Here are some fun facts about the honorific handed out yearly since 1985 by People Magazine.
This year’s Sexiest Man Alive is 31-year-old Chris Hemsworth, star of Thor and The Avengers. (He’s not to be confused with Liam Hemsworth, his brother, who stars in this week’s new Hunger Games movie.) Hemsworth is Australian, the third Australian to be named SMA. The other two: Mel Gibson (1985) and Hugh Jackman (2008).
- Other non-Americans to be the Sexiest Man Alive: Sean Connery (Scottish, 1989); Pierce Brosnan (Irish, 2001), Jude Law (English, 2004), and Ryan Reynolds (Canadian, 2010).
- Of the 25 guys who have been named Sexiest Man Alive, 23 have been actors. The only ones who weren’t: attorney and publisher John F. Kennedy, Jr. in 1988, and Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine last year.
- Of those actors, 21 were A-list movie stars. Just two—Mark Harmon (1986) and Harry Hamlin (1987)—have been primarily television actors. (At the time, Harmon was starring on St. Elsewhere and Hamlin was on L.A. Law.)
- Oldest-ever Sexiest Man Alive: 51-year-old Nick Nolte in 1992. Youngest: 27-year-old Kennedy.
- Only two past recipients of the Sexiest Man Alive honor are no longer alive: Kennedy and Patrick Swayze (1991).
- Being named Sexiest Man Alive requires a big publicity commitment from the recipient, requiring at the very least an interview and a photo shoot. Several major stars have actually refused the honor. Ryan Gosling has reportedly been approached by People at least three times, and he has declined every time.
- Once, a woman was named the Sexiest Man Alive. Okay, sort of: In 1993, Richard Gere and his then-wife Cindy Crawford were billed jointly by People as “The Sexiest Couple Alive.”
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