What a Hunk!

... all 6' 4" of him.  Great baritone voice.  Great smile.  Yeah, you could call him the Clark Gable of 1950s musicals.  A decidedly different type from Misters Astaire and Kelly! 

Howard Keel was born on this day in 1919.  That makes him 35 when he starred in Seven Brides for Seven Sisters in 1954.  Rrrff!  A great role in a great movie.  What a hunk.  The previous year, he and Kathryn Grayson were superb as the battling duo in Kiss Me Kate (1953). 

           Howard Keel in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

Flash forward 30 years and Mr. Keel, now in his 60s, rules Dallas on TV, being sexy for the "mature" ladies across the country.  He was no longer wearing tights, but that great smile was still there.  Rrrff!