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Thursday, April 28, 2022

Age 36 by Cadmus and gone at 50


This is the latest image of Ted Starkowski I could find, and it is a Paul Cadmus portrait 
from 1963 when Mr. Starkowski would have been 36.  Little is known of his last years, 
but he was stuck and killed by a car in New York as he was leaving a bar in 1977.  His family 
placed an obituary in his hometown newspaper that listed no profession, incorrectly gave his 
military service as in Korea instead of World War II, and said there would be a private 
service at an undetermined time with no visitation.

I'm left wondering what Ted would think about the fact that we're still marveling 
over his life all these years later.  I don't say this often, but he is one of the characters 
from that era that I would have given anything to know.



 

11 comments:

  1. An excellent series, Jerry. Really well researched and with a great mix of photos and artwork. Ted certainly had an interesting life and I, too, would have loved to have had the opportunity to have known him.

    Peter

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the series, Peter. This one was a real effort to put together, but a great pleasure at the same time.

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  2. Wow Jerry! What a phenomenal presentation. Thx for all the history notes (including those of you followers), as well as the wide assortment of photos. You outdid yourself today.

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    1. Thank you for the kind words. One of the reasons I cut back on the frequency of my posts was to have the time to devote to series like this.

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  3. Some links:
    https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Starkowski-1
    https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G6B5-5TN
    https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92734733/theodore-f-starkowski

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  4. There is a book about Bernard Perlin called ONE MAN SHOW. I have only looked at it, but I bet it mentions Ted. Link... https://www.amazon.com/One-Man-Show-Life-Bernard-Perlin/dp/3959850182/ref=sr_1_1?crid=38UUXAXEVMX7O&keywords=Perlin%2Cone+man+show&qid=1651199376&sprefix=perlin%2Cone+man+show+%2Caps%2C237&sr=8-1

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  5. This is fascinating! I don't know if you guys agree, but Starkowski was much handsomer in his photos than any of the drawings we see here. And I'm one who would have loved to have known him personally.

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    1. Total speculation here, but the artists who did the drawings may have been focused on the "rough trade" persona his sex work brought to the fore. As others have noted, he didn't have pretty boy good looks, but plenty of what I call visceral appeal.

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  6. Great series, Jerry. Really well done!

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