Dan Lurie

Most of the nude photos of Dan Lurie were made by Earle Forbes,

but this one has been reliably attributed to Al Urban.

 

Dan Lurie

Dan Lurie made my favorite models list for several reasons in addition to his good looks.  First of all, he was completely OK with his nude photos being enjoyed by gay men at a time homophobia was the norm.  He worked his way past being a sickly child and World War II medical reject to become a championship level bodybuilder.  Mr. Lurie also ran a successful training and weight business, all while being a devoted husband and father.  Above is one of his photos by Earle Forbes, and the one below showing him doing a very difficult 150 pound lift is by an unknown.

 

Dan Lurie

Dan Lurie had a brother who looked a lot like him, and I have a lingering hunch that this 

might be the brother.  My usually impeccable source, however, says that it is Dan.

The photographer is Earle Forbes, and that I can believe.

 

Dan Lurie

Although the online reseller who listed this photo didn't mention it, nearly all the frontally nude photos of Dan Lurie were done by Earle Forbes.  Quoting Mr. Lurie:  "Yes, we all knew Earle was gay and that he was selling the nude shots to gays on the side.  We didn't care because he did great work and got us  into the best magazines."  Now that's both practical and progressive at the same time.

 

Dan Lurie

I'd love to know what happened to the uncovered version of this photo of Dan Lurie 

with a drawn on posing strap.  Mr. Lurie famously said of Earle Forbes,  "Yes, quite a few 

of us posed nude for Earle.  We knew he was pitching those to gays on the side, but we 

didn't really mind because he did great work and got guys into the best magazines."

 

Dan

Click on Dan Lurie's label at right to see my previous posts on this fascinating character.  A successful businessman, he never denied  having posed nude early in his career.  He even said that he and other bodybuilders knew that Earle Forbes and some of the other New York photographers were gay and pitched the nudes to gays.  Mr. Lurie said,  "We didn't care.  They made the best pictures for us."

This particular photo doesn't quite match the style of any of those great photographers.

 

Whatever happened to Dan Lurie

Dan Lurie was born in Brooklyn, NY on April Fools Day, 1923.  Diagnosed with a heart defect as an infant, his parents were told not to expect him to make it to age five.  Well, he ended up living to 90 and displayed a dogged determination throughout that long life to never let anything hold him back.  A scrawny kid, he took up wrestling and weight lifting to build himself up.  By age 17 he was a top high school athlete and appearing as a competitive bodybuilder.  At age 18 he was being photographed nude and seminude by some of the best photographers in New York.  So today we'll see whatever happened to this amazing guy from Brooklyn who went on to great success and to be inducted in the the National Jewish Athletics Hall of Fame.  This set may seem lengthy, but please understand that I actually left a lot of things out and may need to do a second series to do him justice.  He was that good.

 

Cover man

Once his bodybuilding career got underway, Dan Lurie appeared on a number of magazine covers.  The left one is from 1942 and is based on the preceding photo.  The one at right is from 1947 and interesting because it is a painting that George Quaintance is said to have made from an Earle Forbes photo.

 

Classic pose

Although he didn't mention it in his autobiography, Dan Lurie never denied that he had posed nude early in his career and honestly answered interviewers' questions about it.  In reference to Earle Forbes, he once said,  "Yes, quite a few of us posed nude for Earle.  We knew he was pitching those to gays on the side, but we didn't really mind because he did great work and got guys into the best magazines.

 

Drawn in posing strap . . . almost, but not quite

If you look closely at the drawn in posing strap on this Earle Forbes photo of Dan,

you may notice that the equipment coverage is somewhat bit lacking.  Oh, well.

 

Confident and happy

Dan Lurie looks as though he knows he's going to have

 a long and successful life in this unattributed photo I suspect is by Al Urban.

 

Furniture

Some of you may recognize the furniture in this Forbes photo as the same piece used 

in at least one photo he made of the immortal Tony Sansone.  And speaking of furniture, 

Dan and his two brothers got free weight training for years by working in their father's 

moving business hefting heavy furniture up and down Brooklyn tenement building stairs.

 

 

Dan and his brother Morris

Al Urban took this photo of Dan Lurie and his brother Morris.  The two were so hard to tell apart that even some experts have trouble telling which is which.  Dan is supposed to be at left here.  Morris was older and went into the Army when World War II started.  He was tragically killed at Anzio, Italy.  Morris was a good boxer, and so was Dan, but Dan's heart murmur sidelined him from the sport.

 

1943

In 1943, Dan Lurie got the expected callup for military service.  He was rejected, however, because of the still present heart murmur that had kept him form competing as a Golden Gloves boxer.  The image at right is a clipping from Time magazine describing his disappointment.

 

Unknown photographer

This very good photo of Dan Lurie is by an unknown photographer.

 

Lon?

Dan Lurie is known to have modeled for Earle Forbes, Edwin Townsend, and Al Urban.  This unattributed photo's Rococo pedestal makes me think he may have also worked for Lon of NY.

 

One of the last nude photos?

It's generally accepted that Dan Lurie's physique modeling career extended from about 1941 to 1948-49.  This photo by Earle Forbes would appear to be from later in that stretch because Dan's face seems less boyish and his body development in more in keeping with the postwar ideal.

Disclosure:  I used Larry K's help to electronically remove a watermark from a strategic spot.

 

Big Top

Dan Lurie's competitive bodybuilding career was waning when the TV age dawned.  So his next move was to land a spot on a popular children's variety show called Sealtest's Big Top.  He was billed as "Sealtest Dan, the Muscle Man" from 1950 to 1957.  Also appearing on the show was a clown named Ed who was later better known as Johnny Carson's sidekick, Ed McMahon.  Here we see Dan getting his makeup applied.  I wonder if this lucky makeup guy got to do his whole body?

 

Doting Father

Dan Lurie has been described as a devoted and loving father despite the demands of his career.  

This is  his firstborn, a son who was followed by five daughters.

 

Entrepreneur

Never one to miss a chance to make a buck, Dan Lurie had a number of business ventures over the years, including gyms, mail order bodybuilding lessons, barbells, food supplements, and even scales to track one's weight.  That's Lou Ferrigno in the Formula 707 ad.