Male prostitution in the arts

The male prostitute or hustler is a frequent stereotype in literature and movies in the West from the 1960s on, and especially in movies and books with a gay perspective in which he may be considered a stock character. He also appears occasionally in popular music, some contemporary fashion advertising, and the visual arts.

Stereotypes

The most common stereotype of the hustler is as a sexy but tragic figure. This stereotype reveals both a fascination with the hustler as a sexual object and sadness or disdain with his situation and life-style. This stereotyped male hustler is often an underaged or teenage "street kid" or "runaway" forced to leave home because of his sexual orientation or because of sexual abuse. He is often portrayed as a drug addict or thief.

The plotline frequently focuses on the crisis of leaving the trade or the street ("one last trick"), or on making enough money for an important use (a medical treatment, a gift). The climax often has one of two possible outcomes: the hustler either abandons the trade and re-integrates into society, or he meets a tragic end. This tragic image of the hustler can be contrasted with the stereotype of the female hooker with a heart of gold: instead of being portrayed as someone in control and contented, the hustler is lost, homeless, broke or exploited.

In movies and books that take the point of view of the client or of a boy/girlfriend who loves the hustler, the hustler is often depicted as an impossible love object who will only bring hurt or frustration. The lover may grow jealous of and disturbed by the hustler's work; occasionally the loving boy/girlfriend will be drawn into the lifestyle of their hustler boyfriend. Older clients who fall in love with hustlers are frequently prey to emotional (and sometimes physical) pain; this is especially true in the case of "rough trade" (where the hustler identifies as straight), and this depiction has been reinforced by several famous incidents of violence against clients (such as the deaths of Pier Paolo Pasolini and Rudolph Moshammer).

In contrast to the previous depictions, the male prostitute has also sometimes been portrayed as an idealized rebel living outside the law and free of bourgeois conventions. This almost Nietzschean image of the hustler as moral and sexual outlaw owes much to the writings of Jean Genet, William S. Burroughs and John Rechy (among others).

While less frequent in cinema and novels, the male prostitute with exclusively female clients (the "gigolo" or "escort") is generally depicted in a less tragic manner than the gay hustler (the gigolo is portrayed as older, athletic, well-dressed, etc.), and films like American Gigolo have done much to paint the character as a sophisticated seducer. This portrayal has also led to cinematic satire (the Deuce Bigalow films).

The portrayal of the client or "john" of male prostitution in popular culture is far less codified than that of the hustler and runs the gamut from the lonely married man, the self-hating in-the-closet guy, the exploitative or endearing businessman, and even the serial killer.

The diversity of these stereotypes reveals much about each author's or director's personal view of love, sexuality, power and morality.

These stereotypes may have a basis in fact, but they should not be taken as true in all cases.

The same issues that surround male prostitution (including the financial security and social status of the young "kept" lover, the older lover's obsessions and insecurities with regards to his or her youthful love-object, the sexual freedom or moral indifference of the hustler, etc.) often appear in movies and literature that portray amorous or sexual relationships—without prostitution—between an older man or woman and a younger male lover; for example, in Pasolini's novel and movie Theorem, Harold Prince's film Something For Everyone (1970) and Bill Condon's film Gods and Monsters (1998).

In literature

The following novels, memoirs, and plays feature male hustlers as major characters.

