there because you're an object of beauty. And you're supposed to think, I must be beautiful or I wouldn't be standing here. Keep that in mind and it'll come through in the pictures.'" Lon died at the ripe age of 87 in 1999, having earlier that same year finally had his first gallery show ever at Wessel + Connor (then on 26th St. in Chelsea, now in Brooklyn's DUMBO).

WILD MAN - Honcho - June 1987

Alex Jezierski Photographed by Lon

Here's a catalog of photographs of Alex Jezierski taken by Lon to ensure you collect all of the images.

WOOF!

Adam Hammer

Hunk of the Day

 Saturday June 1, 2013

 Sunday June 2, 2013

 Monday June 3, 2013

 Tuesday June 4, 2013

Your Hunk of the Day: Adam Levine

Adam Levine by Yu Tsai for Out Magazine

Adam Noah Levine (born March 18, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, entrepreneur and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist and front man of pop rock band Maroon 5.
During his late teenage years, Levine co-founded indie pop band Kara's Flowers and was its lead vocalist and guitarist. However, after the commercial failure of their only album, The Fourth World, the band split up.Later, he reformed the band and a fifth member was added to form Maroon 5. The band has had considerable mainstream success, with all four of their studio albums reaching platinum status in the US. He has received three Grammy Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards and an award each at the MTV Video Music Awards and the World Music Awards, all with the band.
Since 2011, Levine has served as a coach on NBC's reality talent show The Voice. The winner of the first season, Javier Colon, was on his team. In 2012, he made his acting debut as a recurring character in the horror television show American Horror Story: Asylum for the second season of the series. He was also cast in the upcoming film Can a Song Save Your Life?
Levine is also an entrepreneur. In 2013, he launched his own eponymous fragrance line. That same year, he collaborated with Kmart and ShopYourWay.com to develop and design apparel and accessories collections. He also owns a record label, named "222 Records". Further, he was also signed as the spokesperson for acne treatment Proactiv. In 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that "sources familiar with his many business dealings" estimated that he would earn more than $35 million that year, with NBC paying him $10–12 million for each season of the The Voice.

Gabe - Blueboy - November 1981

Blueboy 
November 1981

Coverguy
Gabe (Nude inside) photographed by Roy Dean

Features
Sizzling Men
Loving the Latent Gay
Blue Movies Behind the Scenes
Mr. USA/Teenage USA

 AKA: Adam Hammer

Bart Forbes

 AKA: Adam Hammer

Third Annual 100 Most Eligible Bachelors

From:  OUT

DANIEL MENDELSOHN

Writer

Daniel Mendelsohn (born 1960) is an American author, essayist, critic, and translator.

Mendelsohn was born on Long Island and raised in the town of Old Bethpage, New York. He attended the University of Virginia from 1978 to 1982 as an Echols Scholar, graduating with a B. A. summa cum laude in Classics. From 1982 to 1985, he resided in New York City, working as an assistant to an opera impresario, Joseph A. Scuro. In March 1985 Mendelsohn returned to Charlottesville, VA, to prepare for graduate school, and lived there until he began his graduate work in Classics at Princeton University the following year. He received his M. A. in 1989 and his Ph. D. in 1994. His dissertation, later published as a scholarly monograph by Oxford University Press, was on Euripidean tragedy.

Mendelsohn began contributing reviews, Op-Eds, and essays to such publications as QW, New York Times, The Nation, and The Village Voice in 1991, while still a graduate student; after completing his Ph. D. in 1994, he moved to New York City and began writing full-time. Since then his review-essays on books, films, theater and television have appeared frequently in a number of major publications, most often in The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books; others include The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Esquire, The Paris Review, and The New Republic. Between 2000 and 2002 he was the weekly book critic for New York Magazine, and between 1996 and 2006 his reviews appeared frequently in The New York Times Book Review. He has been the recipient of numerous prizes and honors both in the United States and abroad; apart from awards for individual books, these include a Guggenheim Fellowship for a translation of Cavafy's "Unfinished" poems, with commentary; the National Book Critics Circle Award Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Book Reviewing (2000); and the George Jean Nathan Prize for Drama Criticism (2002).

Mendelsohn's academic speciality was Greek (especially Euripidean) tragedy; he also published scholarly articles about Roman poetry and Greek religion. From 1994 to 2002, he was a part-time Lecturer in the Classics department at Princeton University. Currently, he holds the Charles Ranlett Flint Chair in Humanities at Bard College, where he teaches one course each semester on literary subjects. In April 2008, he was the Richard Holbrooke Distinguished Visitor at the American Academy in Berlin, Germany. In the Spring of 2010, he was a Critic-in-Residence at the American Academy in Rome.

Mendelsohn, who is gay, is one of five siblings. His brothers include film director Eric Mendelsohn and Matt Mendelsohn, a photographer; his sister, Jennifer Mendelsohn, is also a journalist.

Want to make a move? Check out his Facebook page here.

Caption Needed...

The 50 Hottest NFL Players of All Time

From:  kenneth in the (212)

 17

Mark Sanchez

Make what you will of the fact that I initially forgot to put the Jets QB on the list. (There's always modeling, Mark.)

The 30 Sexiest Gay Scenes In Film

From:  Out

22. 
Velvet Goldmine 
Dir. Todd Haynes
1998
Glam rock drama Velvet Goldmine is rife with sex, including Ewan McGregor locking lips with Jonathan Rhys Meyers and engaging Christian Bale in an out-of-this-world romp in a moon crater. There’s no one sexiest scene here; just unadulterated exploration and its climactic consequences.

Just Because....