Beefcake
Encyclopedia
Beefcake is a term denoting the use of nude or semi-nude male bodies. It can refer to a genre or a person. It often is used to denote male sexual attractiveness stemming from physical build but the definition has expanded to include anyone interested in physical fitness, bodybuilding
and weight training
.
layouts of actresses. Nevertheless, as early as the 1920s photographs were taken of such stars as Rudolph Valentino
and Ramón Novarro
to highlight their physical appeal. Male physique shots of famous stars were even less frequent during the early talking picture era outside of stars of jungle films like Johnny Weissmuller
(Tarzan) and Buster Crabbe
. The 1940s saw a rise in shirtless shots of such handsome stars as Tyrone Power
, Guy Madison
, Sterling Hayden
and Victor Mature
; and in the 1950s movie magazines began running swimsuit shots of actors such as Tony Curtis
, Rock Hudson
, Tab Hunter
, Jeff Chandler
, Robert Conrad
and Robert Wagner
almost as frequently as they would of actresses. This period also included the rise of bodybuilding magazines, which continue to be popular to the present day, as well as musclemen movie stars like Steve Reeves
who were often barely dressed in their action/adventure films.
Other actors who have occasionally posed for beefcake shots over the years include Errol Flynn
, Robert Taylor
, John Payne
, Jeffrey Hunter
, Rory Calhoun
, Peter Lupus
, Rod Taylor and Joe Dallesandro
. In some of his movies, singer Elvis Presley
also appeared shirtless.
, Tom Selleck
, Mark Harmon
, Victor Webster
, former Calvin Klein
underwear model Antonio Sabato Jr and Type O Negative
frontman, Peter Steele
have posed for beefcake photographs. The 1970s proved a golden age for beefcake with the debut of Playgirl
magazine and its completely nude pictorials of men, Cosmopolitan
magazine's famous semi-nude centerfolds of actors like Burt Reynolds
, and the rise of pornography directed at gay male audiences in both magazines and films.
Today, it is about as common to see beefcake shots of male sex symbol
s like actors Brad Pitt
and Hugh Jackman
on the cover of general interest magazines as temptress poses of female sex symbols. While for many actors and models shirtless poses are the least demure in line with their 'conservative' image, for others it looks almost prudish compared to the more revealing, sometimes even pornographic work.
In advertisement, beefcake male models have become a popular ingredient for 'spicy' commercial shots and (often humorous) spots, e.g. the British future minor pop star Nick Kamen
remains most famous for his 1985 beefcake performance in Levi's "Launderette" TV commercial where he strips down in order to stone-wash his blue jeans in a 1950s style public laundromat while he waits clad only in his boxer shorts, which dramatically increased their popularity; it was selected for "The 100 Greatest TV Ads" in 2000 and followed by many others, often bare-chested, sometimes even naked.
In Bollywood, Salman Khan
often appears in his movies shirtless and hence is referred to as "beefcake".
In 1997, the second episode
of the popular animated TV show South Park
featured Eric Cartman
as a spokesperson for a fictional product called Weight Gain 4000. In the episode, Cartman repeatedly bellows the trademark phrase "BEEFCAAAAKE!"
Many professional male bodybuilders advertise their services, offering advice concerning nutrition, training etc., often marketing their videos in which training programmes are demonstrated. Celebrities who appear shirtless in public also give confidence to men who wish to do the same.
A 1999 movie of the same name Beefcake
details the history of the Athletic Model Guild
, an early company known for their photos of men in various publications.
Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their...
and weight training
Weight training
Weight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength and size of skeletal muscles. It uses the weight force of gravity to oppose the force generated by muscle through concentric or eccentric contraction...
.
Actors known as beefcakes
Beefcake poses by male actors were used far less frequently than cheesecakePin-up girl
A pin-up girl, also known as a pin-up model, is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display, e.g. meant to be "pinned-up" on a wall...
layouts of actresses. Nevertheless, as early as the 1920s photographs were taken of such stars as Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
and Ramón Novarro
Ramón Novarro
Ramón Novarro was a Mexican leading man actor in Hollywood in the early 20th century. He was the next male "Sex Symbol" after the death of Rudolph Valentino...
to highlight their physical appeal. Male physique shots of famous stars were even less frequent during the early talking picture era outside of stars of jungle films like Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller was an Austro-Hungarian-born American swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in movies. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven...
