On Tuesday, April 7, sexy, hung and versatile in so many ways Jack Wrangler died of complications from lung disease in New York City. The handsome gay icon of the 70's and 80's was 62 years old.
Wrangler, born John Stillman in 1946, was an instant star when he appeared in "New York Construction Company" in 1970. He made more than 85 adult films in his career, including the gay classics "Kansas City Trucking Co." (1976) and "Sex Machine" (1980). More surprising was his very successful foray into straight porn. He starred in, among others, "Behind the Green Door, the Sequel" (1986) and "The Devil in Miss Jones, Part ii" (1982).

As you can see for yourself in these pics, Wrangler exemplified that amazing 70's and early 80's masculinity and sexuality that still makes most of us, including me, hard as a rock. These were the men I saw on television shows and commercials (think the marlboro man with his dick hanging out) that I used to beat off to when I was a teenager. Wrangler's ease with his body and fluid sexuality represented everything opposite from the Reagan-era (and post- AIDS) repression soon to dominate our lives.
Jack was so versatile he married cabaret chanteuse Margaret Whiting in 1994. She knew he was gay but reportedly said to him "only around the edges." Their marriage endured, much to the surprise of many, and I think of her today for for having lost someone she clearly loved. Love comes in many different forms and I see their marriage as a celebration of that.