Year	Title	Author	Notes
1894	Flowers of Asphalt	Stephen Crane	According to Crane biographer John Berryman Crane began writing Flowers of Asphalt after being approached by a young male prostitute in the street. The work was said to be longer than any of Crane's other works but he abandoned it at the urging of Hamlin Garland, who was horrified by the subject matter. The manuscript does not survive.
1908	Swoosh: Tales of Privateers and Pirates	D Watt	The phrase "Cap'n's Rent Boy" first used.
1924	Kyra Kyralina (Chira Chiralina)	Panait Istrati
1943	Our Lady of the Flowers (Notre Dame des fleurs)	Jean Genet
1948	The City and the Pillar	Gore Vidal	Lead character Jim Willard supports himself as a hustler and a "kept boy".
1949	The Thief's Journal (Journal du voleur)	Jean Genet
1951	From Here to Eternity	James Jones	In Jones's original manuscript, Private Angelo Maggio acknowledges acting as trade, allowing gay men to perform oral sex on him for money to supplement his Army pay. The publisher forced the excision of these passages. A new edition of the book with the previously censored passages restored is due out from e-book publisher Open Road.
1957	Last Exit to Brooklyn	Hubert Selby Jr.
1963	The Basketball Diaries	Jim Carroll
1963	City of Night	John Rechy
1965	Midnight Cowboy	James Leo Herlihy
1967	Numbers	John Rechy
1968	My Father and Myself	J. R. Ackerley
1978	Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo	Christiane F.	Christiane's boyfriend Detlef works as a hustler to earn money to buy heroin.
1989	Enchanted Boy	Richie McMullen	Memoir of a boy's journey from "abuse to prostitution" in 1950s England.
1990	Enchanted Youth	Richie McMullen	Continuation of McMullen's journey from "prostitution to love" in 1958.
1990	Closer	Dennis Cooper
1991	Close to the Knives	David Wojnarowicz	First of Wojnarowicz's memoirs of his passage from abused kid to Times Square hustler to artist in New York's East Village underground.
1992	Memories That Smell Like Gasoline	David Wojnarowicz	Second volume of Wojnarowicz's memoirs.
1994	American Studies	Mark Merlis	Story of a john coming to terms with his life while recovering in a hospital after being bashed by a hustler.
1994	User	Bruce Benderson
1994	Martin and John	Dale Peck	One or both of the characters are hustlers in several of the parallel narrative scenes.
1994	Los novios búlgaros	Eduardo Mendicutti	Story of a Bulgarian hustler in Madrid in the 1990s.
1995	L'Enfant ébloui	"Rachid O"	Semi-autobiographic novel about a hustler in Morocco.
1996	Wonder Bread and Ecstasy: The Life and Death of Joey Stefano	Charles Isherwood	Joey Stefano was a gay porn star of the 1990s.
1996	Seven Miles A Second	David Wojnarowicz (writer) James Romberger (artist)	Vertigo Comics version of Wojnarowicz's memoirs and diary.
1996	Boy Culture	Matthew Rettenmund	Includes an index to the sex passages (by preference).
1996	Brutal	Aiden Shaw	First novel by artist Aiden Shaw, a former prostitute and porn star.
1996	Kept Boy	Robert Rodi	Comedy novel.
1997	Quand je suis devenu fou	Christophe Donner	Narrator falls for a hustler in an Amsterdam brothel.
1997	Diary of a Hustler	"Joey"
1997	After Nirvana	Lee Williams
1998	Tipping the Velvet	Sarah Waters	A young woman in Victorian London is solicited by a man for sex and begins renting, but dressed only as a man for male clients, never letting them know she is a woman.
1998	The Queen of Hearts: A Transsexual Romance	Brad Clayton
1999	Assuming the Position: A Memoir of Hustling	Rick Whitaker
1999	Suburban Hustler: Stories of a Hi-Tech Callboy	Aaron Lawrence
2000	Sarah	JT LeRoy	Pseudo-autobiographical story of a boy hustler whose mother was a truckstop prostitute. The author was revealed to be a fictional creation in 2006.
2001	A Thousand and One Night Stands: The Life of Jon Vincent	H. A. Carson
2001	Can't Buy Me Love	Chris Kenry	Young man drifts into the world of escorting with humorous results.
2002	Sex Workers As Virtual Boyfriends	Joseph Itiel
2002	Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent	David Henry Sterry
2003	Escapades of a Gay Traveler: Sexual, Cultural, and Spiritual Encounters	Joseph Itiel
2004	The Romanian: Story of an Obsession	Bruce Benderson
2005	Setting the Lawn on Fire: A Novel	Mack Friedman
2006	Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins	Rupert Everett	Touches briefly on his past as a rent boy.
2008	Shuck	Daniel Allen Cox	Fictionalized memoir of a New York City hustler who dreams of becoming a writer.
2008	Murder Most Fab	Julian Clary	Main character Johnny started life out as a high-class gigolo.
2016	What Belongs to You	Garth Greenwell	Details the ethically ambiguous relations and transactions between Greenwell's unnamed protagonist and a young Bulgarian hustler, Mitko.

