Vintage Hunk: Leigh McCloskey

In 1977 I fell in lust with Leigh McCloskey while watching him play hustler Alexander Duncan in the TV movie Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn. This story of a teenager who comes to Los Angeles to become a movie star and ends up a male prostitute was pretty daring for the '70s. McCloskey later went on to star in the popular soap Dallas for a few years as Mitch Cooper, and more people probably saw Leigh in Dallas than all his other projects put together. But as Alexander he was unforgettable. He was golden, handsome, and more importantly his clients included men, one of whom was a gay football player; for a gay man 35 years ago, nighttime TV didn't come any sexier than this.

Leigh Joseph McCloskey was born in Los Angeles in 1955. He went to New York and studied at the Juilliard School and his first major role was in the TV mini series Rich Man, Poor Man. This led to a number of TV films including Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn, the sequel to Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway, which came out the prior year and starred The Brady Bunch's Eve Plumb. For gay men, seeing the gorgeous blond McCloskey in and out of bed with men and women and in various states of undress was nirvana. He had a beautiful face, a gorgeous body, and hair to die for. There is no telling how many gay wet dreams were produced by this cult classic film.

McCloskey continued working as a character actor in numerous TV shows, ranging from Executive Suite and Hotel to The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. After Dallas he did a number of daytime soaps like One Life to Live, Santa Barbara and General Hospital. He was most recently seen on an episode of Bones last year.

While McCloskey never graduated to A-list stardom, he was talented and had a very easy going natural charm. And there is no denying that he was one of the era's truly beautiful men. This June McCloskey will turn 57-years-old and he is still a handsome stud. But the surprising bit about his life is that McCloskey is now an acclaimed artist and his numerous paintings and drawings have received a lot of serious critical attention. You can go to his website to see some of his work.

But for gay men of a certain age, Leigh McCloskey will always be the dazzling male hooker named Alexander. They don't make many movies about male prostitutes, but if they all had the allure of Leigh McCloskey, we would be forever forking over our money. Probably no hustler was ever sweeter, cleaner or more alluring. Oh, to have had $100 and run into Alexander back in the day.

From Fraternity Vacation