Featured ACTOR HENRY E DIXEY 1883 SARONY ADONIS CABINET PHOTO.

1 of several male body beautiful/bodybuilding cabinet photos, I have 3 of 1800's Eugene Sandow, but they are semi-nude, I'll post them if I get the OK.

Eugen Sandow, physical culturist who, as a strongman, bodybuilder, and showman, became a symbol of robust manhood in fin de siècle England and America. Sandow is considered the father of bodybuilding.

From Wikipedia:
Henry E. Dixey (January 6, 1859 - February 25, 1943) was an American actor and theatre producer. He was born January 6, 1859 in Boston, Massachusetts. He made his stage debut in Boston in 1868, joining the variety stock actors at the Howard Athenaeum, wherein 1869 he played the character Peanuts in the Augustin Daly play Under the Gaslight. Dixey starred in many plays and musicals, including his best-known role as the lead character in the popular burlesque musical Adonis, which he played from 1883 to 1885, occasionally joining tours afterward. He performed on stage and in a handful of films until 1926.
Dixey was one of a party of gentlemen entertained by Robert Emmet Odlum, brother of women's rights activist Charlotte Odlum Smith, on the morning of May 19, 1885, the day he jumped from the Brooklyn Bridge and was killed. Dixey used his gold stopwatch to time Odlum's fatal jump at three and a half seconds. [1]
Dixey died February 25, 1943, in Atlantic City, New Jersey following a traffic accident.

 

Hi, @hamptonauction -- It's good to see some posts from you. I have a photo of Henry Dixey, different pose and same costume. Also by Sarony, if I remember correctly.

 

Is he wearing some kind of body makeup on the arms, face, hair, etc. to make him appear to be a stone (marble?) statue?

 

I think so. It was rather popular at the time to have actors posed as statues in plays. Often the statues would come to life, I think. That being said, I haven't investigated that particular play. Even the actress Mary Anderson (my current avatar) had a role or two like that.

 

Ditto to what Figtree wrote. Yes, there were different poses, but I've not been able to find another example of the one shown above.

"It's good to see some posts from you." Thank you, I will be posting more often. I've been following Antiquers every day.

 

Ok, but warning open your eyes slowly.

 

Here they are, and I hope I'm not offending anybody, after all, it is art..........

 

The second Sandow image immediately calls to mind "The Dying Gaul":


You might even argue a facial resemblance


Maybe "The Gaul Resurrected" or "The Apotheosis of the Gaul"?

 

By the way, here's a scan of my copy of "Dixey as Adonis." Looks like he was being goofy in this one!

 

That's a real picture, Fig?

 

Yes, it is in my collection. I ran it through the scanner myself. You'll notice that hamptonauction mentioned the show in which he played Adonis was a burlesque. I guess that was in the spirit of it?

 

I guess so!

 

Figtree, sorry for the late reply, had some family matters to attend to.
Neat picture, I haven't seen that card, thanks for sharing.

Also, appreciate all other comments, much appreciated.