The First "Soap Opera Hunk"

Uh...John Wesley Shipp, Kelly on The Guiding Light? 1980s hunk-o-rama!

Danny Markel as Sam Fowler (AW).

WW r2.

R1, stole my pick.

Eddie was garjus. Still is.

Guiding Light really stepped up the male hotness I the early 80s. First there was John Wesley Shipp (mentioned above) and then they brought in Grant Aleksander as Phillip Spaulding. I remember quite a few random, shirtless scenes of him working out, or stepping out of the shower, or hanging out at the pool.

Phillip was one of those child soap characters who had the magical, instantaneous transformation to adulthood. Phillip's character had been played by a young, skinny kid - probably about 13 or 14 years old - who wasn't even really cute, like you expect most child actors to be. The kindest thing you could have said about the actor was "well he's in that stage where most kids look awkward and hopefully he'll outgrow it." The GL writers sent Phillip off to boarding school and he returned a few weeks later with the role now being played by Aleksander....with a totally different look and persona: blond, blue-eyed hunk with a very adult body!

What am I, chopped liver?

In his prime, John Callahan. Also one of the "Scott Chandlers" on AMC... can't recall his name. He showed his butt once on the show.

R6 AND Grant can act

Really, he’s the gold standard

I used to jerk off to George Reinholt's shirtless scenes as Tony Lord on OLTL.

George . . .

General Hospital joined the hunk brigade in 83 with Steve Bond as Jimmy Lee Holt. He worked construction and volunteered as an always shirtless "art model" for Celia Quartermaine.

OP mentions the Soapdish parody. My favourite parody is Fresno - a mini series starring Gregory Harrison as the always shirtless Torch.

More Steve Bond

Male model Barry Kaufman was rebranded Robert Tyler when he started on the soaps. He was most famous as the tortured Trucker on Loving.

Another of Fresno's Gregory Harrison

You forgot that blond boy from Ryan's Hope. I think he was shirtless his whole run on the show.

It is Robert Tyler from Loving for the win. I nearly died on the episode when he sneaked out of his hospital room in his fruit of the loom briefs.

Does anyone remember Trent Bushey from AMC? He played Jeremy’s son, David Rampal. He had the most insane body. And regarding Grand Alexander- when he was on AMC as Alec McIntyre, he was older but his body was still sick. His shirtless scenes were masturbatory.

Actually, John Conboy kept David Birney shirtless all the time. Then when he ran Bill Bell's new soap Y&R, he cast hunks (70 versions of hunks) and kept them shirtless quite a bit. While Christopher Durham was a delight, he was hardly the first.

Don Diamont was parading shirtless on Days, before he moved over to Y&R as Days pool boy.

Oh. First. Somehow my eyes read best.

Rick Hearst

R18, LINK. PLEASE!

I love seeing the continued love for Robert Tyler. He was my first actor type crush. I still think of him during private times. He was so good looking I really thought he was going to become something after soaps. He was just that pretty.

What about gay porn star Wade Nichols/Dennis Parker? (Edge of Night.)

Grant Show!

What about me?

R17, James Wlcek, who later was on ATWT and a prime time series with Chuck Norris.

Here he is in his full glory. Such an artiste. I wonder if he rolled his eyes when they told him he'd be painting shritless. He's aged incredibly well.

James Wlcek was not good looking. And he needed a vowel.

Eddie Cibrion

I met Cameron Mathison as a babygay when he was doing mall appearances (it was me, my straight friend who loved AMC, and a hundred horny soccer moms). He was sooooooo nice.

James Wlcek not attractive? On what fucking planet?

On my planet. When Link Lafferty appeared, if I was watching IRT, it was time to go to Bay City or Llanview.

I loved the original Snapper on Y&R...William Gray Espy.

Hello, Ladies...

Great thread, OP! I'm close to your age and started watching Days Of Our Lives in 1995. I watched several daytime soap operas for a long time. There are far too many to choose just one. Austin Peck, Peter Reckell, Jason Brooks from Days. Also, Christopher Douglas was wonderful on One Life To Live and Passions.

This is Christopher Douglas. I used to have this very picture. It was from a soap opera magazine.

Robert Tyler is my all time favorite soap hunk too.

It's too bad he only had a few minor acting jobs after Loving. He didn't do many interviews (I don't believe he ever acknowledged his modeling beginnings after he began acting) or seeked out publicity even while he was on Loving.

He leads a very low profile life now, no social media accounts, or even pictures of him on his families accounts either. The most recent picture of him on the net was from 2005. He was still looking very good then. I bet he still does.

John Wesley Shipp has got to the king of the new breed of half-naked Beefcake actors which started to become the norm in soap operas in the early 80s. He was the muse of gay legend Douglas Marland, who created the perennially shirtless hunk and perfected an almost naive innocence in what can now be called an overtly homoerotic trope. Marland made sure Shipp was half-naked in speedos or boxer shorts even in the most inappropriate times, such as joining show matriarch Bert Bauer and her 40something year old son Ed at the breakfast table in this scene at link, an exploitative maneuver that is so transparent to the modern viewer but at the time must have been relevatory for the average hausfrau (and their future gay sons) watching at the time:

Noah Keefer, AMC and Christian Vega, OLTL!!

Nicholas Benedict who played the second Phillip Brent on All My Children in the 1970s was one of my faves.

Richard Hatch, the first Phillip Brent on AMC, was also quite handsome

Sexy hunks started to appear on soaps in the 70s; well-sculpted beefcake came in the 80s.

Doug Marland gave us Jon Hensley as Holden on As The World Turns.

Fun fact - Jon roomed with Grant Show who starred on Ryan's Hope as Rick Hyde.

