We can't call him a historical homo because he was only gay-for-pay, but Warhol Superstar Joe Dallesandro was definitely one of the biggest celebrities of late 60s/early 70s gay culture. When he starred in Flesh, he made the cover of The Advocate. Michael Ferguson of JoeDallesandro.com calls him "the first openly eroticized male sex symbol of the movies to walk naked across the screen." He was the crotch on the cover of the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers album, and the torso on The Smiths' debut. Also, before appearing in Warhol's Loves ofOndine at age 18, he bottomed in at least one gay porn film, Jack Deveau's "Hot House," which is now a bona fide collector's item. We're mostly interested in drooling over old photos of him without his clothes, of which there are many.
Most of these are from Athletic Model Guild and old skin mags, but we've thrown in some Warhol images and a Calvin Klein ad he appeared in with Kate Moss in the 90s. Also, as a bonus, a clip from an original screen test Joe did in the 60s.
Thank God for the pioneers. A small step in the right direction; or as the Chinese say: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
First we equalize male and female nudity, then we work on broader acceptance in general. Who knows, maybe in a hundred years we'll catch up with Europe.
My part? Celebrate male nudity the best way I know how: by getting nude, and using my website, and by allowing the characters in my novels to be refreshingly open-minded about their bodies.
Comments
Did you know he manages a hotel in Hollywood now?
When he first comes on the screen in Andy Warhol's "Flesh For Frankenstein" -- I literally stopped breathing for a few seconds.
First we equalize male and female nudity, then we work on broader acceptance in general. Who knows, maybe in a hundred years we'll catch up with Europe.
My part? Celebrate male nudity the best way I know how: by getting nude, and using my website, and by allowing the characters in my novels to be refreshingly open-minded about their bodies.