American model and actor Ed Fury was BOTD in 1928. Born Rupert Edmund Holovchik in Long Island, New York, he was orphaned in childhood and raised by foster families. He moved to Los Angeles in the 1940s and competed in bodybuilding competitions, and modelled for physique magazine photographers Bob Mizer, with whom he also made erotic films for the Athletic Model Guild. He began his acting career on stage, and worked as an extra in Hollywood films including The Country Girl, Bus Stop and South Pacific, landing his first significant role the 1958 comedy The Wild Women of Wongo. In the 1960s, his impressive physique was well-utilised in a series of sword-and sandal-epics, including Hercules, Colossus and the Amazon Queen, The Seven Revenges, Maciste Against the Sheik and the Ursus action trilogy. Though straight and married, he became an object of sexual desire for generations of closeted gays during the pre-Stonewall era. In later life, he made appearances in TV series Gilligan’s Island, Star Trek, Columbo and Fantasy Island. He died in 2023, aged 94.