In theater

Year	Title	Author	Character	Originated by	Notes
1940	Pal Joey	Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, John O'Hara
1964	Entertaining Mr Sloane	Joe Orton	Mr Sloane	Dudley Sutton
1965	Balm in Gilead	Lanford Wilson	Franny Rake		Franny is a transvestite prostitute.
1968	The Boys in the Band	Mart Crowley	"Cowboy"	Robert La Tourneaux	La Tourneaux reprised the role in the 1970 film version.
2005	Trafficking in Broken Hearts	Edwin Sanchez

In cinema

Films with a hustler as a main character

Year	Title	Country	Director	Character	Actor	Notes
1961	The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone	United Kingdom	José Quintero	Paolo di Leo	Warren Beatty	Karen Stone is introduced to a young Italian man, Paolo (Warren Beatty), who is actually a highly paid professional gigolo. Karen and Paolo begin an affair, but it soon becomes obvious that Paolo is in it only for personal gain.
1961	Breakfast at Tiffany's	United States	Blake Edwards	Paul "Fred" Varjak	George Peppard	Varjak is maintained by a rich woman, Mrs. Failenson, who leaves him $300 after every sexual encounter. After falling in love with Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn), Varjak cuts off the relationship. Failenson offers $1000 for a "paid vacation with your girl" and cynically suggests that a union (of gigolos) could "get all the fringe benefits" – but Varjak persists in giving up this way of life.
1965	My Hustler	United States	Andy Warhol Chuck Wein	Paul	Paul America	IMDb
1968	Flesh	United States	Paul Morrissey	Joe	Joe Dallesandro	Dallesandro hustles to buy drugs for himself and his wife.
1969	Entertaining Mr Sloane	UK	Douglas Hickox	Mr Sloane	Peter McEnery	Adapted from the play by Joe Orton.
1969	Midnight Cowboy	United States	John Schlesinger	Joe Buck	Jon Voight	Hustler Buck forms an unlikely friendship with junky Rico "Ratso" Rizzo. Academy Award winner for Best Picture.
1970	The Boys in the Band	United States	William Friedkin	"Cowboy"	Robert La Tourneaux	Featured in rejected ads for the film under the tagline: "Today is Harold's birthday. This is his present."
1978	Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo (Just a Gigolo)	West Germany	David Hemmings	Paul Ambrosius von Przygodski	David Bowie	An aristocratic Prussian officer returns from World War I to find the world he once knew gone. To make ends meet, he becomes a gigolo. The film was panned by critics and viewers alike. IMDb
1978	El Lugar Sin Limites	Mexico	Arturo Ripstein	Manuela	Roberto Cobo	IMDb
1978	El Diputado (The Deputy)	Spain	Eloy de la Iglesia			Teenage hustler used by the secret police for blackmail falls for the victim. IMDb
1980	American Gigolo	United States	Paul Schrader	Julian Kaye	Richard Gere	High-class gigolo is framed for murder.
1982	Forty Deuce	United States	Paul Morrissey		Kevin Bacon	Conniving hustler Bacon (who won an Obie for the original 1981 off-off Broadway production) tries to cover-up the overdose death of another kid. IMDb
1983	L'homme blessé (The Wounded Man)	France	Patrice Chéreau	Henri	Jean-Hugues Anglade	Winner of a César Award for Best Direction. IMDb
1983	Un ragazzo come tanti (A boy like many others)	Italy	Gianni Minello			IMDb
1987	Revolutions Happen Like Refrains in a Song	Philippines	Nick Deocampo			IMDb
1987	Less than Zero	United States		Julian	Robert Downey, Jr.	A young man resorts to performing sexual favors for affluent gay men in order to fund his heroin addiction.
1988	The Everlasting Secret Family	Australia	Michael Thornhill		Mark Lee	Homosexuality and prostitution amidst a secret brotherhood. IMDb
1988	Macho Dancer	Philippines	Lino Brocka	Pol Noel		Macho dancers in Manila.
1988	Cop	United States	James B. Harris			Based on the novel by James Ellroy. IMDb
1989	Loverboy	United States	Joan Micklin Silver	Randy Bodek	Patrick Dempsey	Pizza boy becomes an escort. IMDb
1990	Via Appia	Germany	Jochen Hick			IMDb
1991	My Own Private Idaho	United States	Gus Van Sant	Mike Waters Scott Favor	River Phoenix Keanu Reeves
1991	J'embrasse pas (I don't kiss)	France	André Téchiné		Manuel Blanc	A boy from the provinces ends up as a hustler in Paris.
1991	Where the Day Takes You	United States	Marc Rocco		Balthazar Getty	A young man living on the streets finds temporary refuge with a client.
