Gorgeous George

Obscure jazz divas, second-string blonde bombshells, forgotten femmes fatales...these are some of our favorite things. But while our taste in film and music does tend to run towards the fairer sex, we're also suckers for pretty faces of the male variety -- with a special soft (ahem) spot for those 1950's and 1960's beefcake boys who popped up (ahem) regularly on TV, in the movies, and between the pages of countless movie magazines.



Rising to meteoric fame due to the hit series Route 66, Maharis quickly became the hunk du jour, thanks to his unusually charismatic and sexual presence. Unfortunately, this heady success led to rumors of temperamental outbursts, and he left the series in 1963. A series of film flops followed, and the tremendous momentum he'd built up all but vanished. Maharis was back in the headlines, though, when he was arrested for a rather unsavory crime.



To his credit, given the times, Maharis never denied his sexual orientation, although his openness (and the ensuing scandal) did nothing to help his dwindling career. He retired in the late 1970's, supposedly living with a very wealthy older lover in New York City. Maharis resurfaced recently at several public events and, at nearly 80, still cuts a very sexy figure. Living well and looking good is the best revenge!



Incidentally, George is also a very serviceable singer, and recorded a number of good albums in the Vic Damone-esque mode during the early 1960's. Many of these photos were taken from the excellent profile of Maharis from the Queer Music Heritage website.