When I think of the history of famous female models, I can evoke images and names all the way back to the late 50s when Dorian Leigh was the Fire and Ice Girl for Revlon, and her sister Suzy Parker was one of the most well known and top paid models. Then came the 60s with Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton followed by Janice Dickinson and all of the '80s supermodels. 

But what about male models before Calvin Klein brought them to the forefront?  Who were all of those unknown-named but repetitive faces on GQ and International Male magazines in the 70s and '80s??? Do Playgirl and Chippendale models count?  

Let's focus here on the gentlemen in my collection who are known primarily for modeling - or who got their acting work by starting in modeling, not vice versa. (I'll save Marky Mark for his own entry.) 

ANTONIO SABATO, JR. 

Antonio Sabato Jr kicked off as a male model with Janet Jackson in her “Love Will Never Do Without You" video. A cover and tease pic in a 1993 Playgirl magazine and then notoriously and fantastically as a Calvin Klein guy.  Unfortunately, my only exposure to his non-model work was the reality TV series "Celebrity Wife Swap". Antonio's personality and his marital expectations were simultaneously a bit cringe but also fully relatable since I'm half Italian. I have no beef with the 4.4 IMDb rating though. 

The shirtless autograph is an authentic Sabato signature.  The autographed photo with the hat, paired with the inside pic from Playgirl is a double disappointment for Antonio fans.  The autograph is a forgery (he never signs is A’s OR his S’s like that) and the Playgirl pic is super tame.  But at least I’ve got a pretty decent copy of the original Playgirl magazine, fully intact for $1. 

ROBERT PARUCHA 

"All Male - The International Male" story is an interesting documentary about the men's clothing catalog that bordered on softcore pornography but was a major platform for male models.  One of the many repeat and cover models was Robert Parucha.  His modeling led to a lot of daytime and nighttime soap opera appearances, but I mainly remember seeing him regularly in the International Male catalog.  For those of you who don’t know of this catalog, it was delivered regularly to those of us who bought 80’s clothes via mail-order.  Very often the middle section included stuff most of us would never wear, but the sheer materials, poses, body part outlines and the models wearing them would be the reason for ever increasing subscriptions. 

I like this autographed magazine cover of Robert Parucha, but it cracks me up that the collector (Tom) who wrote to him also sent him ads for TI sportswear and Dr. Scholl’s foot powder to autograph – both showing Robert’s feet. Foot fetish flashback!  As Robert has inscribed: “Tom, You’re a true fan”.  Ya think? 

DAVID WHITE 

GQ featured many recurring, but unknown-named faces. One favorite was David White. Interesting to note that in a 2007 interview about his career he mentioned being the Winston cigarette man in 1977 and that his career changed when his agent said. 'You've got to shave the mustache and cut the hair,' "White said. "I was like uh-uh."   

Yes, shaving the mustache did indeed lead to a 1978 GQ cover shot by Bruce Weber which is highly collectible. HOWEVER, David neglected to mention in his interview, (nor did his interviewer bring it up), the fact that WITH that mustache he had to shave, he was a 1976 Playgirl cover model and centerfold.  Here's a 1980 GQ cover signed by David along with some photos from his 1976 Playgirl, which sells for $100 and higher based on the condition. 

TED McGINLEY 

Another famous GQ face was Ted McGinley. He was plastered all over the men's magazines! And it was GQ that caught a casting directors’ eye and led to his first acting gig on “Happy Days”.  Once he hit the TV airwaves he was on a roll, appearing on so many TV shows. Most notably for me were his recurring appearances on “Love Boat” and playing Marcy's husband, Jefferson Darcy on “Married with Children”.  This guy is still working, and he is known as the patron saint of “shark-jumping” since he often ends up as a character replacement or in the latter end of so many series. Kudos and ka-ching to the face that landed a thousand series! 

P.S. I find it amusing that the fan who wrote all of the models and TV actors of the 70’s and 80’s sent SEVEN pics and magazine pages to Ted, and he signed them all!  Collector Tom be crushin’ on Ted.  Also note that he’s posing with a young Crystal Bernard 

P.P.S. Notice that the Agent listed on his model flyer is Nina Blanchard.  She is in my autograph collection as well, because I wrote to her after reading her book “How to Break into Motion Pictures, Television, Commercials and Acting”.  At 13, I thought this was possible for me…HA!  And I Nina for the best address to reach Cheryl Tiegs.  You can see the letter under my Cheryl Tiegs entry. 

JACK SCALIA 

And then we have Jack Scalia whose face and body became famous because of his underwear and Jordache jeans ads.  Modeling led to TV series like “Remington Steele” and “Dallas” and consistent work in front of the camera for decades.  Collector Tom was all about Scalia as well as McGinley, proven by the volume of pictures here all gathered by the same collector! 

As with so many – famous or not - Jack suffered from drug and alcohol addiction.  It’s a topic on the black and white full-page article featured here in the group of 6 photos.  It was also covered in a 1989 interview he explicitly thanks Rock Hudson (who he worked with on “The Devlin Connection) for getting him on the road to sobriety.   

