I had been in the middle of preparing a post about some famous men showing off their summer physiques when Olivia de Havilland passed away, leading me to rush a post about her onto the site. Then, before I could do anything else further, I realized we had also lost John Saxon, who happened to be included in the few pictures I had amassed beforehand. So this little photo essay will be a baker's dozen of hideously random fellas, followed by a few more photos of Mr. John Saxon, who I know many of you like. Mr. Saxon died on July 25th, 2020 of pneumonia at the age of 83. The cover boy for today, being upstaged a bit by the lovely Diane McBain, is Lee Patterson of the television show Surfside 6. |
| This guy might seem more familiar to you had he been in a loincloth instead of his swimsuit onesie. It's Johnny Weissmuller, of Tarzan fame. |
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| You may be forgiven for somehow zoning out on Miss Shirley Temple, cute as she is in her get-up, thanks to her pool pal. Mr. Guy Madison is simply to die for here! |
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| I think I've posted this pic before of Van Williams (also of Surfside 6) brandishing his garden hose, but this is a much bigger and better version of the shot. |
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| Towering Clint Walker's (first) wife Verna has to practically climb onto a wall in order to reach his stratosphere! |
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| Muscle/nipple fans will be clapping over this god-like portrait of one Peter Lupus. |
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| Steve McQueen, the King of Cool, often did without a shirt during outdoor activies. |
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| Likewise, Robert Conrad works on his tan while filming on location. |
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| Wow. Greg Brady (Barry Williams) had a bit of a body going on underneath his '70s polyester Brady Bunch ensembles. |
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| Yes, we all like to poke fun at "The Hoff" - David Hasselhoff - but he was a lean, hirsute newcomer here and he can barely keep his pants zipped. |
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| A very slim Richard Gere, not in trunks but some abbreviated briefs. |
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| I still surprise myself that I take any pleasure in Zac Efron (!), but I have grown to like him quite a bit over the years. This is not my type of body, per se, but I do like the hint of hair! |
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| And this is the aforementioned John Saxon, enjoying a splashy shower. |
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| Saxon was born Carmine Orrico on August 5th, 1936 in Brooklyn, New York. He'd been studying acting with Stella Adler and modeling a bit when he was spotted on the cover of a detective magazine by infamous agent Henry Willson. Willson, with the young man's parents' permission, snatched up the fledgling actor, re-christened him John Saxon and soon had him under contract at Universal Studios. |
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| The young man had brooding, dark good looks, a deep brow and a highly distinctive lip line. |
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| He was groomed and photographed for 18 months before finally landing a part. He soon became known for delinquent type roles in Running Wild (1955) with Mamie Van Doren and The Unguarded Moment (1956) in which he tormented Esther Williams. |
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| He's got an almost Stanley Kowalski Jr. thing going on here. |
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| His dark eyes and deep complexion meant that he would often be slated for ethnic roles. He was a Judean in The Big Fisherman (1959), a Native American in The Unforgiven (1960) and an Italian in The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963.) |
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| He played a Mexican in The Appaloosa (1966) opposite Marlon Brando. This was a Golden Globe nominated role for him, but he lost to Richard Attenborough in The Sand Pebbles. |
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| But he was also a teen idol, despite many hoodlum parts. In movies like Rock, Pretty Baby (1956), Summer Love, The Restless Years, This Happy Feeling and The Reluctant Debutante (all the last four in 1958!), he set the hearts of teen girls aflutter. This shot looks like it could be photoshopped by someone more talented than I to take advantage of his "come hither" expression as he strums away...! |
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| Likewise, this one could be redone to show his pants undone! LOL |
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| In any case, he was at home being both good or bad, dressed up or in cowboy gear. One of my own favorite flicks of his is the delirious Portrait in Black (1960), though I really cannot say it is due to him. |
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| This shot is from 1962's Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation and makes me wonder why I never watched it. |
