Dirk Shafer

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Dirk Alan Shafer (born November 7, 1962 in Carbondale , Illinois ; found dead on March 5, 2015 in West Hollywood , California ) was an American fitness instructor who previously worked as a film actor , film director , screenwriter and model .

Life

Dirk Shafer grew up in Oklahoma . Shafer had his first homosexual experience at the age of seventeen in high school when he had a secret love affair with a 29-year-old gym teacher from another high school for over a year . Shafer graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in film . His short film Lace Ladies , a story about three teenage girls trying to escape their small hometown, earned him a nomination at the Student Academy Awards .

After graduation, Shafer moved to Hollywood , where he kept afloat financially as a model and fitness trainer ; He also had various smaller jobs at various film production companies, where he worked on the development of film projects and scripts for the screenwriter and film director Colin Higgins .

In the early 1990s he received an offer from the American magazine Playgirl for photo shoots. Shafer was first seen in 1990 as a center fold in the middle of the magazine's Holiday Issue with nude photos. From twelve other candidates he was voted Man of the Year by Playgirl readers in 1992 , whereupon he posed again as the winner in the February 1992 issue for a photo shoot with nude pictures.

After his victory, Shafer was consistently built up by the Playgirl editors into a straight dream man and heartthrob: among the readers who voted Shafer, a date with Shafer in Manhattan was raffled off; a 0900 telephone hotline was also set up so readers could speak directly to Shafer. One year represented Shafer as Playgirl's Man of the Year in 1992 , the magazine Playgirl , among others, with numerous media attention staged talk show -Auftritten, among others, Joan Rivers , Phil Donahue and Jerry Springer . Shafers homosexuality was known to the publishers of Playgirl .

Shafers official coming-out took place at the latest in 1995 with the film Man of The Year , in which he worked as a leading actor, director and screenwriter. In a satirical-ironic comedy film , following the genre of mockumentary , he described his experiences during his time as a playgirl model. The film also starred former porn actor Rex Chandler , who portrayed and parodied himself, and Thom Collins , as did Shafer, also a former playgirl model who later made a career as a dancer and drag queen in Los Angeles .

In 2001 Shafer directed the independent film Circuit , the story of an outed small town policeman who moved to Los Angeles, made friends with a male hustler and dipped into the wild gay party scene ( circuit parties ). In 2001 Shafer also took an episode role as Blaze on the sitcom Will & Grace .

Shafer worked as a fitness trainer and trained Pilates instructor in Los Angeles; His clients also included actors James Garner , Richard Dreyfuss and Eric McCormack .

On March 5, 2015, Shafer was found dead in his car in West Hollywood .

Filmography (selection)

actor

  • 1995: Man of the Year
  • 2001: Will & Grace

Director

  • 1995: Man of the Year
  • 2001: Circuit

Screenwriter

  • 1992: Inside Out II ( Double Vision segment )
  • 1995: Man of the Year
  • 2001: Circuit

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Internet Movie Database and various Internet sources consistently state Carbondale, Illinois as the place of birth. According to other sources, such as Dirk Shafer on TV.com , only Texas is given. The print edition of Playgirl states Tuna , Texas as the place of birth. According to other sources, Shafer not only grew up in Oklahoma , but was born there.
  2. ↑ Matt Hamilton: Cocaine, meth blamed in ex-centerfold's death in West Hollywood. In: latimes.com. April 30, 2015, accessed June 3, 2015 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Circuit king: Man of the Year director Dirk Shafer returns with Circuit, a look at the controversial gay dance parties that make up the circuit . ( Memento of January 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: The advocate , April 30, 2002.
  4. ↑ a b Centerfold in the Closet / Dirk Shafer bared his body in Playgirl, but not his soul . SFGate.com, March 2, 1996.
  5. ↑ a b c Film: Man of the Year, sham of the year . In: The Independent , March 28, 1996.
  6. ↑ Dirk Shafer on TV.com; biography
  7. ↑ Legacy Dirk Shafer . Playgirl photos by Dirk Shafer.
  8. ^ Man of the Year (1995) FILM REVIEW; Literally and Figuratively, Unclothing a Dreamboat . In: New York Times , March 15, 1996; Movie review
  9. ↑ Where's the Beefcake? Metroactive Movies dated November 17, 1996.
  10. ↑ 25 Great Things About Gay LA ( March 31, 2008 memento in the Internet Archive ) In: Frontiers Magazine ; Volume 26, Issue 4.
  11. ↑ Dirk Shafer . Video 2009 (on YouTube )
  12. ↑ http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-filmmaker-found-dead-in-west-hollywood-20150307-story.html .
  13. ↑ 'Man Of The Year' filmmaker Dirk Shafer Found Dead .
personal data
SURNAME Shafer, Dirk
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Shafer, Dirk Alan (full name); Shaffer, Dirk
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film actor, film director, and model
DATE OF BIRTH November 7, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Carbondale , Illinois , United States
DATE OF DEATH at March 5, 2015
Place of death West Hollywood , California , United States