Jack said: "I'm a recovering alcoholic-drug addict, and at that particular point (1981) I didn't even have a year of sobriety under my belt," Scalia said in Los Angeles recently. "I was new to acting, but I was also new to life. For 17 years of my life, I had been using drugs and alcohol to the limit. (Meaning he started using at age 14!) 

“I had no idea who I was as a person, let alone who I was as an actor." (Rock) Hudson took the young actor under his wing and gave him advice on many things, including how to conduct himself on the set. "Rock was very generous with people he trusted," Scalia said. "I had a closeness to him that I don't think a lot of people had. He taught me principles” – Austin American Statesman November 1989 

Jack is a survivor and long-time player in the Hollywood scene who moved from acting to producing - and he’s still keeping it together. 

JACK KRENEK 

Jack Krenek seems to have had one peak year in entertainment: 1983.  He was the GQ cover model in September of that year, and he has exactly one acting credit as “Date” in the 1983 movie “Cold Feet”.  He is now a real estate agent in San Diego.  That tracks: salespeople fare better when they’re good looking.  And he still is.  

DAN PETERSON 

Now on to Chippendales.  Dan Peterson with his muscular hairy chest, porn-stache and piercing eyes was apparently known as Mr. Chippendales.  I remember seeing his face a lot in the '80s, but doing research on him now is a bit discombobulating. He has no Wikipedia entry, his IMDb entry mentions a connection to the Manson family without clarity, has no birth date or personal details, but mentions he is a photographer, world ranked in track and field and..."He lectures about longevity and practicing healthy behaviors and attitudes through scientific analysis."  His IMDb profile picture is from 1986.  Longevity. 

GREG BRADFORD 

While we're on the topic of Chippendales, I actually have a calendar from 1983 that was sent to me by Greg Bradford in response to a fan letter.  (Yes, Dan Peterson is featured as the month of November) I wrote to Greg Bradford on January 4th, 1983 (my first autograph request of that year) and promptly heard back from him on February 9th, 1983.  I probably wrote to him because of his coverage in teen magazines for being young and blonde and in Skatetown USA. Funny that although HE is featured on the poster, his name is NOT.   This was during the time when roller skating was a big thing.  I roller skated regularly, like every Thursday or something, and a lot of us teenagers really looked forward to those movies like Roller Boogie, Xanadu and Skatetown USA. 

But why was Greg Bradford on the poster yet Scott Baio is top billed?? Hmmm. There were rumors that after appearing as an uncredited dancer in Grease, that he had been taken under the wing of producer Alan Carr and was his "protege".  I used to have the VHS of his movie "Lovelines" and I think I sold it on eBay years ago. But he kind of faded away from the public eye. 

Looking at Greg Bradford's IMDb shows an interesting segue of entertainment careers. His acting credits ended in 1986. But then he resurfaced under the name Montel Bradford in 1997 working in adult films as an editor, composer, cameraman, sound engineer, UNDERWATER cameraman... and my absolute favorite credit, piano dubbing for porn star Asia Carrera in Appassionata.  The career veering and talents abound!  Thank you, Greg Bradford, for answering my fan letter with the calendar and great 8x10 portrait! 

TARIK ERGIN 

Tarik is part of the “Star Trek” galaxy.  I see a lot of his autographs in character on “Star Trek Voyager trading cards.  But this Turkish-American guy looks better WITHOUT character makeup, in my opinion.  So I’ve decided to match up his autograph with an 80’s modeling shot. 

RICK YUNE 

On to the 90s and we have Rick Yune who in 1992 while studying on Wall Street was "discovered" by a modeling agent and soon became the first Asian-American featured in advertisements for Versace and Ralph Lauren's Polo.  From Golden Gloves boxer to fashion model to People’s Sexiest Villain with “Fast and Furious”, “Die Another Day” and “Marco Polo” under his Taekwondo black belt. With those martial arts skillz, franchise roles and that bone structure, what’s not to love?  

Then came Tyson Beckford and Marcus Schenkenberg and others.  Which leads us to today's climate of social media models, stars and influencers. Every guy with abs, a great jawline, nice hair and/or pretty eyes is a model. Whether he has followers or not. His bio says so. 

MATTHEW NOSZKA 

Instagram WAS effective in bringing Matthew Noszka to the attention of a modeling agency and then a gig with Nike within DAYS of posting a picture.  He is an example of why so many people think they can win the influencer or social media lotto. Yep, it can happen. Matthew has worked for big names like Versace, Tom Ford, Calvin Klein, Montcler etc. A beautifully striking young man who was born in 1992. He is also partially bionic after a serious motorcycle accident in 2018 which resulted in titanium rods in his elbow, wrist and femur. This is why motorcycles fall under the anti-Nike motto of "Just DON’T do it" for me. 

But then again, I'm old enough to remember when roller skating was popular. 

I’ve decided that Susannah Hoffs covering David Bowie has the perfect song that makes me think of Male Models