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| Making a splash in his youth. |
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| We're not entirely sure what is happening in this shot from Rock, Pretty Baby, but I think we'd like to know more about it! |
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| Unfortunately, if you've been in the biz for a decade with reasonable success, but then find yourself in something called Blood Beast from Outer Space (1965), things are not exactly looking up. Saxon began working in low-budget movies, foreign quickies and the occasional supporting part in other peoples' films such as Bruce Lee (Enter the Dragon) or Clint Eastwood (Joe Kidd, both 1972.) |
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| Even as his career in studio fare began to fade and he was forced to scramble for parts in all sorts of projects which varied in quality, he retained a handsome face and a well-put-together physique. |
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| Twice, he tried to headline pilots for Gene Roddenberry which went nowhere. There was Planet Earth (1974) and Strange New World (1975), which had the good sense at least to get some of those clothes off. |
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| Hey, I would have tuned in...! I was only 8 when this aired, so I didn't have any say about what was viewed on our TV. Saxon, who did some beefcake during his career, but never as much as one might like allegedly had done some nude modeling as a youth... |
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| This is apparently he in a long ago photo shoot with golden headband. There's certainly no mistaking those brows or those teeth with their crooked smile. |
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| Saxon never really retired. He appeared in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and a couple of its sequels. He was also put to use in films like Beverly Hills Cop II (1994), as seen here,and worked frequently on television as well. |
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| In his later years, he began to take on a sort of Sean Connery look, though the two never resembled one another much in their younger years. His role on Dynasty (as Sheik Rashid Ahmed) was the place I first encountered him. |
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| Though he may not have reached the stellar highs of some of his contemporaries, John Saxon was a working actor for over 60 years. Many of the boys he was hired alongside back in the 1950s were long gone within a decade or so. |
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| We bid a fond farewell to Mr. Saxon, who provided manly enthusiasm to many a project and who always strove to deliver a compelling performance, whatever the surroundings. |
Great collection of beefcake as always, Poseidon! I'm glad to see you're still posting great stuff regularly, despite all the things going on in your life.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit being slightly dubious on the John Saxon nude shot.
The face in that photo is certainly him, and the body build, nipples and navel appear to be a good match to the other shirtless shots. Saxon was a photo model before he became an actor, and he was doing it in a time and place in which photos like this were being made for discreet sale.
So yeah, it could be him. On the other hand, there's something odd about the shadow at the neckline that looks cut and pasted, but it could just be an odd shadow. There's also something about the lower body that makes me wonder if a different nude lower body was pasted over a more discreet shot of Saxon.
One thing's for certain, though-- a more explicit, semi-erect shot of an older, hairy-chested model that shows up in a Google search for "John Saxon nude" is actually a photo of a Colt Studios model from the '80s, despite a very strong resemblance in that one shot.
Stay safe, well, and strong!
Thank you for the tribute to John Saxon. I've been in love with him for years, even if always playing the bad guy!
ReplyDeleteFor my money, Saxon just got better looking as he aged. As for the veracity of that nude shot - the nipples look the same, so works for me. There is a nude pic out there of a young Tony Danza that is supposedly photoshopped, but it is done so well, I really don't care!
ReplyDeleteHave you seen pics of Zac's new "dad bod"? Hmmmm...
Thanks for the John Saxon tribute, Poseidon! He was/is a huge fave of mine.
ReplyDeleteDeelicious, Clint Walker is too much, Peter Lupus fascinates me as much as he did while I was playing Legos and watching Mission Impossible. Robert Conrad only got better with age. I like Zac Efron too, those Disney musicals were cloying but he grew into an interesting actor.
ReplyDeleteJohn Saxon was really handsome. I sometimes get nostalgic fiction and reality mixed up, but do wonder if as a client of the notorious Henry Willson if John ever had to pay more than his 10%?
This was quite an eyeful Poseidon
Interesting, I’d never blinked an eye at John Saxon before, but you’ve made a great case for him here. The photo with the striped shirt and net backdrop, his facial features resemble Psycho era Janet Leigh to me.
