If you were young in the 1970s, Sunday night meant either church or The Wonderful World of Disney, countless movies set in the wilderness chopped up into 40-minute segments. It was dreadful, but at least you got to see a cadre of teenagers personally selected by Walt or Roy Disney to represent "youthful masculinity": Tommy Kirk, Kurt Russell, Tim Considine, James MacArthur.
And if you could tell your fundamentalist, "movies are sinful" parents that you were going to the library downtown and sneak into a matinee, you could see Jeff East and Johnny Whitaker playng boyfriends.
Born in 1957 in Kansas City, Jeff had virtually no acting experience when he was chosen from among 1,000 hopefuls in open auditions to play Huckleberry Finn in Tom Sawyer (1973), with Johnny Whitaker as Tom.
Jeff went on three Wonderful World of Disney movies about big animals. Disney loved animal stars.
Jeff moved on to his first "adult" role as a college student who participates in a deadly hazing in The Hazing (1977), also released as The Case of the Campus Corpse to make it seem like a comedy.
Displaying his butt again.
And he has a painfully intense, gay-subtext romance with his costar, fellow college student Charles Martin Smith.
Charles Martin Smith's butt in Never Cry Wolf (1983), about a government researcher living with wolves.
Jeff's most famous role came in 1978, when he played the teenage Clark Kent (but not his voice) in the blockbuster Superman. Most of his fans know him from Superman or the monster-of-the-week Pumpkinhead (1983), where there is a subtle gay subtext betweeh his harassed camper Chris and redneck Bunt (Brian Bremer).
Then the gay subtexts dried up. Jeff was working constantly through the 1980s, with roles in Klondike Fever, Deadly Blessing, Otherword, MASH, The Day After, and Dream West, but it was mostly "winning the girl of his dreams" and "stalked by a psycho-killer" stuff.
A few butts, not his.
No frontal nudity except for this statue, which Jeff says is entirely accurate.
Not much gay content in real life: Jeff has rather a femme look here, but he has been married to women twice. Googling his name and "gay" yields this website.
Born in 1957 in Kansas City, Jeff had virtually no acting experience when he was chosen from among 1,000 hopefuls in open auditions to play Huckleberry Finn in Tom Sawyer (1973), with Johnny Whitaker as Tom.
They appeared together again in Huckleberry Finn (1974), with a romance that would be impossibly overt today.
Plus they both showed bare chests and bare butts, which would never be permitted today.
Jeff went on three Wonderful World of Disney movies about big animals. Disney loved animal stars.
Return of the Big Cat (1974): he has to save his sister from a cougar.
The Flight of the Grey Wolf (1975): he tries to re-introduce a wolf into the wild. Nobody flies.
The Ghost of Cypress Swamp (1977): he has to save his dog from a panther, and runs afoul of a crazy guy.
This was the era of the big name teen idols like Shawn Cassidy, and a guy who fought panthers couldn't compete. Jeff got very little attention in the teen magazines.
Jeff moved on to his first "adult" role as a college student who participates in a deadly hazing in The Hazing (1977), also released as The Case of the Campus Corpse to make it seem like a comedy.
Again he takes everything off -- he spends about half the movie in nothing but a revealing jockstrap.
Displaying his butt again.
Charles Martin Smith's butt in Never Cry Wolf (1983), about a government researcher living with wolves.
What's with these guys and their wildlife?
More butts after the break
Jeff's most famous role came in 1978, when he played the teenage Clark Kent (but not his voice) in the blockbuster Superman. Most of his fans know him from Superman or the monster-of-the-week Pumpkinhead (1983), where there is a subtle gay subtext betweeh his harassed camper Chris and redneck Bunt (Brian Bremer).
Then the gay subtexts dried up. Jeff was working constantly through the 1980s, with roles in Klondike Fever, Deadly Blessing, Otherword, MASH, The Day After, and Dream West, but it was mostly "winning the girl of his dreams" and "stalked by a psycho-killer" stuff.
A few butts, not his.
No frontal nudity except for this statue, which Jeff says is entirely accurate.
In the 1990s, the roles dried up altogether, but fortunately, Jeff had a back-up career: he moved into real estate development with his father, and in 2004 moved back to Kansas City. In 2014 he retired to Nice, France.
Not much gay content in real life: Jeff has rather a femme look here, but he has been married to women twice. Googling his name and "gay" yields this website.
Sometimes memories should stay memories.
Let us be grateful for the person who invented the jock strap
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