'Pose, please!'

During the 1960s, John Tristram (1933-1985) showed up regularly in physique magazines, thanks to AMG's Bob Mizer, Kris of Chicago, and Scott of London. A native of Yorkshire, England, he had been a British merchant seaman for five years before coming to the States at the age 22. After briefly modeling (as 'John Trenton') for Lon of NY, he relocated to California, where he competed successfully for years, while teaching French at UCLA and doing high-end escorting on the side. AMG's 'Pose, please!'--in which Larry Marrinan plays the aspiring painter--is the only known Tristram footage we have. Although he was still in great shape when he later posed for Target's Lou Thomas, plans for more movie work had come to nothing by 1985, the year of his premature death--blamed since then, and variously, on 'steroids misuse' and AIDS-related complications. He was 52.