Most chose Shaun Cassidy, the fey, impestuous Joe on The Hardy Boys Mysteries (1977-79), the legendary gay-subtext tv adaption of the Hardy Boys books.
But many chose 25-year old Parker Stevenson (right), who played his older, cautious boyfriend. . .um, I mean brother, Frank. He was just as dreamy, with brown wavy hair and piercing eyes, and he looked just as good in a Speedo. Maybe better.
After Hardy Boys, Parker did the soap opera-softcore porn-thriller of the week thing (Not of This Earth, Are You Lonesome Tonight, Terror Peak, Trapped). I haven't seen any of them. His only movie with significant gay interest was Shooting Stars (1983), where he played an actor-turned-detective who buddy-bonds with the gruff Billy Dee Williams.
In 1991, he came into the spotlight again when his then-wife Kirstie Allie won an Emmy for her work on Cheers. She thanked Parker for giving her "the big one" for the last eight years. All of his former fans immediately began scanning old teen idol pin-ups, and going through Baywatch in slow motion, looking for signs of "the big one."
Parker has been the subject of frequent gay rumors, but he hasn't made any public statements.
On Baywatch, a lot of it depends on the season. Sometimes the guys wore speedos, sometimes trunks. I would imagine trunks create drag, though. But by the late 90s, even a nice bulge was pushing it on broadcast.
ReplyDeleteParker Stevenson has aged well and still acting. You should see him in an episode of "The Street of San Francisco" who is kidnapped- so he spends a great deal of the episode tied up. I kept expecting the kidnappers who include Martin Kove would do something worse than beat him up.
ReplyDeleteIncest? Sounds like something straight girls would like.
ReplyDeleteI always confused him with Phillip McKeon, who I had a crush on bigtime when he was on Alice. There were "unfounded' rumours about him also
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