(Tarzan) and Buster Crabbe
Buster Crabbe
Clarence Linden "Buster" Crabbe was an American athlete and actor, who starred in a number of popular serials in the 1930s and 1940s.-Birth:...
. The 1940s saw a rise in shirtless shots of such handsome stars as Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
, Guy Madison
Guy Madison
Guy Madison was an American film and television actor.-Early life:Born Robert Ozell Moseley in Pumpkin Center, California, Madison attended Bakersfield College, a junior college, for two years and then worked briefly as a telephone lineman before joining the United States Coast Guard in...
, Sterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden was an American actor and author. For most of his career as a leading man, he specialized in westerns and film noir, such as Johnny Guitar, The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing. Later on he became noted as a character actor for such roles as Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr...
and Victor Mature
Victor Mature
Victor John Mature was an American stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Mature was born in Louisville, Kentucky to an Italian-speaking father from the town Pinzolo, in the Italian part of the former County of Tyrol , Marcello Gelindo Maturi, later Marcellus George Mature, a cutler,...
; and in the 1950s movie magazines began running swimsuit shots of actors such as Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
, Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
, Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter is an American actor, singer, former teen idol and author who has starred in over forty major films.-Background:...
, Jeff Chandler
Jeff Chandler (actor)
Jeff Chandler was an American film actor and singer in the 1950s.-Early life:Chandler was born Ira Grossel to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Anna and Phillip Grossel. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, the alma mater of many stage and film personalities...
, Robert Conrad
Robert Conrad
Robert Conrad is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the 1965 CBS television series The Wild Wild West, in which he played the sophisticated Secret Service agent James T. West, and his portrayal of World War II ace Pappy Boyington in the television series Baa Baa Black Sheep...
and Robert Wagner
Robert Wagner
Robert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
almost as frequently as they would of actresses. This period also included the rise of bodybuilding magazines, which continue to be popular to the present day, as well as musclemen movie stars like Steve Reeves
Steve Reeves
Stephen L. Reeves was an American bodybuilder and actor. At the peak of his career, he was the highest-paid actor in Europe.-Childhood:...
who were often barely dressed in their action/adventure films.
Other actors who have occasionally posed for beefcake shots over the years include Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
, Robert Taylor
Robert Taylor (actor)
Robert Taylor was an American film and television actor.-Early life:Born Spangler Arlington Brugh in Filley, Nebraska, he was the son of Ruth Adaline and Spangler Andrew Brugh, who was a farmer turned doctor...
, John Payne
John Payne (actor)
John Payne was an American film actor who is mainly remembered as a singer in 20th Century Fox musical films, and for his leading roles in Miracle on 34th Street and the NBC western television series The Restless Gun.-Background:Payne was born in Roanoke, Virginia...
, Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor. His most famous roles are as Jesus in the film King of Kings, as Martin Pawley in The Searchers, and as Capt...
, Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun was an American television and film actor, screenwriter and producer, best known for his roles in Westerns.-Early life:...
, Peter Lupus
Peter Lupus
Peter Lupus is an American bodybuilder and actor of Syrian ancestry. He attended the Jordan College of Fine Arts at Butler University, where he also played football and basketball, graduating in 1954...
, Rod Taylor and Joe Dallesandro
Joe Dallesandro
Joseph Angelo D'Allesandro , better known as Joe Dallesandro, is an American actor, and Warhol superstar. Although he never became a mainstream film star, Dallesandro is generally considered to be the most famous male sex symbol of American underground films of the 20th century, as well as a sex...
. In some of his movies, singer Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
also appeared shirtless.
1970 to present
Since the 1970s, Sam J. JonesSam J. Jones
Sam J. Jones is the stage name of Samuel Gerald Jones , an American actor also credited as Sam Jones.-Early life:Jones was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida.-Career:...
, Tom Selleck
Tom Selleck
Thomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, and film producer. He is best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum on the 1980s television show Magnum, P.I.. He also plays Police Chief Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on the Robert B....
