In The Underworld, the weeks and months from early-September to late-May are spent with one thing on our minds and that is the opening of the swimming pools during Memorial Day weekend. This coming weekend is the one in question at last and we cannot wait to grab our towels, our iced tea, our paperback books and our sunglasses for a season of fun in the sun! (Especially since the shackles of commitment to my recent - thankfully very successful - play have been cast aside.) To commemorate the occasion, we do as we have been for some years now and celebrate the swimsuits of a passel of celebrity men (and in as many cases as possible, The Speedo!) We hope you enjoy this parade of pleasure. Our cover boy, by the way, is not famous, but in my search for pictures at our sister site Krazy Kaptions, I sometimes come upon some like this one (and these!) that aren't right for there, but are just too great to ignore.
I was truly born too late since I prefer the looks of the suits of the '60s, '70s and early-'80s over what guys tend to wear now. I was really born too late in that the days of clothing-absent and clothing-optional swimming at the YMCA were already gone by the time I came along! See an example here.
Anyway, let's stroll down memory lane at some stars in their suits beginning with Olympic Gold Medal swimmer-turned-actor Buster Crabbe (best known as Flash Gordon, 1936-1940.)
Hmmm. That might deserve a closer look.
Another Olympic Gold Medalist-turned-actor is famed Tarzan(from 1932-1948) Johnny Weissmuller.
Did you ever think you'd see Fredric March looking like this? Handsome!
What about this twosome, Tyrone Power and close pal Cesar Romero?
Recognize this scantily-clad swimmer? It's "The Duke," John Wayne!
Gorgeous Charles Starrett of theDurango Kidseries (more than sixty of them between 1940 and 1952) of westerns.
Here we find John Howard (of The Philadelphia Story, 1940, and The High and the Mighty, 1954.)
Troubled hunk Tom Neal, a boxer-turned-actor who had a stormy relationship with Barbara Payton and later shot and killed his third wife.
Looking "maahvelous" is Fernando Lamas and his wife Esther Williams.
Few men were quite as yummy as Guy Madison.
Look how young movie musical star Dennis Morgan is in this shot.
Speaking of young, Tab Hunter is shown here in his early days.
Here he is again a couple of years later.
In this photo, he's seen fishing around with the white-hot John Bromfield!
Peter Lawford is lean and healthy-looking here.
Farley Granger poses in his trunks.
Burly Mickey Hargitay is seen emerging from the water.
Rory Calhoun and Jeffrey Hunter share a day of fun at the shore.
This guy always makes me feel "dewy." Dewey Martin!
'50s matinee idol turned genuine movie star Tony Curtis takes a break while boating.
Burt Lancaster pops up with a rather lucky Margaret O'Brien.
Burt's good friend Kirk Douglas could often be seen (at Cannes or elsewhere) in a snug swimsuit.
The beard above was for his 1954 Italian-made movie Ulysses.
Here he is, sans beard, on another occasion.
This next picture is of 1940s and '50s actor Dennis O'Keefe, sitting on a dock in his pale trunks.
With a little doctoring, it can be made to seem as if he's even MORE comfortable than he was!
Likewise, dead-handsome Hugh O'Brian is shown here swimming in a soothing stream.
...but a bit of tampering makes it seem like he's skinny-dipping instead. What a sexy man. (Never believe everything you see, folks! Most pictures in magazines and online today are manipulated somehow...)
Here we see him in 1965 loading three babes (the one in the middle being Stefanie Powers) on to his shoulders during the filming of Love has Many Faces!
I consider this a pretty rare find. You might recall John Kerr's light-colored swim trunks in the movie South Pacific (1958) during his waterfall courtship of France Nuyen, but here is a wardrobe test that would have had him in a very skimpy set of patterned briefs! Check out the tan line.
Here is the delicious French actor Alain Delon, emerging from the water.
Lloyd Bridges of Sea Hunt (1958-1961) is seen with a guest star.
Fortunately, this water-based show gave viewers many a glimpse of Bridges and others in their trunks.
This is a rare chance to see The Rifleman (1958-1963) Chuck Connors out of his western gear and in a pair of trim swim trunks.
Clint Eastwood, then the popular star of Rawhide (1959-1965) also gives up his buckskin trousers for an abbreviated pair of trunks.
Gardner McKay of Adventures in Paradise (1959-1962) enjoys a rest by the pool. (I seem to remember the handsome McKay typically looking leaner than this, don't you?)
The Untouchables (1959-1963) star Robert Stack looks nice sprawled out on this diving board.
The good-looking cast of Surfside 6 wore more swimwear in the publicity photos than on the show itself.
But thank goodness for those photos so that we can see hunky Van Williams in ensembles like this one!
