UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
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My thirst for hunky heroes goes waaaayyyy back. I am of a certain (*cough*) age, so my tastes were formed by what I watched mostly on TV or saw in magazines when I was still a kid. I didn’t understand my fascination, but that didn’t stop my fantasy life being filled with hot starship captains and spies who rode to the rescue to aid me (never save me, because even then I liked fighting, too!).
The hero who first filled my fantasies was Russian secret agent Illya Kuryakin from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1964 to 1968), played by David McCallum. You might know him as “Ducky” in NCIS these days. He was my one and only blond heartthrob.
Then a sci-fi show caught my attention—Lost in Space (1965 to 1968). But it wasn’t the young, single Don West who caught my eye, it was the sexy dad, John Robinson, played by Guy Williams, that I imagined was the single one and an in need of a little alien companionship. I imagined myself as the green alien woman who pursued Dr. Smith, only I captured John Robinson.
Both of those heroes paled in comparison to my next obsession—James T. Kirk from the original Star Trek (1966 to 1969). He was…everything. Handsome, in charge, witty, funny—and that smirk! And again, they’re in space—the final frontier! To this day, I love the character, and yes, Chris Pine inhabits it very, very well.
I had brief crushes on some other hotties from the time.
Have you ever seen the old WWII flick, The Great Escape (1963)?
Yes, Steve McQueen was hot. Motorcycles are hotter. Blah-blah. But it wasn’t McQueen’s “Cooler King” that caught my eye. It was Charles Bronson’s “Tunnel King” I was riveted to. Am I right?
This guy, even though back then I wasn’t allowed to watch his movies for some reason, was all over the magazines. I thought he was pretty damn hot, too.
I guess I’ve always like smolder. 🙂
These days, I’m enamored with another starship captain—Captain Pike, as played by Anson Mount in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. He’s funny, sexy, a great cook, empathetic, and brave. If you haven’t watched the series, or haven’t loved Star Trek before, he might change your mind.
So, my question to you is who were your earliest heartthrobs? Answer for a chance to win an Amazon gift card!
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David McCallum was mine. I was 8 years old at the time ❤
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Marlin Brando in his younger days. I was just a kid back then but he was always handsome.
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Oh my! Talk about “Blast from the past!” These guys you mentioned are awesome. But, how about Robert Conrad and Ross Martin from the Wild, Wild West. (65-69) Or Lorne Green, Purnell Roberts, and Dan Blocker from Bonanza. Yeah, I did the Westerns too. The guy who graced my walls was Bobbie Sherman from Here Come Brides. Of course David Soul and Robert Brown were hot too. And let’s not forget Mark Lenard. Not only was he on westerns, but space too. *sigh* Okay, back to the present.
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I like Illya over Napoleon Solo too. My earliest crushes were Fred Astaire, Cary Grant and Robert Wagner.
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Jordan Knight, Chad Allen, young Johnny Depp, young Tom Cruise.
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SIGH… My first was Gardner McKay, Adventures in Paradise. Del Monroe (Kowalski), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Still have the letter and 8×10 he sent me. Lloyd Bridges Sea Hunt. David McCallum, Man from UNCLE, Noel Harrison, Girl from UNCLE, James Darren, Time Tunnel–and he was still HOT in DS9, Kaz Garras and Tony Quayle in Strange Report, Daniel J Travanty, Hill Street Blues, and Tony Anholt, Space 1999 who became MY Devlin Barrett in my SYNLAB series. There have been more in between… SIGH
Now answer me this, girlfriend–HOW am I supposed to get back to my computer work and concentrate?? lol
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My list had a few Cowboys on it…Lee Majors who was Heath Barkley on Big Valley, Michael Landon, Little Joe on Bonanza & Clint Eastwood, Rowdy Yates on Rawhide. James Arness at Matt Dillon from Gunsmoke was pretty handsome too.
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David McCallum was one of mine. Later on it was Erik Estrada.
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can’t remember
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first one for me was Richard Hatch when he was in the first Battlestar Galactica series
Next one I remember having a crush on was Richard Dean Anderson as MacGyver.
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Amazing to say but yours are the same as mine. I would have to add the early James Bond actors though.
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Reading the list of all those old tv shows of my youth, I’m reminded of another crush I had: Greg Morris from Mission Impossible. His brainy, black and beautiful character made that show my first must see TV show.
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From slightly later–some of my crushes were the cast of the Outsiders (released in 1983)–C Thomas Howell as Ponyboy Curtis, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, and yes, Tom Cruise…
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Bruce Willis was my first heart throb. I used to love watching his movies and his tv show Moonlighting..
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I’m not sure which obsession came first…Little Joe on Bonanza or Captain Kirk on Star Trek TOS.
I am also of a certain age (older than you LOL) and remember very well anxiously awaiting each new Stark Trek episode. I was eleven when the show first aired and still love it, bad special effects and all. I stopped watching TV around 10 years ago so I haven’t seen some of the newer flavors of Star Trek but I agree that Chris Pine makes a fine Captain Kirk.
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Bobby Sherman in Here Come the Brides
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I LOVED reading through your lists of fave heartthrobs! What fun!!
The winner (chosen by random number generator) of the GC is…commenter #11—Debra Guyette!