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“What’s in a name?” Juliet asks Romeo in Shakespeare’s classic play. When it comes to notable nudity, everything.
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” she explains … but today, a pose by any name other than a celebrity would hardly raise a tweet! Let’s explore why …
In my 40th anniversary year as The Sleuth, I’m often asked what led me down this not-so-prim•rose path, and inspired me to become the “Famous Shamus.” And the fault, as Shakespeare also wrote, “lies in our stars.”
Simply put, I—like most of us—had an insatiable curiosity about famous frames or, as I wrote in the introduction to my very first issue: “I do it because, like many, I’m fascinated by knowing all I can about celebrities. I guess uncovering them in the altogether is the ultimate revelation!”
As debut cover girl Morgan Fairchild—then starring on the TV series Flamingo Road—discovered when I uncovered her anonymous past:
As Patsy McClenny {the name under the photo}, she was a total unknown … but once identified, it was ‘NudesWorthy’ that she be shown. And the issue sold out.
Again, as its intro pointed out: “Several years ago, Sleuth began to notice that many of the faces and forms he discovered in books and magazines from decades past bore (or in some cases, bared) a striking resemblance to those that graced the televisions, theaters and headlines of today. He became convinced that an as-yet-undiscovered ‘Body of Bodies’ was waiting to be unearthed.”
And even with an ultra-rare Total Eclipse set for today, that star light has yet to diminish.
The reason is simple: in a modern age where “being famous” is the coin of the realm—even Game of Thronesunknowns capture the globe when they disrobe and a semi-celeb’s Snapchat is“all that”—the real revelation inevitably becomes what that woman looks like in the nude !
Which was brought home 40 years ago when Sleuth recognized his first anonymous model who had gone on to become a household name. Glancing at the cover of an otherwise unremarkable “how-to text on posing nude female models” {as it was described}, he noticed the familiar cheekbones of Fine Figure Photography’s blonde cover model …
… also featured inside for a guide to “Light Shadows” techniques:
Figuring that the blonde was then Blondie—lead singer Deborah Harry of the world’s #1 pop group and thus a public figure … he decided to make her figure public!
An initial ID she confirmed decades later by signing the topless shot he’d unearthed.
In a nutshell, putting a name with the frame changed the game!
Mr. Skin was bare•ly into high school at the time, but years after launching his successful site acknowledged his ‘Skinspiration’: “I’m a big fan of Celebrity Sleuth Magazine,” Skin stated. “Here’s a guy, the Sleuth, who would put out a magazine in which he’d write about different topics and different celebrities, and it gets you interested. If you paint the picture, if you make the people you’re talking about sound interesting and give some background and some history, it makes it that much more exciting to see them nude.”
Which is why British glamour model Julie Collins (below left) can’t com•pair with British sex symbol Joan Collins (below right)—despite having a better body, shapelier legs and posing with pubes rather than panties!
As The Kamera Club captioned when both were at their peak: “All girls with the name Collins seem to be beautiful. After famous sisters Joan and Jackie here’s Julie, a gorgeous 34D-21-34. Julie’s got a stunning sister too.” But not a hit series like Dynasty …
When Sleuth began collecting in 1977, the top-rated show was Charlie’s Angels … and its stylish star the hottest on the planet. Which is why he explained his inspiration to interviewers by saying the fame outweighed the frame: “I’d rather see the tip of one Farrah Fawcett nipple than any totally exposed nudie model.”
As this early published page proves:
Farrah’s gone … but that principle still survives today. How else to explain why Met-Art model Marta E (below left) is large•ly overlooked, while Blurred Lines brunette Emily R {as in Ratajkowski, below right} is among the most downloaded on the ’net—with over 14.7 million Instagram followers?
And that fame can be fleeting: Just a couple of years ago, the three most requested-for-revelation actresses were Jennifer Lawrence, Scarlett Johansson and Kristen Stewart … so desired that they were all known by nicknames: J.Law, ScarJo and KStew.
But after over 150 nudes of Lawrence were leaked in the first Fappening … and Johansson and Stewart sought to ‘transition into adult roles’ by stripping on screen (below), a collective ‘Been There, Seen That’ sigh has seemed to set in.
Basically, once the audience has been able to appreciate the Three B’s—not Bach, Beethoven Brahms but the equally artistic Boobs, Buns Bush—fans seek to experience newer nudes from nubile nymphs.
Which also explains why ever-exposed Kendall Jenner is now less sought-after than more reticent-to-reveal sister Kylie:
In addition, the age-old ‘Hunger for Younger’ urge has created countdowns for clothed up comers to turn 18 … after which such ‘different as night and day’ dames as Ariel Winter (below left) and Chloë Grace Moretz top today’s list of heavenly bodies we can’t wait to un•cover.
And when that occurs, some other celebrity starlet will soon eclipse them. Totally ...