Edson Stroll (of McHale's Navy, 1962-1966) compares and contrasts with a friend in this shot.
Pop singing sensation Cliff Richard has an interesting get-up going on in Expresso Bongo (1959.) Check out the shoes and socks!
Elke Sommer has two hot friends in 1961's Why Bother to Knock. To the right of her is Richard Todd and to the left is the dead-sexy Rik Battaglia.
Here are some beach frolickers from Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) including James Darren and Michael Callan.
Darren (and in this case, more importantly, his friend to the right) was back on the beach in 1964's For those Who Think Young.
The 1962 Italian Comedy Crazy Desire has Ugo Tognozzi joining up with a band of rowdy youngsters including this Speedo-clad collection of guys.
1963's Of Love and Desire (soon to be profiled here in The Underworld!) had Merle Oberon and Steve Cochran sharing a swim in her Acapulco pool.
Speaking of Acapulco, here we find Mexican demi-god Jorge Rivero splashing around along the surf.
The Rat Patrol (1966-1968) offered few chances to get a good look at Lawrence Casey out of uniform, but fortunately we have this picture of him at the beach.
Get a load of the suit that celebrity hairdresser and man-about-town Jay Sebring is sporting alongside close friend Sharon Tate.
How about humpy Tom Jones in a slinky pair of briefs?
Bekim Fehmiu gets some (limited) direction from Lewis Gilbert during the making of the super-hooty The Adventurers (1970.)
1973's The Paper Chase, all about Harvard Law School affords a couple of surprising glimpses of skin. Here, Timothy Bottoms and James Naughton head to the pool for some laps.
This was the type of suit worn at the time for competitive swimming (or in many cases recreation as well.)
I was six at the time of this movie, so my memories of guys like this is hazy at best.
Still, I can recall lifeguards at nearby Old Coney's Sunlite Pool being dressed this way (but tan rather than pale.)
The laps seemed to be keeping Mr. Bottoms in pretty good shape!
Here is singing actor Rex Smith hamming it up by the pool with his guitar and some flippers.
Let's zoom in for a closer look.
Olympic decathlete Bruce Jenner (with first wife Chrystie?)
We now enter the John James (of Dynasty, 1981-1989) wing with a set of photos from Battle of the Network Stars.
You can see a wet and pasty Robin Williams (then of Mork & Mindy, 1978-1982) behind him in this shot.
The fact that John James was a smoker is something that was deftly obscured from most photos and articles about him during his heyday.
Marc Singer is a frequent part of these posts, too, but wow what a set of eyeglasses on him! His suit deserves the lion's share of attention, though.
Happy Days, 1977-1984, (and Joanie Loves Chachi) star Scott Baio.
Now a pair of soap studs, peddling their wares in Speedos. First, the well-oiled Steve Bond of General Hospital (1983-1985.)
Then comes Terry Lester of The Young and the Restless (1984-1988) and later As the World Turns (1993-1994.)
Knight Rider (1982-1986) and Baywatch (1989-2000) star David Hasselhoff got his big break on The Young and the Restless, too, from 1975-1982.
The 1984 miniseries The Last Days of Pompeii found Duncan Regehr as a gladiator, often found wearing teensy loincloths like this one.
Here's another pose of Regehr from the same photo shoot.
Major action star of the '80s and '90s Sylvester Stallone had a fondness for the Speedo.
Here we see Fernando Lamas son Lorenzo (of Falcon Crest, 1981-1990) shucking off his shorts for a Speedo-y swim in the ocean.
Fans of the Speedo cannot afford to miss Campus Man (1987) based on the real-life efforts of a college student to create the first beefcake calendar as a fund-raiser. Among the models is this young man.
But the main attraction is blond, beautiful Steve Lyon who plays a diving champ.
He's very frequently shown in a variety of tiny, clingy swimsuits throughout.
In 1985, People magazine instituted its annual "Sexiest Man Alive" issue. The 1986 winner was Mark Harmon, who went on Saturday Night Live and lampooned his title.
The skit in question had him competing against F. Murray Abraham (played by John Lovitz) for the honor!
The 1987 Canadian movie Too Outrageous! (a sequel to 1977's Outrageous!) had drag queen Craig Russell flanked by a pair of guys in black Speedos.
As we grind to a halt, I give you two shots of the divine one, Jon-Erik Hexum, one of the most beautiful men ever created, during photo shoots in a snug, black suit.
This man was special...
But as a finale, I give you Willie Ames (of Eight is Enough, 1977-1981) during his athletic duties on Battle of the Network Stars.
I'm not sure if it was Eight, but I can tell you that I've had Enough of typing this lengthy post! Ha ha! Till next time, my loves...
