Vintage Model: John Davidson

JOHN DAVIDSON:

EVERYONE'S FAVORITE MODEL

John “Butchie” Davidson was born in Bronxville, NY in 1945 and grew up outside of Baltimore, Maryland. No one called him John.

Butchie was already in the US Marine Corp when he started physique posing in 1965, first for Walter Kundzicz of Champion Studios and then on to the west coast where he posed for AMG, Pat Milo and Spartan.

"One of the liveliest, most energetic models we have ever had here."

Davidson first met Bob Mizer in March 1965. In only a month and a half Mizer photographed and filmed him about eight times – solo and with other models like Tony Martin, Pat White, Bill Deane, Blackie Preston and Al Emond, who was a close friend of Davidson. He was featured in six AMG films, including a solo posing film (catalog D039), a film with Pat White (W030), The Improvident Immigrant (I010), Vicious Guard (V008), Gladiator and the Slave (G027) and Sassy Seaman and the Officer (S102).

Davidson first appeared in a five page spread in Physique Pictorial in June 1965 - which was printed and released only weeks after he shipped out of Los Angeles for the Vietnam Conflict.

Butchie never made it to the war. According to his military record, John Davidson died as a result of a "Japanese encephalitis" infection (closely associated with our current West Nile Virus) on the island of Okinawa on the Fourth of July in 1965. He was five months short of his 20th birthday.

Bob Mizer penned a short memorial in the following Physique Pictorial. “We would like to mention that John was one of the liveliest, most energetic models we have ever had here. He was wise beyond his years, but never stuffy. He knew how to live life to its fullest, made many friends and left a strong imprint on all who knew him.”

Ironically, since he would never know it, to this day John Davidson remains one of the most popular AMG models.