ReplyDeleteThe John Saxon/Sandra Dee opus The Restless Years etched itself on my psyche at a very tender age. Dee, an innocent girl, born out-of-wedlock, was deemed by their small town's denizens an improper match for golden-boy Saxon. But love flourished until vicious gossip branded her a shameless slut for stripping nude for him under the town park's bandshell (it was all perfectly innocent). As a result of this film, I've forever been uncomfortable at the thought of undressing in a public park. I should've sought professional help.
ReplyDeleteHi hsc, glad you liked this! And it is almost insurmountable to get anything posted lately, but I do try...! I try strenuously to avoid anything fake on my site unless I'm doing it for fun and I clearly admit it (as in the case of using one or two easy strokes of a retouching device to make a waistband disappear from a swimsuit as I have done with Hugh O'Brian and Keith Andes (I think it was he) before. My skepticism about the photo is that he was discovered by Henry Willson at 17, so when did he pose for it (unless Willson TOOK it! LOL) He may have in those darkened studios, as you mention. This particular photo has been around FOREVER. I recall seeing it 25 years ago online, before photoshopping was at the level it has since become. There is much surface damage to the picture. So that sort of makes me think it could be real. And his arm shadow does extend all the way down his body. Hard to be certain. Probably my biggest reason for going ahead and posting it and thinking it may be real is that why would someone retouch a nude photo, faking it, but only do the upper pubic area?! It seems like they would go all the way with it, you know? But there are pictures, too, claiming to be James Caan that simply are not... Sorry I cannot be positive.
ReplyDeleteAlan, I'm happy that you enjoyed this brief tribute to Mr. Saxon.
Dan, I'm sure I will like Zac's new body when I get around to a viewing! Thanks!
A, I'm glad you liked this. I know he has many fans here. I like him, too, he's just not one of my really big faves.
Gingerguy, I sometimes feel quite guilty - even if titillated! - about Henry Willson. I mean, the man really took advantage of handsome young men. But in many cases he did give them what they were after, career-wise, as much as they could muster. Some were bitter about it, some weren't. I guess the ones I feel worst about are the ones who felt they had little to no choice. It's one thing to use the casting couch and another to GET used by it. I do have to say he generally picked some winners in the looks department, though!
Shawny, do you mean to say Anthony Perkins?? Ha ha! I hope so. You know, I always think of John Saxon as short, though he was 5'10," while Anthony was 6'2" - But they did have similar coloring and, at that point, facial structure.
Ha ha! rigs-in-gear, "The Restless Years" may have saved you from an arrest on a morals violation! You owe Sandy a favor. I saw that movie for the first time a short while back and enjoyed it a lot. GREAT cast and I almost always know I'll like something Ross Hunter has produced. Even when he's bad, he's good for me. LOL
"This particular photo has been around FOREVER. I recall seeing it 25 years ago online, before photoshopping was at the level it has since become. There is much surface damage to the picture. So that sort of makes me think it could be real. And his arm shadow does extend all the way down his body. Hard to be certain. Probably my biggest reason for going ahead and posting it and thinking it may be real is that why would someone retouch a nude photo, faking it, but only do the upper pubic area?! It seems like they would go all the way with it, you know? But there are pictures, too, claiming to be James Caan that simply are not... Sorry I cannot be positive."
ReplyDeleteSince I posted, I've seen comments on Datalounge that say the Saxon photo appeared in an issue of IN TOUCH FOR MEN years ago.
However, IN TOUCH did a "Hollywood Babylon" theme issue that brought a threat of legal action against them due to misidentifying a Colt model as James Caan. As a result, they quickly withdrew that one issue from their back issues sales and destroyed all remaining copies, making it a collector's item, I guess.
In the late '70s/early '80s, there was a one-shot publication floating around titled HOLLYWOOD RATED X that had nudes of various celebs. Most were semi-lookalikes, some were retouched beefcake photos, and some were real. The IN TOUCH issue got a good amount of its material from this magazine.
