Uncovering Tony Sansone

 I am moving at the end of this month.  I am leaving my tiny town in southwest Michigan and moving to a bigger city—still on this side of the state.  I am renting for a year as I really didn’t think I should be house hunting, well, condo hunting, this spring during the height of the first wave of the pandemic.

I bring this up only for it has made me go through things as I begin packing.  I have found a number of things that will likely find their way into these posts (like the journal I kept as I came out and lost my virginity.)  But I also found a clipping for a book I never got around to buy:  American Adonis: Tony Sansone, the First Male Physique Icon by John Massey.

Tony Sansone (1905-1987) was the male model of choice for every photographer and sculptor in the Jazz Age and on into the 1930’s.  No less than body builder (and mentor to Tony) Charles Atlas called him “the most beautiful man in America.”  

So here are some shots to convince you. 

I have seen him in his only film:  Glorifying the American Girl, where he provides some contrast to all those underdressed Ziegfeld Girls…

 Now I need to go book shopping where there are 114 more pictures…