Corey Haim (1971-2010)

Before the month is out, I should take the chance to say goodbye to a teenage crush of mine, actor and "Tiger Beat" pinup Corey Haim.  Corey was only 6 months older than me, and his baby face, slim build, crooked smile and cheeky good humor were super-adorable.  He was especially cute in The Lost Boys, lip-synching in the tub and flouncing around the pier in his outrageous late-80s getups.

Though he showed great talent in fare like Lucas, he soon descended into direct-to-video crap and drugged-out obscurity.  His 2006 reality show The Two Coreys (with old compatriot Corey Feldman) was a parade of sadness, but he seemed to be poised for a comeback with an appearance in last year's Crank 2.  Sadly, he passed away of as-yet-undisclosed natural causes on March 10.

A full Corey gallery after the jump; as always, click the pix for a larger version.

Gerry Mulligan

Gerry Mulligan (1927-1996) was a jazz saxophonist and composer who is known as one of the greatest sax men in history, and a huge part of the "cool jazz" scene of the 1950s - indeed, he plays with and wrote for Miles Davis on the famous Birth of the Cool album from 1950.

He was well known as an arranger, and played the clarinet and piano as well as mastering the baritone sax, and worked with such greats as Stan Kenton, Chet Baker, Billie Holliday, Count Basie, and many more.

He was also something of a cutie, a 1950s hip-to-be-square beanpole wrangling a gnarled brass bari sax that looks about four sizes too big for him!

Here are a couple of links to performances by Gerry Mulligan on YouTube.  First up, a live performance of his composition "Walking Shoes," which displays a swinging contrapuntal style, and "The Shadow of Your Smile," set to a variety of photos of the jazz great.

(Photo hijacked from the uber-stylish blog Nerd Boyfriend.)

Jay Baruchel

Jay Baruchel (born April 9, 1982) is a Canadian actor I first saw in Judd Apatow's sadly short-lived college show, Undeclared.  His performance as the shy, gawky romantic Steven Karp was instantly endearing, and I've enjoyed watching him ever since. 

He's appeared as some type of adorable spaz in films such as Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Million Dollar Baby and Fanboys.  He  also stars in the current She's Out of My League and the upcoming The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Personally I think Jay's one of the cutest guys out there, so here's a full gallery, after the jump!

Ben Whishaw

Ben Whishaw (born October 14, 1980) is one of the UK's most intriguing new talents.  He's got a guarded, elusive screen presence which does not detract from his general air of intensity. And, most germane to The Whole Skinny, he's a tall, lanky, very handsome guy.

He made a splash at the Old Vic as the youngest Hamlet ever (by which we mean, the actual age of the character!) in a production directed by Trevor Nunn.  Since then, he's appeared in films such as Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Brideshead Revisited, Layer Cake, Bright Star and as one of several Bob Dylans in I'm Not There.

Whishaw is currently appearing in the play The Pride, with Hugh Dancy.  There has been some media speculation about his sexuality, with conflicting stories painting  him as either gay or straight.  But sexual orientation is not what concerns us here at The Whole Skinny.  What matters in Whishaw's case is his talent, personality, and brooding good looks, all of which he has in spades.  A full gallery of photos, after the jump...

Welcome to The Whole Skinny

Hello, welcome to this new blog, which will hopefully satisfy a niche we don't really see much of on the web.

In opposition to the buff, athletic male model types we see idealized everywhere, I love really slim, slender guys. I could talk about the zen simplicity of their forms, the purity of line and angle, the elegance of carriage or the endearing gawkiness of a really lanky lad. But instead I'll just say I think they're hot, and there aren't any good sites I can find dedicated to celebrating their beauty, so here ya go.

A lot of these posts are going to be dedicated to various movie stars and suchlike media faces. Most of the content here will be shamelessly snatched from the net, but I will post some of my own photography, as well.  Not every guy will be totally skinny; any handsome fellow who seems worth posting will be included.  But for the most part, I'm going to focus on the skinny, lanky types I love so well.

I'll inaugurate the blog with a picture I took of one of my favorite people. Here's the wonderful Michael J, a really nice, talented guy, and a gorgeous man. He's posing in front of the JFG Coffee sign on Gay Street in Knoxville, Tennessee. The tag line was, I thought, amusingly innuendo-laden.