Jack Radcliffe

Jack Radcliffe
Jack Radcliffe in a pool during the Bear Bust '99 event.
Born Frank Martini
(1960-05-07) 7 May 1960
Staten Island, New York
Occupation Pornographic film actor
Years active 1989–2008
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1]
Weight 240 lb (110 kg; 17 st)[1]

Jack Radcliffe (born Frank Martini; May 7, 1960) is an American pornographic film actor. Radcliffe is considered a pornographic icon, and in particular, an icon of gay bear subculture and its physical aesthetics.[2][3]

Early life

Radcliffe was born in Staten Island, New York in 1960.[2] He grew up with his two parents, and two siblings, a sister and a younger brother.[2] Radcliffe attended school in Staten Island until leaving to attend college at Buffalo State University in Buffalo, New York, earning two Bachelor's degrees in mathematics and physics.[2][4] He came out in 1983 and later moved to Denver, Colorado that summer.[2]

Career

Radcliffe was "discovered" in 1989 by photographer Chris Nelson.[5] Nelson featured Radcliffe (as "Jack Radcliff") in his influential coffee table book The Bear Cult, which helped establish the iconic imagery associated with the nascent gay "bear" subculture that "idealize[d] larger, hirsute, and bearded men in reaction to general gay male culture’s emphasis on youthful, slender bodies."[6] He debuted in issue #9 of Nelson and Nelson's partner Richard Bulger's foundational publication Bear Magazine and continued to appear in the publication as a model for the magazine's company, Brush Creek Media, after moving to San Francisco in 1989.[2] Nelson worked as the magazine's photographer, while Bulger served as the magazine's publisher.[2] During the same photoshoot, Radcliffe also shot his first solo pornographic video. Radcliffe chose his professional pseudonym "out of thin air", preferring a name that sounded normal and masculine, rather than one with overt connotations with pornographic work.[2] Radcliffe also began working as a bartender at the Lone Star Saloon, a gay bar also credited with contributing to the beginnings of the bear community, in part due to numerous models featured in Bear also working behind the bar.[7] Continuing to work as a regular model for Brush Creek Media, Radcliffe quickly became a popular figure within the growing bear community.[2] Several years later, Nelson and Bulger contacted Radcliffe concerning interest in shooting non-solo films for Brush Creek Media.[2] Radcliffe appeared in seven adult films with Brush Creek Media and later appeared in additional films with Butch Bear and Massive Studio. He retired from adult acting after performing in Massive Muscle Bears with Massive Studio.

Other ventures

Radcliffe worked as the chief financial officer of a software consulting company during the late 1990s and early 2000s.[1][2] He currently works as a realtor.[4]

Legacy and cultural impact

Radcliffe is often cited as an enduring iconic representation (if not the most iconic representative[2][8]) of the bear aesthetic in pornography, gay culture, and at large.[1][3][9][10][11][12] He has been described as "the Marilyn Monroe of bear culture,"[13] a "poster boy of bear culture," and a "reigning bear icon."[1] In a 2009 list of bear icons, LGBT pop culture website Queerty stated, "In the bear porn industry, Radcliffe is God. It’s easy to see why– if Plato were a bear, this would be his ideal."[9] Despite this, Radcliffe has downplayed his iconography within bear culture.[1][2][13]

Radcliffe was the most featured cover model in the history of Bear Magazine.[14] In his 2001 forward for author and academic scholar Les K. Wright's The Bear Book II: Further Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture, former editor-in-chief of Drummer Magazine Jack Fritscher noted that Radcliffe remained Brush Creek Media's top box office earner and described him as an icon for the company.[5] Wright also described Radcliffe as the first to embody the "bear beauty" aesthetic with his specifically marketed films.[15] Conversely, Radcliffe has also been specifically identified as an example of the "muscle-bear" body type that later emerged in bear culture, contributing to a more muscular standard of beauty, seemingly in conflict with the "normal," "average," or fat ("chub") aesthetic origins of the bear community.[13][16]

Filmography

YearTitleProduction company
1989Original Bear 3 - Uncut FootageBrush Creek Media
1996Bear ClassicBrush Creek Media
1996Bear Sex PartyBrush Creek Media
1997Leather Bears at PlayBrush Creek Media
1998Bear: Palm Springs VacationBrush Creek Media
1999Big Bear Trucking Co.Brush Creek Media
2000Big Bear Trucking Co. 2Brush Creek Media
2003Hard MechanicsMassive Studio
2006Erotic Spotlight Series 1Butch Bear
2006Erotic Spotlight Series 3Butch Bear
2008Massive Muscle BearsMassive Studio

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fernandez, Elizabeth (February 14, 1999). "Whole lotta huggin' goin' on at "bear' fest". San Francisco Chronicle. SFGate. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Suresha, Ron Jackson (2009) [2002], "Chapter 18: What Makes A Bear Porn Legend? An interview with Jack Radcliffe", Bears on Bears: Interviews and Discussions (Rev. ed.), New London, CT: Bear Bones Books, pp. 173–181, ISBN 978-1590212448
  3. 1 2 Gámez, Carles (April 23, 2013). "Ellas los prefieren peludos". El País. El País. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Martini, Frank. "LinkedIn Profile". LinkedIn. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Wright, Les K., "Forward", The Bear Book II: Further Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture, Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies, Binghamton, NY: Routledge, pp. xxiii–lxii, ISBN 978-1560231653
  6. ↑ McGrady, Patrick Blaine (2012). "Chapter One: Introduction". Sexuality and Larger Bodies: Gay Men's Experience of and Resistance Against Weight and Sexual Orientation Stigma (PhD). Florida State University. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  7. ↑ Suresha, Ron Jackson (2009) [2002], "Chapter 8: Rainbow MC and the Old Lone Star: A discussion with Pete Vafiades", Bears on Bears: Interviews and Discussions (Rev. ed.), New London, CT: Bear Bones Books, pp. 97–109, ISBN 978-1590212448
  8. ↑ Alan, Ariel (December 28, 2008). "Comunidad de osos en Costa Rica". Looping Media. Salir.UniversoGay.com. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  9. 1 2 Grant, Japhy (April 8, 2009). "Meet The Bear Icons. Grrrrr". GayCities. Queerty. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  10. ↑ Kampf, Ray (2000) [2000], "Chapter 1: Emergence from the Woods", The Bear Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Those Who Are Husky, Hairy and Homosexual, and Those Who Love 'Em, Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press, p. 26, ISBN 978-1560239970
  11. ↑ Mann, Jeff (September 1, 2010). "Bear Culture 101 (no prerequisite)". The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide (87, September–October 2010, Subcultures of Gaydom). Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  12. ↑ Ramos, Irineu (May–June 2013), "Macho sim senhor", Calameo, pp. 59–63, retrieved November 6, 2017
  13. 1 2 3 Alvarez, Erick (2008) [2008], "Chapter 10: The Muscle Bear", Muscle Boys: Gay Gym Culture (1st ed.), Binghamton, NY: Routledge, p. 214, ISBN 978-1560234043
  14. ↑ "Finding Frank Martini, Jack Radcliffe", Bear Magazine, September 2008 |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  15. ↑ Little Prince(ss) (April 15, 2011). "El oso de la revolución está hibernando". Página/12. Soy. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  16. ↑ McGrady, Patrick Blaine (2012). "Chapter 3: "Grow the Beard, Wear the Uniform, and You'll Fit In": Resisting Weight and Sexual Orientation Stigmas in the Bear Subculture". Sexuality and Larger Bodies: Gay Men's Experience of and Resistance Against Weight and Sexual Orientation Stigma (PhD). Florida State University. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
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