David Naughton: The cutest guy of the Disco Era tells us to "Be a Pepper" and shows his d*ck

  

Is this not the cutest guy you've ever seen?  Other than Wes Stern (sigh) and Adam Devine, of course.

Link to David's d*ck

Between 1977 and 1981, the recent University of Pennsylvania graduate David Naughton could be seen in dozens of tv commercials, prancing about in a white shirt, black vest, and bulging jeans, selling Dr. Pepper.

"I'm a Pepper -- wouldn't you like to be a Pepper, too?"

I don't like the soft drink, but the spokesman was one of my first crushes.

David's fame from the commercials led to an invitation to star in Makin' It (1979), a rip-off of Saturday Night Fever with David and Greg Antonacci as disco-dancing brothers.  He also recorded the theme song:

Makin' it, oo makin' it, I'm solid gold.

I've got the goods

They stand when I walk through the neighborhoods

I'm makin' it

"Hit tv series" was a little premature: Makin' It was canned after nine episodes.

Next came Midnight Madness (1980), with teams of college students on an all-night scavenger hunt.  David's team, the good guys, includes his younger brother (Michael J. Fox before Family Ties).  There are also teams of jocks, spoiled rich kids, and girls.  I didn't notice any gay subtexts.

But American Werewolf in London (1981) has one.

College students David and Griffin Dunne are hiking through the Scottish highlands, when they are attacked by a werewolf.  Griffin is killed, and David turns, in scenes that emphasize his physique -- and p*nis.

He falls in love with a girl and uses a homophobic slur, and  his dead buddy Griffin keeps encouraging him to commit suicide. And -- spoiler alert -- there is no happy ending.

But the buddy-bonding subtext, the disco physique, and the d*ck (almost unheard of in mainstream movies at the time) were enough to make American Werewolf a must-see for gay men.

More after the break

I didn't see much of David's later work:

Hot Dog -- The Movie (1983) is not about hot dogs, it's about skiing.

Getting Physical (1984), titled after the Olivia Newton-John song, is about a female bodybuilder.

You can imagine what Private Affairs (1988), Goddess of Love (1988), and Overexposed (1990) are about.

He also did some horror: Amityville: A New Generation (1993), Body Bags (1993), The Ice Cream Man (1995).

David's main tv role was in My Sister Sam (1986-88), featuring Pam Dauber (who would go on to Mork and Mindy) as a photographer in a gay-free San Francisco, taking care of her teenage sister Rebecca Schaeffer (whose murder by an obsessed fan in 1989 brought the show an unwelcome notoriety). David played reporter Jack Kincaid, their "womanizing" neighbor.

He appeared in 23 episodes of Granite Flats (2013-15), a Mormon soap opera produced by Brigham Young University, set in a small Colorado town during the Cold War, where everybody is straight and Christian.  David plays the head of the local hospital, Dr. Millard Whittleson. 

Charlie Plummer, who plays the police chief's son, is gay in real life, and becomes involved with the queer rodeo community in National Anthem (2024).

David has had many other guest spots, on Seinfeld, MacGyver, Melrose Place, Silk Stalkings, Cybill, ER, Jag, Psych, Gray's Anatomy...well, a lot, over 90 acting credits on the IMDB.  But he seems to be involved mostly with fan activity for American Werewolf.

I don't see any gay roles, and googling "David Naughton" and "gay" yields only articles about the queer subtext in American Werewolf.

David seems to be rather extensively heterosexual in real life, married four times, divorced three times, two children, one conviction for domestic battery.

It looks like all we have is beefcake, and a voice echoing through the years from the halcyon days of reports on The Great Gatsby, college applications, that part-time job at the mall, bell-bottom jeans, Good Times, Happy Days, "Stayin' Alive," and:

Be a Pepper -- drink Dr. Pepper. 

See also: American Werewolf in London

Wes Stern (sigh): Was the cutest teen idol of the 1970s gay, or just pretending?  

John Amos: Kunta Kinte, Gordy the Weatherman, a gay husband, James Evans, and my gym buddy

Kissing boys to the BeeGees