Lou Ferrigno and Bill Bixby: Bodybuilder and Buddy

Speaking of bodybuilder buddies, when Bill Bixby finished his gay subtext series My Favorite Martian and The Courtship of Eddie's Father,  he cashed in on the 1970s superhero craze in The Incredible Hulk (1977-82).

He played the antiheroic Marvel comic book character Bruce Banner, heterosexualized by being renamed David (Bruce "sounded too gay") and a getting a dead wife. When he gets angry, David transforms, Jekyll-Hyde style, into the green-skinned, muscular Hulk, who has super-strength, subhuman intelligence, and a nasty temper.  Fortunately the Hulk knows enough to avoid harming good guys or bystanders, and he usually disarms or scares the bad guys rather than killing them.

Like The Fugitive, David is wandering the countryside, trying to find a cure for his "problem," fleeing an tabloid reporter (Jack Colver) obsessed with him, and getting involved with people's personal lives along the way.

The Hulk was played by 26-year old bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno (left and top), a multiple Mr. Universe and Mr. America contender whom I met when I was working for Muscle and Fitness; he appeared on the cover at least once a year.

Other than the documentary Pumping Iron, this was his first screen appearance, but soon his physique and his inspiring story -- he had been nearly deaf since childhood, and had a slurred voice -- propelled him into fame.  After The Incredible Hulk, he had starring roles in Hercules (1983), Sinbad of the Seven Seas (1989), The Cage (1989, with James Shigeta as the villain), and The Incredible Hulk TV Series (1996-97), where the Hulk could speak.   A special favorite of kids, he appeared as himself on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

I don't know if there were any gay subtexts in the series -- it was on Friday nights, so I never saw it -- but there was an off-screen bromance.  Bill became Lou's mentor and confidant, and like Paul Newman and Rocky Graziano twenty years before, they were often seen socializing together off the set.

I remember them coming into the Muscle and Fitness editorial office together, looking for all the world like a gay couple, especially Bill in his tan suit and sunglasses.

In his memoirs, Lou stated that he doesn't like to watch The Incredible Hulk now because it is too sad.  Bill "was like a brother to me.  We grew together.  I miss him."

Bill Bixby was a gay ally, of course, and Lou Ferrigno always seemed perfectly fine with the adulation of gay fans.  When he appeared on the reality series The Apprentice, he was fine with the elderly gay icon George Takei commenting on his  hotness of his semi-nude body, but got upset over a joke that criticized his fashion sense.

Lou is now appearing on the webseries The Incredible Ferrignos, in which his entire family, all certified personal trainers, offer make-overs to families with unhealthy diet and exercise habits.

Lou Ferrigno, Jr., (born 1984) starred in two of David DeCoteau's nearly-gay movies: 1313: Hercules Unbound! (2012) and 1313: Night of the Widows (2012).

I get more of a gay-friendly vibe from Brent (born 1990).  He's not an actor, but you can see lots of shirtless pix on his facebook page.

Johnnie Whittaker and David DeCoteau: A Match Made in Homoerotic Heaven

Johnny Whitaker, the star of Sigmund and the Sea Monsters in the 1970s, has appeared on screen occasionally since.  Perhaps his weirdest roles are in two direct-to-video movies directed by David DeCoteau, A Talking Cat (2013) and A Talking Pony (2013).

Wait -- David DeCoteau is that crazy director who churns out 38 homoerotic horror movies per yer: A serial killer stalks a fraternity during the guys-only underwear party!  Yet he swears up and down that he has no homoerotic intent, that he is not even aware of the existence of gay men. 

These movies seem a little out of his métier, but looking at his more recent movies, he seems to have expanded from the Haunted Fraternity and Voodoo Academy softcore-schlock to "family friendly" movies about fundamentalist Christians finding love..

Except DeCoteau seems to always sneak in his trademark "gay people don't exist" homoeroticism by depicting some teen hunks frolicking in the pool or buddy-bonding in their underwear.  In Talking Cat, Justin Cone and Daniel Dannas.

During the last seven years, Daniel Dannas has grown up -- aand bulked up -- into an actor/model/heartthrob (top photo).  I assume he's gay.  Why wouldn't he be?

