Hunks

In the 1920s, audiences fell in love with silent film stars Rudolph Valentino and John Gilbert, men with dark features who exuded mystique and romance. By the ‘40s and ‘50s, female fans fell helpless to the physique and swagger of leading men like Marlon Brando, William Holden and Paul Newman. Their charm, not to mention sex appeal, kept movie goers wanting more.

Eye candy in Hollywood has never been limited to women. The Hollywood Walk of Fame may boast a bevy of bombshells, from Mamie Van Doren to Sophia Loren, but it is also hosts some of most striking men to grace the silver screen and small screens.

Some were heart-breakers. Late nights, plentiful drinking and wild escapades with women were common with actors Robert Mitchum and Errol Flynn. Rex Harrison’s affairs – as well as the suicides of a lover, Carole Landis, and an ex-wife, Rachel Roberts – earned him notoriety and a nickname he couldn’t shake: “Sexy Rexy.”

Then there are the musicians. Elvis made girls faint. Ladies threw their panties at Tom Jones. Heartthrob Sam Cooke’s soaring vocals earned him musical respect. His appetites, however, led the married man to a seedy motel in Los Angeles with a woman who turned out to be a prostitute. The motel manager shot him to death after he broke through her office door, yelling that his date had taken his wallet.

Today’s leading men still have the good looks and box office power. Tom Cruise may have jumped on a couch for love, but at least for now the new generation of hunks has ruled with far less personal drama than their predecessors.

— Sarah Ardalani, who works with The Times data team and selected the photographs of the stars for the Hollywood Star Walk project

Here's a look at some of the Hollywood hunks with stars on the Walk of Fame. If you do not see the person you are looking for below please search our complete list of the stars on the Walk of Fame. And, if you haven’t yet, check out The Times virtual tour of the stars.

15 thoughts about Hunks

Share a thought about The Times’ “Hunks” category

  • Which star best represents the group?
  • Does everyone here deserve to be on the list?
  • Who has been overlooked?

  Required
  Optional