BONUS NUMBER 88: THE RETURN OF LORENZO DE PALMA
(Did You Sleep With the Models?)
He appeared, first of all, as a Mandate exclusive in November 1984. Before the furor had diminished, we featured him in Honcho the following month. Readers couldn’t get enough…if I had run all the letters that poured in, it would have required a special issue.
Then, last year on September 27, I featured him here on Substack as Bonus Number 34. Again, the same decibel level. And no wonder.
In that bonus, I recounted the first time I saw Lorenzo, which incidentally is not his real name. As I recall, associate editor George De Stefano and I named him that. When he came to my office, George and I were dazzled. I recall asking the model whether he wanted to use his real name — it’s almost as melodious as his pseudonym — and he said no.
“Any suggestions?” we asked. He had none, so eventually, like the legendary Hollywood agent Henry Willson, who renamed Roy Fitzgerald “Rock Hudson,” and who changed Art Gelien to “Tab Hunter,” George De Stefano and I created the name Lorenzo De Palma.
Henry Willson, incidentally, gave unforgettable screen names to many gorgeous men, including Guy Madison, Ty Hardin, Nick Adams…the list goes on. If you’re not acquainted with Willson’s hunks, look ‘em up. (And of course, not a “hot rodent” among them — Willson wouldn’t have given a second look, or a nibble of cheese, to the unfortunate likes of Timothée Chalamet, Mike Faist, and others of their ilk.)
Perhaps you’ll agree that Lorenzo De Palma is as extraordinary as Rock, Tab, Guy, or any of Willson’s discoveries. Lorenzo even had a brief acting career. I’m sorry to report the Henry Willson died in 1978. Had he been alive when I was editor-in-chief of Mandate, Honcho, and Playguy, he might have telephoned my office asking to be put in touch with some of my own discoveries.