In Pony, James Lastrovic (left) and Max Gray Wilbur (below).  I assume they're both gay, too.
























On the iconic Mr. Ed, the owner of the talking horse is named Wilbur.  Coincidence?   Or Cosmic Trigger?

I can't wait to fast forward through  some of his 2019-2020 works: The Wrong Stepmother, Stepfather, Boy Next Door, House Sitter, Wedding Planner, Real Estate Agent, Cheerleader, Tutor, and Mommy

Chris Galya: Actor Slash Model

David DeCoteau directs horrible closet-gay movies in which lots of cute guys lounge around in their underwear while awaiting monsters or psycho-killers.  But none of them are gay. Like Playgirl, DeCoteau pretends not to know that gay men exist.  Even the reviewers pretend not to know, and say things like "the guys take their shirts off for the ladies."

 In his latest, 1313: Actor Slash Model (2011), you get what the title says: a disgruntled actor loses an important role to a beefcake body, and starts slashing some male models. Mostly amateurs, or professional models with only a few acting credits: Chase Bennett, Jared Edwards, David Flannery, Christian Lake, Wagner Sandoval -- and Chris Galya.

I thought I recognized that name from the Disney Channel's Jessie (2011-2013), about a girl who gets a job as a nanny for the adopted children of a wealthy couple (while waiting for her big break as a singer/actress, naturally).  Chris plays Tony, the teenage doorman at her building, and her main love interest.

I've only seen a few episodes: no nudity, so Chris is one of those unexpected Disney hunks.

And no gay subtexts.  In fact, it's one of the Disney Channel's more heterosexist vehicles, with all of the kids, even the youngest, expressing hetero-horniness.

Chris also appears in Isolated (2013), about a group of surfers and Ambassadors for Peace who visit New Guinea, discover human rights violations, and take their shirts off (also starring Booboo Stewart).

And on the teencom Jesse (2011-2015)

And he's a real model, with runway work in London, New York, and Milan, and photos in Saks Fifth Avenue Men, Ford L.A. Men, Chaos Magazine, and elsewhere.  Vera's Big Gay Blog has lots more pictures of his work.

His tweets don't say anything specific, but he's shown with guys often enough.  He's got to be gay or at least gay-friendly. 

On the other hand, he's a big sports fan, clogging his twitter feed with play-by-plays of football and baseball games.. 

David DeCoteau's Talking Dogs and Homoerotic Hunks

You probably know David DeCoteau from a practically endless number of horror movies in which heavily muscled guys lather up their pecs in the shower or lie next to each other in their underwear, while discussing their respective girlfriends.  That is, movies aimed squarely at an audience of gay men that pretend that gay people do not exist.  Kind of fun, in a pre-Stonewall closet way.

But David DeCoteau has just started producing and directing kids' movies.  I haven't seen any of them -- I don't think I actually want to -- but no doubt they are set in the same world, gay-free but overbrimming with muscle hunks.

1. Christmas Spirit (2011). A teenager who's lost the Christmas Spirit gets it back with the help of an angel. With Jason Brooks, Aaron Jagger, and Bryan Craig.

2. A Halloween Puppy (2012): A boy accidentally turns his mother's model-boyfriend into a puppy.  With Lucas Adams, Evan Crooks, and Ryan Greco (top left)


3.  A Talking Cat? (2013).  A single mom and a single dad, both with teenage male models in the family, fall in love, thanks to a talking cat.  With Justin Cone and Daniel Dannas (left).

4. An Easter Bunny Puppy (2013). A talking dog belonging to a boy with a male-model brother buries Easter eggs.  With Strider Ellis, Jason Faunt, Renton Pexa, Chris Petrovski (left), and August Roads.

5. A Talking Pony? (2013). More of the same, with a pony belonging to a male model. With Jason Faunt (left), Dillon Olny, and James Lastovic.

6. My Stepbrother is a Vampire? (2013).  A single mom and a single dad, one with a teenage daughter and the other with a teenage vampire-male model, fall in love. With Jud Birza, Seth Austin, Nick Galarza, and Cody Beverstock (top right).

Where does DeCoteau find them all?  And more to the point, why does he bother to fill his movies with them, even children's movies where the cast rarely unbuttons a button?