, Mark Harmon
Mark Harmon
Mark Harmon is an American actor who has been starring in American television programs and films since the mid-1970s, after a career as a collegiate football player with the UCLA Bruins. Since 2003, Harmon has starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the CBS series NCIS.-Early life:Harmon was born Thomas...
, Victor Webster
Victor Webster
Victor Webster is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles as Brennan Mulwray in Mutant X and "Coop" on Charmed.-Life and career:...
, former Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....
underwear model Antonio Sabato Jr and Type O Negative
Type O Negative
Type O Negative was a gothic metal band from Brooklyn, New York City. The band also incorporated elements of doom metal and thrash metal. Their dramatic lyrical emphasis on themes of romance, depression, and death resulted in the nickname "The Drab Four"...
frontman, Peter Steele
Peter Steele
Peter Thomas Ratajczyk , better known by his stage name Peter Steele, was the lead singer, bassist, and composer for the gothic metal band Type O Negative...
have posed for beefcake photographs. The 1970s proved a golden age for beefcake with the debut of Playgirl
Playgirl
Playgirl is a print quarterly adult magazine published in the United States that is marketed mainly to heterosexual women, but has also gained a considerable gay following...
magazine and its completely nude pictorials of men, Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
magazine's famous semi-nude centerfolds of actors like Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
, and the rise of pornography directed at gay male audiences in both magazines and films.
Today, it is about as common to see beefcake shots of male sex symbol
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
s like actors Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
and Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters...
on the cover of general interest magazines as temptress poses of female sex symbols. While for many actors and models shirtless poses are the least demure in line with their 'conservative' image, for others it looks almost prudish compared to the more revealing, sometimes even pornographic work.
Nick Kamen
Nick Kamen is an English male model, songwriter and musician, and brother of session guitarist Chester Kamen and artist Barry Kamen.-Career:...
remains most famous for his 1985 beefcake performance in Levi's "Launderette" TV commercial where he strips down in order to stone-wash his blue jeans in a 1950s style public laundromat while he waits clad only in his boxer shorts, which dramatically increased their popularity; it was selected for "The 100 Greatest TV Ads" in 2000 and followed by many others, often bare-chested, sometimes even naked.
In Bollywood, Salman Khan
Salman Khan
Salman Khan is an Indian film actor. He has starred in more than 80 Hindi films.Khan, who made his acting debut with a minor role in the drama Biwi Ho To Aisi with Rekha in a lead role, had his first commercial success with the blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya , for which he won a Filmfare Award for...
often appears in his movies shirtless and hence is referred to as "beefcake".
In 1997, the second episode
Weight Gain 4000
"Weight Gain 4000" is the second episode of the first season of the animated television series South Park. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 20, 1997. In the episode, the residents of South Park excitedly prepare for a visit by celebrity Kathie Lee Gifford, whom the...
of the popular animated TV show South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
featured Eric Cartman
Eric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
as a spokesperson for a fictional product called Weight Gain 4000. In the episode, Cartman repeatedly bellows the trademark phrase "BEEFCAAAAKE!"
A 1999 movie of the same name Beefcake
Beefcake (film)
Beefcake is a docu-drama homage to the muscle magazines of the 1940s, '50s, and '60s—in particular, Physique Pictorial magazine, published by Bob Mizer of the Athletic Model Guild. It was inspired by a picture book by F...
details the history of the Athletic Model Guild
Athletic Model Guild
The Athletic Model Guild, or AMG, was founded by gay pornography pioneer Bob Mizer in December 1945. During those post-war years, United States censorship laws allowed women, but not men, to appear in various states of undress in what were referred to, with a wink, as “art” photographs. Mizer began...
, an early company known for their photos of men in various publications.
See also
- Beefcake magazinesBeefcake magazinesBeefcake magazines were magazines published in North America in the 1930s to 1960s that featured photographs of attractive, muscular young men in athletic poses...
- CheesecakePin-up girlA pin-up girl, also known as a pin-up model, is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display, e.g. meant to be "pinned-up" on a wall...
, female equivalent - Sex in advertisingSex in advertisingSex in advertising or sex sells is the use of sexual or erotic imagery in advertising to draw interest to a particular product, for purpose of sale. A feature of sex in advertising is that the imagery used, such as that of a pretty woman, typically has no connection to the product being advertised...