WARNING: This blog contains copious amounts of adult GAY material. If that's offensive to you, please leave now. All pix have been gleaned from the internets so, if you see a picture of yourself that you don't wish to have posted here, please leave a comment on the post and I will remove it with my apologies.I REPEAT: If you see a picture of yourself that you don't wish to have posted here, please leave a comment on the post and I will remove it with my apologies.
Fabulosos.Amigo venezolano, Cúcuta
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ReplyDeleteWow Rick - Bill Eld... most people today don't even remember him, much less appreciate him for his contributions to gay modeling and porn that made him an icon.
Bill Eld was born in 1945 in Rochester, New York. Bill had a rough younger life, spending his childhood (up to age 18) in orphanages and foster homes. Despite his disadvantaged early years, he was extremely intelligent and graduated early, going to college where he studied physical education. Standing at 6’01” and weighing 180lbs, Bill was tall, well proportioned, good looking and hung like a mule (10”, verified). In 1970, Bill was working as a PE teacher in Kansas City and was showing off one day at a city open sport meet. Another competitor invited him to try stripping at a Kansas City gay bar and he went “for the hell of it.” Quickly, he found that he liked stripping more than teaching high school track.
Bill was successful as a performance dancer and soon moved to the West Coast where he performed in the bars in San Francisco and LA. During this phase two things happened: (1) He met Bill Mizer, founder of Athletic Model Guild (AMG) who convinced him to do some gay nude photography, and (2) he was introduced to the world of drugs.
Unfortunately, Bill’s demeanor and charm didn’t transfer well to still pictures. Although he felt he was warm and tried to exude sensuality, he came across to many viewers as being surly and cold. It wasn’t until later when Bill tried film that his true talents were unleashed. Starring as “Billy” in an undated early 1970’s 250 reel by Colt, he would go on to do film work for several studios including AMG, Hand-in-Hand, Falcon, Bijou and others.
His “secret” to success was technology. Back then, movies were shot on celluloid film and shoots were planned weeks in advance and carefully choreographed as they was expensive to produce. Bill would meet with his costars in those weeks before the shoot and took time to develop genuine friendships. This “realness” translated directly to film; never did his scenes feel fake or forced, but more intimate and warm.
Although he wouldn’t put a label on his sexuality, Bill was thought to be straight; he married in 1975 but divorced in 1981 over his drug habits. Bill was a true exhibitionist who loved being watched; he once said he preferred the gay world because there he could “stand out.” Back then - as today - in the world of straight porn, male actors are treated and paid to be a "stunt dick" and nothing more. In the gay world, Bill found the adoration he felt he deserved and with his charm and physical attributes, quickly became a gay icon. Doing over 30 films, he was at the top of the gay porn world and appeared in over 100 photo spreads.
But Bill was also a rabid drug user and would smoke, snort or shoot almost anything. Directors and photographers described him as a wreck to work with – always high or going through wild emotional swings. The simplest shoots became grueling, time-intensive activities that wore on people. No one knew if he would show up the next day or was laying dead somewhere from an overdose. Bill knew he had major problems and tried to walk away from porn several times. However, he ended up returning to it because it supplied the income for his drug habit. Desperate, he moved back to New York in the early 1980’s and took a variety of jobs and finally died of a drug overdose at 32. He was working as a janitor in a porn theater that headlined many of the films that made him famous.
RBrysco - Wow, what a tragic story. Thanks for sharing it with us.
DeleteThe friend is Enrique Nieves aka Long John at Colt Studio. Photos from Colt’s Gallery 3 magazine 1971, at the same time they performed in the Colt film Hand Spray.
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