Tom Berrenger from One Life to Live

Thinking of various sex symbols throughout the years

Gene Bua

David Birney

Jonathan Frid

George Reinholt

Tony Geary

William Grey Espy

Then you get to the 80s the guys started getting prettier. Then in the 90s, they all had to have model good looks.

Richard Hatch

Tommy Lee Jones

This guy was considered hunky back in the Seventies on AMC.

Robert Kelker Kelly (Sam Fowler-AW, Bo Brady-DOOL)

Another Seventies hunk from AMC

Chandler Hill Harben, 1977, Love of Life:

Shemar is near 50 and has taken good care of his body. Handsome six pack and stable career for decades.

Shemar’s personality is a turn off. He’s like a used car salesman.

You can see Richard Simmons sperm running down Shemar's chin.

James DePaiva from OLTL was it for me. I was a kid and I remember thinking I needed to somehow get to NYC and chance an encounter with him so he could take me somewhere do things to me. Yeah- cuz that’s plausible. I was out of my mind with lust for him in my formative years. He posed shirtless holding a baby on the cover of a soap mag and it was better than porn to me.

Yeah that was like me with Robert Tyler.

Love of Life starring Christopher Reeve!!!

Draper Scott was a hunk for intellectuals.

R60, He looks like Michael Dukakis.

Oh no Draper Scott was hot.

In more recent years, OLTL brought it with Mark Lawson, who always seemed to be without shirt.

80s era Don Diamont

Denny Albee. He first appeared on my radar playing Det. Steve Guthrie on Edge of Night.

Several years later, after he'd departed Edge, I was channel surfing and stumbled upon him playing Dr. Peter Jansen on OLTL. I stopped to watch him and quickly got hooked on the show.

R51: Yes, he looked great and still looks handsome. He was on Another World for a second time in the late 1990's as Bobby Reno.

R55: He's gotten very obnoxious in middle age but was gorgeous on The Young and The Restless.

Soaps and soap hunks saved me...

In the early 80s, before internet, before cable as we know it, before social media...I was a little lost gayling living in rural America without a clue. Jimmy Lee Holt, Rick Hyde, Matt McCandless and the like lit my fire. Without the lust those boys brought, I'd never have found my way...

To this day, I'm still prowling youtube for shirtless scenes forever burned in my memory. Jimmy Lee in a towel after a rainstorm... Holden jumping out of that barn loft shirt hanging open... Frisco wrestling a disguised intruder to the ground in nothing but boxers... Jake Morton posing in a loincloth...

Soap hunks never got the respect they deserve...we owe them BIG TIME.

DOOL's Josh Taylor, 34 years ago (when he played a different character):

In terms of the initial question, I think R20 is probably on to something with David Birney as one of the first. It's a little before my time, but it seems like Joel Crothers showed a little flesh on "Dark Shadows", too. Did Sam Groom ever take it off when he played Russ Matthews on "Another World"?

In terms of my first soap hunk crush (although I wouldn't have articulated it as such at the age of 10), Stephen Yates as Jamie Frame on "Another World" might have been the one.

The older Hyde brother on Ryan's Hope was far better looking than Rick Hyde.

Omg, yeah, David Sederholm (Bill Hyde) ... he was gorgeous!

Robert Tyler wasn't the only male model to transition to soaps. Rick Edwards was a Ford Model who went on to star on Santa Barbara as Jake Morton. His loincloth scenes are unforgettable.

Thom Bierdz

David Sederholm's body was Robert Tyler level good. That picture doesn't do him justice. Had a super sexy voice too.

He really looks like he could be Grant Show's brother

He's aging out pretty well too.

David Sederholm was HOT

David Sederholm's first episode of RH was a location shoot ... he was gorgeous:

Way back in the 60s, Joel Crothers was quite the hunk on Dark Shadows.

And when the soap did the arc where they started dressing Joel in britches, there was another reason to "run home to watch Dark Shadows."

(Would there be any VPL that day?)

Another early soap hunk was Christopher Reeve on "Love of Life" when he was playing Ben or "Beanie" Harper as his mother would call him.

And they would show him shirtless. This photo is from 1975.

David Selby was considered quite the hunk on Dark Shadows, as well as Joel Crothers.

Bed scene with Christopher.

DOOLs hairy hunk Patrick Muldoon

Soap hunkdom was taken to a whole new level with Steve Bond’s Playgirl “scandal”.I jerked off so hard to that layout!And any subsequent beefcake photos I could find of this 80’s pretty boy..No other 80’s actor worked the sex symbol angle harder than Steve “Jimmy Lee” Bond.

Tom Cudahy was an original stud on AMC

Love me some Christian Vega

WAAAAAAAAAAAY TOO MANY TO LIST AND RECALL! i'll throw out some names though that have NOT yet been listed above..

ingo rademacher: that golden thick head of hair, those baby blue eyes... course he never had much of a body, and hasn't age exactly well, but in his prime stunning he was..

ron moss: he of the always in speedos on bold and the beautiful

marco dapper: lauren's affair stud on the young and the restless, definitely one of the greatest bodies ever on the soaps..

dylan neal: male stripper on his storyline on the bold and the beautiful.

Jerry TImm:, he was on "another life", the christian soap opera, former male model, blond hair and stunning handsome face....

Adrian bellani: the 2nd (and best body) miguel on passions

shawn christian: sigh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! on days of our lives

drake hogestyn: back in his hairy chested, muscular body prime on days of our lives

mark valley and steve wilder: both blond gorgeous actors who both played jack devereaux on days of our lives

the late great John Gibson as jerry "cash" cashman, the male stripper boy toy for old bitty katherine chancellor on the young and the restless

kevin carrigan: who played the long dark brown haired mysterious hunk derek dane on another world

and today's hottest, handsomest and best built on the remaining soap operas (one of if not the best body in soap opera history) paul telfer as xander on days of our lives...