1992	Film (Fill 'em)	Canada	Sky Gilbert			Story of a male hustler and his roommate. IMDb
1992	Street Kid (Gossenkind)	Germany	Peter Kern	Axel Glitter	Max Kellermann	A young hustler in Düsseldorf. IMDb
1992	Being at Home with Claude	Canada	Jean Beaudin	Him (Yves)	Roy Dupuis	IMDb
1992	The Living End	United States	Gregg Araki	Luke	Mike Dytri	HIV+ street hustler.
1992	Die Blaue Stunde (The Blue Hour)	Germany Switzerland	Marcel Gisler	Theo	Andreas Herder	IMDb
1993	Smukke dreng (Pretty Boy)	Denmark	Carsten Sønder			IMDb
1993	Hatachi no binetsu (Slight Fever of a 20-Year-Old)	Japan	Ryosuke Hasiguchi			One teenage hustler in love with another.
1994	Post Cards from America	UK	Steve McLean			Three chapters in David Wojnarowicz's life. IMDb
1994	Super 8½	Canada	Bruce LaBruce			Semi-autobiographical.
1994	Sibak (Midnight Dancers)	Philippines	Mel Chionglo			Three brothers in Manila, working as "Macho Dancers" in a gay bar. IMDb
1995	The Basketball Diaries	United States	Scott Kalvert		Leonardo DiCaprio Mark Wahlberg	Based on the book by Jim Carroll.
1995	Dupe Od Mramora (Marble Ass)	Serbia	Zelimir Zilnik			Transvestite prostitutes in Serbia. IMDb
1995	Tattoo Boy	United States		Arizona Sam	Amanda Tirey C.J. Barkus	IMDb
1996	The Toilers and the Wayfarers	United States	Keith Froelich		Matt Klemp Andrew Woodhouse	Runaway hustlers in Minneapolis. IMDb
1996	Hustler White	United States	Rick Castro Bruce LaBruce	Monti	Tony Ward
1996	The Unveiling	United States	Rodney Evans			IMDb
1996	"Tapin du soir", included in L'Amour est à réinventer	France	Anne Fontaine			One of ten collected short films about life in France in the time of AIDS.
1996	Skin & Bone	United States	Everett Lewis	Harry Billy Dean	B. Wyatt Garret Scullin Alan Boyce	Three Los Angeles hustlers in different stages of their careers.
1996	johns	United States	Scott Silvers	Donner John	Lukas Haas David Arquette
1997	Private Shows	United States	Blaine Hopkins Stephen Winter			IMDb
1997	Mandragora	Czechoslovakia	Wiktor Grodecki	Marek	Miroslav Caslavka	IMDb
1997	A River Made to Drown In	United States	James Meredino		Michael Imperioli James Duval
1997	Star Maps	United States	Miguel Arteta	Carlos Amado	Douglas Spain	IMDb
1998	From the Edge of the City (Apo tin akri tis polis)	Greece	Constantine Giannaris			IMDb
1998	Hard	United States	John Huckert			IMDb
1998	In the Flesh	US	Ben Taylor	Oliver Beck	Dane Ritter
1998	L'École de la Chair	France	Benoît Jacquot	Quentin	Vincent Martinez	IMDb
1999	Speedway Junky	United States	Nickolas Perry	Johnny	Jesse Bradford	A young man with dreams of becoming a stock car racer drifts into the world of prostitution in Las Vegas.
1999	Mauvaise passe	France	Michel Blanc	Pierre	Daniel Auteuil	Pierre (Daniel Auteuil) leaves his family and flees to London to work on a novel. There he meets Tom (Stuart Townsend), a male escort, who leads Pierre into his underground world of sex and money.
2000	Km. 0	Spain		Miguel	Jesús Cabrero	A gigolo who services female clients.
2000	Nincsen nekem vágyam semmi (This I Wish and Nothing More)	Hungary	Kornél Mundruczó	Brúnó Ringó	Ervin Nagy Roland Rába	Closted bisexual Brúnó unknown by his girlfriend works as a male prostitute for male clients with her homosexual brother, Ringó.
2000	L.I.E.	US	Michael Cuesta	Gary	Paul Dano Billy Kay	A Long Island teenager discovers his best friend (Kay) is a hustler.
2001	Circuit	United States	Dirk Shafer	Hector	Andre Khabbazi	A hustler who's terrified of growing old.
2001	Jet Boy	Canada	Dave Schultz		Branden Nadon	A teenage hustler finds a father figure who does not want to exploit him.
2001	Vagón fumador (Smokers Only)	Argentina	Verónica Chen	Leonardo Brzezicki	Andrés	A suicidal woman and a male prostitute fall in love. IMDb
2002	AKA	UK	Duncan Roy	Benjamin	Peter Youngblood Hills
2002	Sonny	United States	Nicolas Cage	Sonny	James Franco	Raised by his mother to be a gigolo. IMDb
2003	Mr. Smith Gets a Hustler	United States	Ian McCrudden			IMDb
2003	The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone	United States, Ireland	Robert Allan Ackerman	Paolo di Leo	Olivier Martinez	It was a TV film and remake of the 1961 film of the same name.
2003	200 American	United States	Richard LeMay			New York businessman falls for Australian hustler. IMDb
