Starring Wesley as Will Marshall

MONDAY'S MAN

Picture this: Memphis 1974. A six-year old boy is sitting in front of a big console television set on a Saturday morning. After watching numerous cartoons where his eyes were a-flutter from all the psychedelic colors that had been flashing across the screen, a show appeared. It wasn't a cartoon? No. It wasn't ha-ha funny? No. It was amazing. It had dinosaurs!!! A man who was dressed like a park ranger (hey I was six) with two kids running from dinosaurs. More than that--there were these tall lizard men who were trying to get them also. What was going on here? I was being entertained by something other than animated anthropomorphic animals or the Super Friends? Now you would think that at six the most important thing about this show would have been the dinosaurs. Or even the scary Sleestaks.

Nope! The most fascinating thing about this show was Will Marshall. My first crush. Here was a young man who was running around with tight brown denim jeans and a blue shirt that was unbuttoned to the third button with a slim gold chain around his neck. I was glued to the TV.

Now, remember I was six and it was 1974, so I didn't understand what it meant, but I did know there was something about him. Now he was billed as Wesley as if he was Cher or Madonna, but as he later said, it was a decision he regretted.

Wesley Eure starred on Land of the Lost at the same time he was starring on the soap, Days of Our Lives. Now, I don't remember seeing Wesley much after Land of the Lost except for a few times. One would be the film C.H.O.M.P.S. about a robot dog and the occasional appearance on game shows (Password if I remember correctly). Imagine my surprise when Mom Smackley was watching a slasher/horror film the other night called The Toolbox Murders starring Cameron Mitchell and WESLEY EURE!!!

Now here we are just over 35 years later and I remember the feeling of seeing him onscreen for the first time. For those who haven't heard: Wesley came out in 2009 and was at one time Richard Chamberlain's boyfriend. He also said that the little gold chain he wore on Land of the Lost was given to him by his partner at the time.

It's funny how my first crush was a gay man and I didn't even know it.

Check back each Monday for another man to admire.