"That image existed before Photoshop" really means nothing, because the tool simply digitized and made easier what had been done for years by hand. However, the user either has retouch skills or they don't, and there used to be a good number of skilled retouch artists in the "old school" days, particularly around the film industry. Fusing a head onto a nude body or a groin region to replace a swimsuit in a beefcake shot would be a piece of cake for someone with those skills.
The real issue is whether any other nudes exist-- a single nude photo is much less likely to have been shot-- and whether other versions (non-nude/non-celeb) of that same image exist.
And a lot of "celeb nudes" are simply lookalikes at a certain angle, with a lot of wishful thinking. Thanks to the internet, you can track down other photos of the real model and debunk these a lot easier now (since I posted, I was able to come up with the name "Monte Crown" for the alleged Saxon nude, and other shots of him look nothing like Saxon).
But all that said, there ARE a number of photos that are genuine of actors who did nude modeling in their early days-- Yul Brynner, Vince Edwards are two off the top of my head that have been verified (I think George Platt Lynes shot Yul). And there were plenty of full-frontal photos shot in the days before there was a public market for them.
(And sometimes the photos got cropped in those "under the counter" publications in the early days, which would account for that semi-reveal. A good faker would've used a vintage photo for the replacement, and a cropped image not only looks more authentic but eliminates any guessing wrong about Saxon's circumcision status.)
So hopefully, this was an actual photo of John Saxon and others from the same shoot will eventually pop up to verify it.
Another great thing about the internet is that there's now a whole network of vintage beefcake collectors, and somebody's recently deceased gay uncle's old beefcake photo stash winds up on the internet from time to time, with previously unseen material.
Thanks for the post about John. I remember him as Rashid Ahmed in Dynasty but didn't take much notice. Then here was a scene in Falcon Crest where he's shirtless in the Vineyard with Kim Novak. He looks so hot. My God that scene gave me teenage palpitations!
ReplyDeleteedwardr42000, I was the same way! My first exposure to John Saxon was on "Dynasty." So, so many stars of earlier movies were brought to my attention in reverse. I'd see them on primetime TV and then later seek out their old movies. I'll have to keep an eye out for Kim and John on FC. I think I had quit watching it regularly by then... Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI've always loved John Saxon. Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked this, Caladan59! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJust came across this after seeing John Saxon in a Wonder Woman episode. I'd forgotten how handsome he was!
ReplyDeleteDo you have any idea where that pic of him in the shower is from?
I wish I could tell you but I cannot... I think it may have simply been one photo from a magazine publicity spread, the way older movie mags would spend a day with a star at the beach, gym, pool or somewhere else. I'd be surprised if it is from a particular movie, but I am not sure. <:-]
ReplyDeleteIt's probably like most of his pictorial model history... gone to the past.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I recall seeing John Saxon in was one of those ABC ‘Movie Of The Week’ that they used to broadcast on Tuesday nights from 8:30 to 10:00. The tv movie was called SNATCHED and was about three executives on vacation with their wives. The wives are kidnapped and held for ransom. Saxon was one of the three well to do husbands and his character (was) to the beautiful Barbara Parkins. At film’s end the audience finds out that Parkins’ character had staged the kidnapping so that she and her lover played by Robert Reed of THE BRADY BUNCH can run off but with Saxon’s money. I was just a 10 year old when this aired but I remember thinking, “you’re going to ditch John Saxon for Robert Reed ? Are you Nutz lady ?”
ReplyDeleteKelt, thanks for reading and commenting. That cast of "Snatched!" Too tempting to pass up. I see that it's on YouTube, so I will be checking it out. And I will surely be agreeing with you about John vs Robert....!
ReplyDeleteDr. Ted Stuart from The Bold Ones. So gorgeous. I was a teen in the 70's, but I know why my mom sat glued to the TV when that show came on.
ReplyDeleteIn a movie John Saxon appears naked from behind entering a bathroom towards the shower and you can see his body in close-up from head to toe... I don't know if it's a movie or TV movie, although due to the parameters of the movie I think the period corresponds to the 80s, the format should have been a cinema where these types of scenes could begin to be seen
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know what movie it will be?