2003	Un fils (A son)	France	Amal Bedjaoui			North-African hustler in France. IMDb
2003	Gan (Garden)	Israel	Ruthie Shatz Adi Barash			Two young gay prostitutes in Tel Aviv. IMDb
2003	Twist			Dodge	Nick Stahl	Gay-themed re-telling of Dickens' Oliver Twist.
2003	Bulgarian Lovers (Los Novios búlgaros)	Spain	Eloy de la Iglesia	Kyril	Dritan Biba	IMDb
2004	Yeladim Tovim (Good Boy)	Israel	Yair Hochner	Menni Tal	Daniel Efrat Yuval Raz	Two Tel Aviv rent boys. IMDb
2004	Eighteen	Canada	Richard Bell			IMDb
2004	Trois 3: The Escort	United States	Sylvain White	Trenton "Trent" Meyer	Brian White	Hip-hop promoter becomes an escort after getting into debt with a gangster.
2004	Ethan Mao	Hong Kong	Quentin Lee	Ethan Mao, Remigio	Jun Hee Lee, Jerry Hernandez	An Asian gay teen is kicked out of his house and forced to become a hustler for money. Soon, he meets Remigio, a teen hustler and drug dealer, and the two become friends.
2004	Sugar	Canada	John Palmer	Butch	Brendan Fehr	Coming of age story.
2004	Mysterious Skin	United States	Gregg Araki	Neil McCormick	Joseph Gordon-Levitt	Based on Scott Heim's book.
2004	My Hustler Boyfriend		Peter Pizzi			Short included in video program at Newfest 2005. IMDb
2005	Dirty Little Sins	United States
2005	Boy Wonder	United States	Kery Isabel Ramierez	Luis		Color video short (12 min) about a man living a double life as "straight male" provider and transvestite prostitute. Included in MIX NYC November 2006.
2005	The Wedding Date	United States	Claire Kilner	Nick Mercer	Dermot Mulroney	Woman hires male escort to pose as her boyfriend.
2005	Transamerica	United States	Duncan Tucker	Toby Wilkins	Kevin Zegers	Pre-operative M2F transsexual discovers she has a son (Zegers) who is hustling in New York.
2005	Breakfast on Pluto	UK	Neil Jordan		Cillian Murphy	Based on the novel by Patrick McCabe. Transvestite flees Ireland for London during the 1970s and becomes a prostitute.
2006	Boy Culture	United States	Q. Allan Brocka			Based on the novel.
2006	Can't Buy Me Love	United States	Todd Wilson			Short film from Newfest 2006. IMDb
2006	In The Blood	United States	Lou Peterson			Gay supernatural thriller featuring a young man dating a Latino hustler. IMDb
2006	Boys Briefs 4	United States				Six short films about guys who hustle: Boy (Welby Ings); Gigolo (Bastian Schweitzer); Build (Greg Atkins); Into the Night (Tony Krawitz); Gold (Armen Kazazian); Rock Bottom (Mary Feuer). review
2006	Happy Hookers	India	Ashish Sawhny			The lives of three male sex workers in India. Short film from Newfest 2007.
2006	Into It	United States	Jeff Maccubbin			Two hustlers dealing with drugs and relationships. Film from Newfest 2007.
2007	Before I Forget	France	Jacques Nolot			An aging hustler reflects on his life. IMDb
2008	Strictly Sexual	United States	Joel Viertel			Two women hire two unemployed construction workers as sex slaves.
2008	Cliente (A French Gigolo; The Client)	France	Josiane Balasko	Patrick/Marco	Eric Caravaca	A female television anchor falls in love with an internet escort. IMDb
2009	Lucky Bastard	United States	Everett Lewis	Denny	Dale Dymkoski	Denny is a hustler and meth addict who exploits a man who's fallen in love with him. Lucky Bastard was an Official Selection at Outfest 2009.
2009	Complices (Accomplices)	France	Frédéric Mermoud	Vincent Bouvier	Cyril Descours	Two detectives try to solve Victor's murder. Victor appears only in flashbacks.
2010	Strapped	United States	Joseph Graham (director)	Hustler	Ben Bonenfant	A nameless hustler encounters a series of gay men as he searches for the exit to a client's apartment building.
2013	Aleksandr's Price	United States	Pau Masó	Aleksandr Ivanov	Pau Masó	A boy named Aleksandr becomes a prostitute in NY, after the death of his mother. IMDb
2016	Romantic Noy (Not Romantic)	West Bengal, India	Rajib Chowdhury	Shekhar	Shaheb Bhattacharya	A boy named Shekhar becomes a prostitute in Kolkata and he entertains women with his body. At a stage he becomes addicted in drugs.
2022	Good Luck to You, Leo Grande	United States	Sophie Hyde	Leo Grande	Daryl McCormack	Retired widow Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson) hires a good-looking young sex worker called Leo Grande, in the hope of enjoying a night of pleasure and self-discovery after an unfulfilling married life.

