The late 1970s and early 1980s was the golden age of the Castro clone, a rebellion against the stereotype of gay men as swishy, lisping butterflies by presenting overt machismo: lumberjack shirts unbuttoned to display a hard chest, preferably hairy, close-cropped or bushy hair, and a huge handlebar moustache.
The look was everywhere: in magazines, in Donelan cartoons, and of course, in every gay bar in town during Saturday night cruising or Sunday brunch. It eventually leaked into the mainstream: Tom Selleck sported an infamous Castro clone moustache in Magnum, P.I., (1980-88), though he lashed out in violent homophobia if anyone suggested that he was or knew any gay men.
Like all fads, the look soon faded into a memory of bars heavy with the smell of cigarettes and poppers, dancing to the BeeGees while trying to catch the eye of that cute college guy. It's been 40 years since the Castro Clone look was fashionable.
So it came as quite a surprise when I watched Population 11, about an American searching for his missing father in a quirky outback town, and found that Constable Rory Roberts sported the Castro Clone look. Well, he wore a constable uniform, but he had the hairy chest and ridiculously thick clone moustached down. Who was this throwback to the 1970s?
His name is Ethan Gosatti, he's from Perth, Australia, and this was his only on-screen role to date.
And he'e was only 23! How on Earth would he know about the Castro Clone look?
More after the break
.jpg)
Ethan has only 16 posts on his Instagram, and 20 on Facebook, but enough to piece together his story. He grew up in Perth, 2500 miles from Sydney. 2.3 million people, but still considered a "small town," with "nothing to do."
He graduated from Trinity College, a private high school for boys, in 2019.
No Clone stache yet, but I'm wondering who thinks he's funny, adorable, sweet, loving, awkward, beautiful, caring, and awesome. A guy, hopefully.
Then came Curtin University 60,000 students, where he majored in marketing and psychology. I think these guys are his friends.
In 2021, Ethan and his buds formed the alt-rock band Streetlights. He's the second from the left. Long hair, and no Clone stache
They are still active. On January 4, 2025, they performed their new song "Nicotine and Coffee" at The Bird in Perth.
I can't tell if this photo (on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends) is a friend or Ethan himself. The Castro Clone look required you to be noticeable down there, even if you had to use a balled-up sock.
While at Uni, Ethan appeared in several plays: Dollies, Unqualified, Boom: A Failure, Top Shelf, and Latte Art. I haven't been able to find plot synopses, but Boom was written by Perth-born playwright Faisal Hamza.
Here he's smoozing with his costar in Dollies, and voila, the clone stache.
.jpg)
Most recently, in August 2024, Ethan was starring in All Boys, "an explosive play tackling the very serious subjects of male privilege and violence set in an all-boys boarding school." There are 10 boys, some gay, but I don't know about Ethan's character, Jack MB.
Ethan also worked part time at Grill'd, a burger restaurant with locations throughout Australia. Busy guy, but college will do that. When I was an undergrad, I took classes, had a part time job, and belonged to six clubs.
Some random Perth dudes on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends.
He graduated in the spring of 2024. His linkedin states that he is working part-time as an office administrative assistant and looking for a full time job in marketing management. Hey, what happened to your hairy chest?
So it sounds like his on-screen gigs will be limited in the future.
Connor Gosatti, who played Simon in the Resident Evil tv series, states that he and Ethan grew up together. In fact, he was inspired to become an actor after seeing Ethan perform.
He's straight, but I'm not sure about Ethan. His instagram has posts hugging men and women. But some of the men are quite attractive, and come on -- the clone look?
Above: 1970s gay video stars Ed Wylie and Dick Fisk. Below: Tom Selleck's clone look.
No comments:
Post a Comment
No offensive, insulting, racist, or homophobic comments are permitted.