Glenn Bishop- one of the early Beefcake Models & Vintage Beefcake

His Table of Content image when he was 15.

PS the photos I’m using are from his later pics, when he was of age. I didn’t use any of his early pics (minus r8), which are still available online (people probably don’t know he was so young in them).

One of the pieces written about him by Irv Johnson in 1953. This shows he always openly acknowledged Glenn was a minor.

Another

The official introduction to him when he was 16.

The Glen Bishop album ad, when he was 16.

A few years ago I read a book called Male Beauty that had a whole chapter dedicated to him pretty much and how he was 15 when recruited and follows each step of his brief physique career and how popular he was despite the men buying the magazine knowing he was a minor.

He would be 86 today. Do we know if he is still alive?

Christ! Does Betty know?

R16 no idea but he has a page on healthgrades but his profile was never updated etc. so I don’t know if he’s still working (I hope not at his age) or alive etc.

But this is him.

Here we go!

But was he the gay?

Sometime in the late 60s or early 70s he wrote a letter to one of the magazines going off on them because they kept publishing photos he’d taken years prior and he’d had enough. He was now married and started his own practice etc.

“Your purpose and magazine is of the lowest order and should be taken out of circulation. This country has enough trouble without crack-pots like yourself trying to promote abnormal sex ideas. Can’t you find something more worthwhile to do in your life rather than cater to queers?”

His HS senior photo in 1953. He graduated at 16.

Not sure if he’s still alive, but this was him in 2020.

At 35 cents, Glenn was a true bargain!

Yes, he is still alive. He’s retired. His wife also, who was a physical therapist. He has two or three children, one of them a son. His son is not the beauty his father was in his youth but he’s not bad. He was pretty cute when younger.

A recent pic of his son.

A modeling pic of Glenn (a legit modeling pic, not that physique stuff) when he was in his 20s.

Glenn with his son (when he was a toddler).

He has 2 children, a girl and a boy. The boy is younger. His daughter now lives in Miami and his son in San Diego. They often fly to Wyoming to visit their parents.

Him with his two kids when they were young.

He doesn't sound very gay friendly at R21 which is ironic considering the photos he posed for.

You don’t have to be gay friendly to pose for pics. That’s for a paycheck. He was also very young and taken advantage of. He was 15 when recruited.

Something modern people can’t grasp about the physique models of the 50s. They were being told this was helping young men with their physiques by posing like this. The young men would see this and feel inspired to look like them. That is why most of the models used their real names etc. they were being sold a (partial) lie.

[quote]“Your purpose and magazine is of the lowest order and should be taken out of circulation. This country has enough trouble without crack-pots like yourself trying to promote abnormal sex ideas. Can’t you find something more worthwhile to do in your life rather than cater to queers?”

Where did this quote come from R21? It's downright homophobic. R29's post was a bit of an understatement! That was when the word queer was an extremely nasty and demeaning insult and was used by people who meant it.

Also this thread has become a bit creepy and stalkerish with posting pics of his children and family with Bishop still being alive. Where did all of this come from?

I don't know but I feel like you've crossed the line OP.

R32 I’m not OP. And pot, meet kettle. I would gain some self awareness. ASAP.

He was far more beautiful than the bloated out of proportion physique models of today.

That's a body worth exploiting imo.

Thanks, OP, for this thread.

R28 that picture is the epitome of total homo MCM esthetic !!! I love it!! Thanks for sharing!

Did he ever show peen?

I'm surprised he used his own name for gay nude magazines instead of an alias like most others did. Even though gay communities and culture were underground back in the 1950-1970s, one's name could still surface into the public.

Anyone old enough to remember Jim Stryker from early magazines?

So he made all his money catering to queers then wanted it all taken down?

R35 yes, but not under the age of 18. I don’t agree it was ok to exploit him at such a young age.

R40 VintageBeefcake has a Jim Stryker thread.

R41 your comment screams of uninformed and and lack of cultural understanding and awareness.

R39 see r31. Educate yourself a bit.

R37 yeah, a man in shorts and a straw hat with his two young children while barbecuing screams “homo”. Only to the mentally retarded.

R35 anyone who says it’s ok to exploit the body of a minor is a straight up pedo.

r43 uhh what. I am quoting him. How do I lack cultural awareness?

R43 I saw that already. I disagree with that opinion. Even in the 1950s people would typically use a stage name or alias for acting and modeling. Perhaps he was naive to believe that narrative.

He was 15. So yeah.

And most of those men in the physique mags used their real names.

I'm not sure about that. Perhaps in the 1950s they may have, but in the 1960s almost all used aliases, or at least variations of their real name. Some would used their real middle names or nicknames.

R49 provide context to back up your claims of “almost all”.

Impressive V shape. Such a narrow waisted and slim hipped stud.

R50 I heard this about 25-30 years ago from someone who had worked with Bob Mizer back in the early 1960s.

Bob Mizer was a creep

I hope no one thinks I am speaking about what men like Bob Mizer or Irv Johnson did with these minors in a positive light. I certainly am not. But they are a part of the Beefcake history and modern day “beefcake historians” like to either erase their existence or rewrite the history.

I do think it’s an interesting story though.

R54 no I never got that impression from your post. I could tell you took issue with it, if anything. 😃