Other films that include hustlers

• Advise & Consent (United States: 1962, by Otto Preminger) – Ray Shaff, a former associate of Senator Brigham Anderson, now supports himself as a hustler in New York City.
• The Cheat (la Triche) (France: 1984, by Yannick Bellon with Victor Lanoux and Xavier Deluc)
• JFK (United States: 1991, by Oliver Stone) – Kevin Bacon plays a gay hustler associated with Oswald
• By The Dawn's Early Light (Denmark: 1993, by Knud Vesterskov, narrated by David Wojnarowicz)
• L.A. Confidential (United States: 1997, by Curtis Hanson) – includes a subplot with a young would-be actor, played by Simon Baker, who agrees to sleep with the D.A. for cash, but ends up with his throat cut
• Boogie Nights (United States: 1997, by Paul Thomas Anderson, with Mark Wahlberg and Burt Reynolds)
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (United States: 1997, by Clint Eastwood, with Kevin Spacey; Jude Law and John Cusack) – based on John Berendt's best-selling book, a prominent Savannah citizen (Spacey) shoots to death his lover
• Happy Together (Hong Kong: 1997, by Wong Kar-wai, with Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai; in Mardarin, Cantonese and Spanish) – the brash and irresponsible Ho Po-Wing (Chang) makes his money from the street
• Artificial Intelligence: A.I. (United States: 2001, by Steven Spielberg, with Haley Joel Osment and Jude Law)
• Vers le sud (Heading South) (France: 2005, by Laurent Cantet)
• A Single Man (US: 2010, Tom Ford)

Documentary films

Year	Title	Country	Director	Notes
1967	Portrait of Jason	US	Shirley Clarke	Interview with African-American gay hustler Jason Holliday.
1984	Streetwise	US	Martin Bell	Seattle street boys struggle to get along without having to sell themselves for sex.
1992	Maybe I Can Give You Sex? Part I	Philippines Germany	Rune Layumas Jurgen Bruning	Examine gender roles in the Philippines and the lives of macho dancers, bar boys, and their customers.
1992	Maybe I Can Give You Sex? Part II	Philippines Germany	Rune Layumas
1992	A Kind of Family	Canada	Andrew Koster	Profile of the relationship of a gay city councilman and his straight, street-kid, hustler, drug-abusing, HIV+ foster son.
1993	Boys From Brazil	Brazil	John-Paul Davidson	Brazilian transvestite prostitutes.
1994	Not Angels But Angels	Czechoslovakia	Wiktor Grodecki	About prostitution in Prague.
1996	Body Without Soul	Czechoslovakia	Wiktor Grodecki	Teenage guys who prostitute in Prague.
2000	101 Rent Boys	US	Fenton Bailey Randy Barbato	Interviews with hustlers who work Santa Monica Boulevard.
2006	Hooks to the Left	US	Todd Verow	Shot on a cell-phone camera, narrated journal of a New York hustler named Nail. Short film (75 min) from Newfest 2007.
2009	Men for Sale	Canada	Rodrigue Jean	Film about male prostitutes in Montreal, Quebec.

