Tab Hunter

At 21, Hunter became a major "beefcake" personality after shedding most of his clothes in the low-budget Island of Desire (1952). He was signed to a Warner Bros. contract in 1953, which didn't bring him much in the way of substantial roles but which gave him leeway to work on live television, where he turned in a few creditable performances. Critics wailed when he was selected to star opposite Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston in the 1958 film version of Damn Yankees, but his presence brought in a lot more business from the teenage filmgoing contingent than might otherwise have been possible; besides, he looked like a young Mickey Mantle, which was qualification enough for his role as a baseball player. In 1960, Hunter starred as a bachelor newspaper cartoonist in his own sitcom, The Tab Hunter Show, which opened in an excellent timeslot but failed to please the masses. By the mid-1960s, Hunter was considered something of a "Sonny Tufts" type, best suited for campy, self-mocking roles. Happily, he survived on these terms, proving he could kid himself better than any wiseguy scriptwriter. He was co-starred in several films starring the corpulent female impersonator Divine, including the deathless Lust in the Dust (1985). In 1977, Tab Hunter replaced Philip Bruns on the satirical TV series Forever Fernwood; to answer those who might wonder how the still-handsome Hunter could possibly replace the wizened, chinless Bruns, the scripters contrived to have Bruns fall into a chemical vat, require plastic surgery...and then emerge from the bandages looking just like Tab Hunter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide