On Rick Rossovich

I never want anything, I have everything. I’m grateful beyond measure. — Rick Rossovich

I can tell you exactly — to the month, at least — when I first saw Rick Rossovich. He played a cop in Walter Hill’s weirdly time-spanning musical adventure Streets of Fire. It was July of 1984 and, in a microappearance, Rossovich stood out. I remember drooling a little.

Four months later, I saw Rossovich in The Terminator, a bigger role but no less droolworthy. And then, two years after that… Top Gun. Playing “Slider”. SIx feet, four inches of sculpted, muscled, masculine, handsome hotness. In the shower, playing beach volleyball, wearing that sassy flight suit. Clad only in white briefs. Oh, yeah.

And in the same way that I knew I’d forever have thing for Stanley Tucci while watching him strut through NYC’s Greenwich Village wearing 501s and a wifebeater (in an ancient Coke™ ad), and I knew I’d forever have a thing for Chris Meloni after that steamy shower scene with Tobias Beecher (in Oz), I knew I’d forever have a thing for Rick Rossovich.

In Roxanne

And, y’know, for a while Hollywood had a thing for him, too. He was perfect as the intellectual-lightweight firefighter opposite Steve Martin in Roxanne, heartbreaking in his genuine love for Daryl Hannah but underrepresented in the I.Q. department. Following that high point in his career, there were many guest stints on television and minor roles in movies, culminating in the lametastic Pacific Blue, in which he led a ragtag group of… bicycle cops.

Yeah, I know.

Still, he looked better than ever, sporting the same musculature and handsome visage as ever, now with added silverfoxiness. After Pacific Blue there wasn’t much, and IMDb lists his last acting gig as “Bret” [sic] in 2003′s Artworks, opposite Virginia Madsen. And then… nothing.

Serendipitously, in researching my Green on Thursday series for photos of Rossovich, I was struck by how very little material is out there to showcase this gorgeous man. But I found his blog, which he started less than a month ago. And now I’m kinda even more in awe of Mr. Rossovich.

“How I left my life behind and what I think about that” is what greets you first when you visit his site and already there’s a strong, sad vibe of rejecting a whole lot of complicated stuff. I’m happy to report that you should give his blog a visit. Here is a man who spends more time now in Sweden with his wife and two children than he does in America.

And he spends much of his time renovating living spaces there. His prose isn’t terribly florid, nor is it overly revealing in its introspection. Also, he could use an editor. But for an unabashed fan, it’s truly wonderful. He’s even more gorgeous today, fit as all get-out (and only a year younger than me) and rocks the wildman beard as well as Matthew Barney ever could. Yesterday’s entry:

Traveling back to California to vote for Barrack Obama and hopefully some change in our society. Some civility at least, we hope. Enough said. Saw that my domain, www.rickrossovich.com was for sale for 997 dollars. Sounds like too much to me. You can go to www.rickrosovich.de and see what some German fellow has built around me for whatever reason. Is it advertising? I’m not writing this for any other reason other than to record my thoughts and images over this next year. Maybe I’ll stop sooner than later…  I removed the option of commenting so no one can. I’m not writing for that reason, to get feedback or b.s. or applause. I’ve told maybe six people about this and that’s enough. Somehow it’s listed on the German website, who knows how. It’s all an experiment.

[...]

I’ll post from California, I know the Governor there, he squeezed my ass once on a movie set. I’ll explain later.

Dyin’ to hear that story!

From his blog: Rick and daughter Isabel

Rossovich is still married to Eva, the woman he fell in love with a quarter-century ago. They have two wonderful kids, Roy and Isabel. He helps friends and family with their art and music projects. And now, the blog thing. Not complicated stuff but, for a fan, his words reveal a lot.

Some day I’d like to meet him and shake his hand and tell him that his journey is far more interesting now than when he was a Hollywood star.

Really.

When I met Eva I fell in love instantly. I have so much crammed into my head that it’s hard to remember it all but I have a clear, vivid memory of the evening I met her. The next several days before I convinced her to cancel her ticket back to Stockholm and dump her boyfriend and move in with me at Venice Beach are also etched in my mind because it was so surreal I guess. How lucky are you when you know that you’ve met your soulmate at the first instant. Eva knew before me. According to childhood friends she predicted she would marry a Hollywood Actor. It’s a long way from Hagfors to the Walk of Fame. Hagfors doesn’t even have sidewalks now!

We were vacationing in Florence a few years back and while visiting the Michelangelo museum I was spotted by group of Japanese tourists who recognized me. It’s a worst case scenario to be recognized while standing at the foot of the David. Seventeen feet, six inches of Cararra Marble and on a meter high pedestal as well. How small does that make you feel?