Gr8erDays is mostly focused on actors with careers in the '80s and before, but since People Magazine's tradition of honoring one famous guy per year as its Sexiest Man Alive dates to 1985, I thought maybe we were due for a refresher course on who's hot right ... then.
Lots of interesting raw data here ... oldest was Sean Connery, youngest was JFK Jr.; Denzel Washington was the first non-white pick (there are now five, including three in a row now that Michael B. Jordan has been selected); the two-timer club consists of Richard Gere (sorta), Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and George Clooney; and only three of these guys are no longer with us (JFK Jr, Connery and Patrick Swayze).
All images via People Magazine:
February 4, 1985 — Mel Gibson, 29
January 27, 1986 — Mark Harmon, 34
March 30, 1987 — Harry Hamlin, 35
September 12, 1988 — JFK Jr., 27
December 18, 1989 — Sean Connery, 59
July 23, 1990 — Tom Cruise, 28
August 26, 1991 — Patrick Swayze, 39
March 16, 1992 — Nick Nolte, 51
October 18, 1993 — Cindy Crawford, 27 & Richard Gere, 44
1994 — nobody named
January 30, 1995 — Brad Pitt, 31
July 29, 1996 — Denzel Washington, 41
November 17, 1997 — George Clooney, 36
November 16, 1998 — Harrison Ford, 56
November 15, 1999 — Richard Gere, 50
November 13, 2000 — Brad Pitt, 36
November 26, 2001 — Pierce Brosnan, 48
December 2, 2002 — Ben Affleck, 30
December 1, 2003 — Johnny Depp, 40
November 29, 2004 — Jude Law, 31
November 28, 2005 — Matthew McConaughey, 36
November 27, 2006 — George Clooney, 45
November 26, 2007 — Matt Damon, 37
December 1, 2008 — Hugh Jackman, 40
November 30, 2009 — Johnny Depp, 46
November 29, 2010 — Ryan Reynolds, 34
November 28, 2011 — Bradley Cooper, 36
November 26, 2012 — Channing Tatum, 32
December 2, 2013 — Adam Levine, 34
December 1, 2014 — Chris Hemsworth, 31
November 30, 2015 — David Beckham, 40
November 28, 2016 — Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, 44
November 27, 2017 — Blake Shelton, 41
November 19, 2018 — Idris Elba, 46
November 25, 2019 — John Legend, 40
November 30, 2020 — Michael B. Jordan, 33
November 22, 2021 — Paul Rudd, 52
