Back in 1987, I
made my motion picture debut in was an extra in “Campus Man,” a comedy filmed largely on the campus of Arizona State University while I was a student there. I’ve
written about the experience before -- I spent about 10 hours filming a pool scene that went until roughly 4 in the morning, only to discover that I’m not actually visible in the finished movie.
What I didn’t fully appreciate at the time was just how closely the film was connected to a real bit of ASU history.
I knew “Campus Man” was inspired by an actual all-male pinup calendar, which I later learned was created by ASU student Todd Headlee and five friends in 1980. Each chipped in $1,000 to produce the first edition, the 1981 “Men of ASU,” featuring 12 male ASU students.
And apparently they knew their market. A 1982
Time magazine article described Arizona State as a “Sunbelt country club,” where modeling agents regularly scouted the abundance of good-looking students. (I can vouch for the
abundance.) The first 5,000 copies of “Men of ASU” quickly sold out.
What I didn't know is that the venture also produced some unexpected complications. In 1981, ASU football player Scott Lewis, who had appeared in the calendar and subsequently took professional modeling jobs, was declared ineligible after his modeling work was found to conflict with NCAA rules, causing him to lose his scholarship.
According to the State Press, the campus newspaper I later reported for, Lewis said the athletic department had initially told him his modeling would not jeopardize his eligibility.
Scott Lewis lost his football scholarship but gained a modeling career.
That real-life episode became the inspiration for “Campus Man.” In the film, the calendar leads to an opportunity that jeopardizes the amateur standing of its star model, champion diver Brett Wilson, echoing what had happened to Lewis.
Meanwhile, Headlee -- himself Mr. April in the first calendar -- bought out his original partners, borrowed money and spent $5,200 on an ad in Playgirl for the 1982 edition. The gamble paid off, generating some 10,000 orders from around the world. After graduating, he loaded calendars into his van and hawked them at colleges in 19 states, eventually selling 27,000 copies at $4.95 apiece.
As the calendar's popularity grew, so did its scope. What began as “Men of ASU” evolved into “Campus Men USA,” with models recruited beyond Arizona State and the calendar marketed to a national audience. By the 1983 edition, it was no longer simply a collection of ASU students, but a broader assortment of college-age models from around the country.
A few years later, Headlee's entrepreneurial story made its way to Hollywood. “Campus Man” fictionalized the circumstances, with John Dye (
RIP) playing Todd Barrett, a business student who needs $10,000 to stay in school and comes up with the idea of producing a beefcake calendar featuring male athletes to raise the money. (Ironically, I vividly remember my mom’s leaving a check for $850 on the counter for my tuition one semester, so I’m surprised he even needed to be so ingenuitive!)
Steve Lyon plays his reluctant star model, diver Brett Wilson, with Kim Delaney, Kathleen Wilhoite, Miles O'Keeffe (whose
turn as Tarzan in 1981 didn't exactly encourage me to be straight) and Morgan Fairchild rounding out the cast.
Lights, camera, action: The Mona Plummer Aquatic Complex. Let me know if you see me!
This scene where the boys meet Morgan Fairchild as the editor of Image magazine was filmed at the Embassy Suites on South Rural Road in Tempe, which I thought was the height of glamour back in the day!
Steve Lyon stole the film as diver Brett Wilson
Which brings me to the reason for this post: After years of wondering about the calendars at the heart of this tale -- quaint as it all seems by today's OnlyFans standards -- I recently came across the complete 1983 “Campus Men USA” edition, along with the cover photo from 1982.
See them all -- the real calendar men behind the movie I spent one very long night trying to be in -- plus an interview with its then-straight(!) creator
BELOW.
Click to revisit the heyday of Chelsea's 8th Avenue
My blog is featured in Susan Olsen's tell-all about the ill-fated "Brady Bunch Variety Hour"!
Growing up in Madison Heights, Mich.
The Web leads to an unexpected return to a house I grew up in.
Carlsbad, Calif. (2008)
Go Behind the Music of my high-school band, A La Plage
Little Larry left us too soon.
With Debbie Harry
With Robert Buckley
With Roger Federer
With Ed Burns
With Thomas Roberts
You've read the blog -- now read the book!
My memoir is available at Three Lives & Co. in the West Village
Like my book on Facebook here.
