Old Reliable Interviews

This photo of David was taken over chicken fried steak at the Sizzler on Hollywood Blvd. in June 2007.

When I met David, two years ago, I was in the process of compiling interviews for a history of the infamous Athletic Model Guild. Dian Hanson, who was working on the Big Penis Book at the time, put us in touch and David agreed to meet me at the Sizzler on Hollywood Blvd. We talked for a little over two hours that day, and sat down for another interview, one month later. What follows is an excerpt from our first interview in June 2006.

How did you end up doing physique photography?

Well after being a model for Hal [Roth of Filmco] a little while, and working for Conrad and Dwight – after that ended, I had very little money. I moved back to San Francisco. It was the end of ’68, and this is one of those rags to riches stories.

I had a couple of credit cards, no money, and I couldn’t find a place to live. I had shot a couple of models in Hollywood when I was working for Conrad and Dwight and I decided I would be one [a photographer]. I took my credit cards – all the money I had in the world – and a bought a plane ticket to N.Y., Philadelphia and Washington D.C., because there are publishers in those cities.

It was a very, very cold January – very cold. But I went to NY and met the mafia. It’s true, a couple of guys in publishing, one of the guys who was later on the masthead of Blueboy, the other one who was shot or something. But they were very nice to me and they bought a few things for a deck of cards and some paperback covers. Now it’s on to Philadelphia where I met Clark Polak who was rude, and ruined Philadelphia

Who was Clark?

Clark Polak was his name, he ran a magazine called Drum. So, I left Philadelphia unhappy, went back to NY, then I flew to Washington. It was very cold. Here I am with Dr. Womack [of the Grecian Guild] and all his reputation. It was a very cold night and a man I’d never met says he wants to go to bed with me.

Wow.

You go, you know. It’s like, it’s not the end of the world – you go. Only time that this had happened, and that was okay. We cemented a deal, a relationship, became friends. He’s one of the people I most highly regard in my experience. Him and Mizer and my mother are the three people that I respect the most. So with Womack, we made a deal. He would buy everything I could ship to him for one hundred dollars a shoot. After I had paid the models, expenses and so forth, it was quite a good deal in 1969.