American model and actor Joe Dallesandro was BOTD in 1948. Born in Pensacola, Florida, he had a turbulent childhood, living in a series of orphanages and foster homes, and becoming a criminal by his teens, being shot by police while evading custody for auto theft. At 16, he escaped a juvenile correction centre and ran away to New York City, supporting himself by nude modelling and sex work. In 1967, he met artist-filmmakers Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey, who fell for his athletic physique and clean cut good looks. He quickly became a Warhol Superstar, appearing in the films Four Stars, Flesh, Lonesome Cowboys, Trash, Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula. As Warhol’s work became popular with mainstream audiences, Dallesandro (inaccurately nicknamed “Little Joe”) became a pop culture sensation, photographed by Richard Avedon and Annie Leibowitz, and referenced in Lou Reed’s song Walk On the Wild Side (“Little Joe never once gave it away/Everybody had to pay and pay“). He charms even caught the attention of New York Times film critic Vincent Canby, who wrote of his appearance in Trash: “[h]is physique is so magnificently shaped that men as well as women become disconnected at the sight of him”. He starred in Serge Gainsbourg’s 1976 film Je t’aime moi non plus. In the 1980s, he transitioned into mainstream entertainment, appearing in Francis Ford Coppola’s film The Cotton Club. He subsequently worked with filmmakers including Louis Malle, Serge Gainsbourg, Catherine Breillat, Jacques Rivette, Michael Apted, Blake Edwards, John Waters and Steven Soderbergh, and became a series regular in TV shows Wiseguy, Miami Vice and Matlock. Openly bisexual since forever, he has been married three times and has three children. He lives in Los Angeles where he manages a residential hotel building.