On television

The following television programs feature a hustler as a main character:

Year	Title	Network	Character	Actor	Notes
1977	Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn	ABC	Alexander	Leigh McCloskey	Sequel to Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway.
1986	The Children of Times Square		Eric Roberts	Brandon Douglas	A teenage boy runs away to New York City and is immediately recruited by other boys for a man who wants him for sex. He escapes only to end up working for a drug dealer.
1993	Dafydd	BBC			Welsh boy/hustler goes to Amsterdam and meets a music teacher.
1997	Band of Gold	ITV	Cherrie/Carl	Daniel Edwards	Turned to hustling to pay for his sex reassignment surgery. He was working as a cross dresser during his stint in the series.
2000–2005	Queer as Folk	Showtime	James "Hunter" Montgomery	Harris Allan	Pushed into hustling by his mother; adopted by Michael Novotny and Ben Bruchner.
2001–2008	Trailer Park Boys	Showcase	Randy	Patrick Roach	The character on the hit Canadian mockumentary television show is an ex-prostitute.
2005–2006	Desperate Housewives	ABC	Andrew Van de Kamp	Shawn Pyfrom	Survived on the streets as a hustler after being thrown out of his house by his mother Bree.
2006–2009	Dante's Cove	here!	Kevin	Gregory Michael	Confessed to his boyfriend that he sometimes used to accept money for sex.
2009–	Hung	HBO	Ray Drecker	Thomas Jane	An unhappy and financially strapped history teacher and basketball coach, who decides to turn his large penis into an opportunity to make money.
2011—	Gigolos	Showtime			Reality television series following the lives of five male escorts who service female clients in Las Vegas.
2005—2012	The Closer	TNT	Rusty Beck	Graham Patrick Martin	The character first appeared in 2012. He survived on the streets as a hustler after his mother disappeared. Rusty later became a main character on the spin-off series Major Crimes.
2011—2019	Game of Thrones	HBO	Olyvar	Will Tudor	Male prostitute employed by Littlefinger, used to spy on noblemen to gain favour with richer nobility / royalty.
2009—2015	Glee	Fox	Brody Weston	Dean Geyer	Love interest of Rachel Barry (Lea Michele), whom she breaks up with upon learning he supports himself as a gigolo.
2013—2016	Masters of Sex	Showtime	Dale	Finn Wittrock	Male prostitute involved with Barton Scully (Beau Bridges), a closeted, married university official.
2013—2019	Silicon Valley	HBO	Donald "Jared" Dunn	Zach Woods	One of the main protagonists, who used to work as a male prostitute after graduating from college.
2019—2021	Shrill	Hulu	Ruthie	Patti Harrison	Trans woman working with Annie (Aidy Bryant), who is implied to have worked as a prostitute before her full transition, stating that there were various straight and gay men alike who "liked hitting that."
2013—	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Fox (2013-2018) NBC (2019-present)	Bill Hummertrout	Winston Story	Gigolo hired by Detective Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) for several Halloween Heists as a distraction due to his resemblance to Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio).

In photography

The following photographers, in their work, frequently use the image of the male prostitute:

• Larry Clark
• Terry Richardson
• Nan Goldin
• Wolfgang Tillmans
• Jack Pierson
• Wilhelm von Gloeden
• Philip-Lorca diCorcia

See also

• Male prostitution
• Gigolo
• Pederasty
• Sex tourism
• Female sex tourism

References

• Katz, Jonathan Ned (1976). Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A.. New York, Harper Colophon Books. ISBN 0-06-091211-1 (1985 edition).