True Crime Podcast ‘Variety Confidential’ Unveils the Talent Agent Who Invented the Beefcake Craze
variety.comLauren Ames Henry Willson’s behavior was protected by other powerful players in the entertainment industry who depended on him for a steady stream of fresh, young talent.
In episode 3 of “Variety Confidential,” host Tracy Pattin and co-host Matt Donnelly, Variety’s senior entertainment and media writer, unearth the story of Willson, an aggressive, midcentury Hollywood talent agent and manager who succeeded in both spotting and taking advantage of young actors within whom he saw potential for fame.
Willson, a closeted gay man, would lure dozens of handsome young men, or “beefcakes” as they would come to be known, to his Los Angeles home after wining and dining them and promising fame. “He seems to have insinuated himself into their lives,” Pattin explains. “He became their friend, the parent, the protector, and in many cases, their lover.” Willson prioritized on-screen sex appeal over acting ability, which was key to landing roles for actors like Rock Hudson and Lana Turner.
Willson built up their careers with small roles before sending them to acting classes to fine-tune their skills in the hopes of landing bigger roles.
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