Here are nine great photographs of Richard DuBois. With that beaming smile and massive body, it is no wonder he was a very popular beefcake model.He was rewarded for all the work he put into bodybuilding by winning the titles Mr. America in 1954 and Mr. USA in 1957.
In one of these photographs, he poses with Mae West and George Eiferman, who was Mr. America in 1948 and Mr. Universe in 1962.
Richard was one of many bodybuilders to perform in Mae West's burlesque revue in the 1950's and '60's. The success of this show is one of the many factors contributing to the birth of beefcake: the widespread popularity of viewing male beauty purely for the pleasure of it.
Michael, I came across your site by chance and have to congratulate you on how well presented and interesting it is. I have been researching the life and times of Mae West and my manuscript, "In Search Of Mae West," is nearing completion. Her Muscle Man Revue was surely the inspiration for the "Chippendale Review" that came about decades later. She must have treated her corps of muscle men well, because to this day, surviving members are still very protective of her memory.
ReplyDeleteHello, Mark!
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by the blog. I enjoy working on it every day.
What a great subject for a book! I hope you have been able to meet in person or through their writings many of the colorful people Mae West encountered in her extraordinary life.
The late 1880's to the middle of the last century is my favorite period in American history: vaudeville, circuses, the Industrial Revolution, Victorian hypocrisy, radio, jazz, Prohibition, scofflaws, speakeasies, the birth of Hollywood, the death of European colonialism, the Great Depression, TV, beatniks, the civil rights movement, the Free Speech Movement, hippies, the Counter Culture, and the Sexual Revolution of the 1960's. So much was happening - not to mention the horrible, global wars.
If you haven't already, please check out my blog
http://mikethecontentproducer.blogspot.com/
where you can read a post in which I interview Dennis Bell, the current owner of the Athletic Model Guild and the founder of the Bob Mizer Foundation. He speaks of Mizer's pivotal role in the creation of vintage beefcake - in the creation of the concept of a "male model" in America. AMG's archives contain more than 1,000,000 slides, films, negatives and photos. Everyone in Mae's revue was certainly photographed by Mizer.
And you must know the physique photographer, Lon of New York, lived in Mae West's former apartment in NY. On this blog are images of models posing in the apartment's interiors - the elaborate wall decorations were installed by Mae.
Best regards,
Michael