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Joseph Angelo (Joe) Dallesandro (born December 31, 1948 in Pensacola, Florida) is an American actor known for his voluptuous physical beauty, flesh-baring film appearances, and openly stated bisexuality. Although he never became a major mainstream star, Dallesandro is generally considered to be the most famous male sex symbol of American underground films of the late 20th century. Joe was "the first openly erotized male sex symbol of the movies to walk naked across the screen". As well as beauty, his on-screen presence has a compelling enigmatic quality. This derives from what often seems (especially in his Warhol films) a bored or surly withholding, and almost comical physical inertia.

As a teenager, Dallesandro supported himself by nude modeling and prostitution, and working in gay pornography films. At times he slept with men for pay "because I could deal with that better." He met Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey in 1967 while they were in the midst of shooting The Loves of Ondine, and they cast him in the film on the spot.

Dallesandro was the obvious choice for the part of a teenage hustler in Flesh, where he had several nude scenes, including the famous opening shot of him on the bed. To a large extent, it was because of Dallesandro that the underground film Flesh became an internationally successful film, and Dallesandro became the most popular of the Warhol stars. Joe's eroticism as well as his "flesh" on display in these films is what brought the public to the theatres. He quickly drew a devoted cult following that savored his long sandy hair, distinctively muscular physique, taut buttocks and large thick penis, as well as his utter unselfconsciousness in baring these attributes on camera.

Dallesandro also appeared in Lonesome Cowboys, Trash, Heat, Andy Warhol's Frankenstein and Andy Warhol's Dracula also directed by Morrissey. These last two films were shot in Europe, and, after the films were completed, Dallesandro chose not to return to the U.S. He continued to star in films made mainly in France and Italy for the rest of the decade, returning to America in the 1980s. He made several movies without Warhol and Morrissey, and is known for his portrayal of 1920s gangster Lucky Luciano in Francis Coppola's The Cotton Club. He also appeared as a religious zealot in Cry Baby by John Waters.

He was the money-minded "Little Joe" in Lou Reed's hit song "Walk on the Wild Side", which was about the characters Reed knew from Warhol's studio, The Factory. A Warhol photograph of the blatantly bulging, well-endowed crotch of Dallesandro's tight blue jeans graces the famous cover of the Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers. The image attracted controversy due to its emphasis on the outline of Dallesandro's possibly erect penis and the real zipper Warhol designed for the fly of his jeans. Dallesandro explained to biographer Michael Ferguson, “It was just out of a collection of junk photos that Andy pulled from. He didn't pull it out for the design or anything, it was just the first one he got that he felt was the right shape to fit what he wanted to use for the fly. It had nothing to do with anything else. There was no photograph session set up where they were taking shots of crotch areas.” The 1980s British band The Smiths would later use a still photograph of Dallesandro from the film Flesh as the cover of their eponymous debut album.

Dallesandro has a famous tattoo on his upper right arm that reads "Little Joe". John Waters has praised him as "A wonderful actor who forever changed male sexuality on the screen." He is considered an underground film and gay culture icon, and still has a large cult following.

Dallesandro has been married three times and has two sons.

Joe currently manages a hotel in the heart of Hollywood, where he lives with his cat Booky.

Films

• The Loves of Odine (1967)
• Lonesome Cowboys (1968)
• San Diego Surf (1968)
• Flesh (1968)
• Trash (1970)
• Heat (1972)
• The Gardener (1974)
• Flesh for Frankenstein (1974)
• Blood for Dracula (1974)
• Donna E Bello (1974)
• Il Tempo Degli Assassini (1974)
• L'Ambizioso (1975)
• Black Moon (1975)
• Calore in Provincia (1975)
• Fango Bollente (1975)
• Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus (1975)
• La Marge (1976)
• L'Ulmita Volta (1976)
• Un Coure Semplice (1977)
• Merry-Go-Round (1978/1983)
• Sour Omicidi (1978)
• Queen Lear (1978)
• 6000 KM Di Paura (1978)
• Vacanze Per Un Massacro (1979)
• Tapage Nocturne (1979)
• Parano (1980)
• The Cotton Club (1984)
• Critical Condition (1987)
• Sunset (1988)
• Double Revenge (1989)
• Private War (1990)
• Crybaby (1990)
• Almost An Angel (1990)
• Guncrazy (1992)
• Bad Love (1992)
• Wild Orchid 2: Two Shades of Blue (1992)
• Sugar Hill (1994)
• Theodore Rex (1996)
• Pacino Is Missing (1998)
• LA Without a Map (1998)
• The Limey (1999)
• Citizens of Perpetual Indulgence (2000)

References

• Ferguson, Michael. Little Joe, Superstar: The Films of Joe Dallesandro , Companion Press 1998. IBSN 18899138096.

External links

• Official Web site

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