Somebody Like Mickey Squires
The Colt Model talks about his '70s heyday and the value of being a gay man in his 70s as filmmakers ready a documentary on his dual lives.
November 3, 2024
If you’re a gay man of a certain age, you probably know who Mickey Squires was.
But if you do recognize the name of the rugged, mustachioed Colt fantasy man from the dawn of the ‘80s, wouldn’t you like to know who he is?
Though Mickey faded from view, he did not — unlike so many of his peers — disappear. He did not vanish in the AIDS epidemic, he did not hide behind his given name, and he did not leave the imaginations of his many fans. Instead, Mickey — Richard Berstein — went to work in the hotel business and went about his life.
When he was approached by filmmakers Ryan A. White and Alex C., he gladly sat for an interview for their doc Raw! Uncut! Video!, a 2021 film about Palm Drive Video, the fetish outfit founded by Jack Fritscher and Mark Hemry. Palm Drive was known for its devotion to “homomasculine” imagery, and who better than the Mickey Squires, one of the ultimate butch-aesthetic icons, to comment?
That led to an unexpected opportunity, with the filmmakers deciding he would be the subject of their next doc. Mickey & Richard — you can help raise money here — will explore the aggressively macho persona and the unpretentious, unassuming gay man behind/in front of it in a way that could not be done with almost any other porn god from the golden age.
Because Mickey — and Richard — are still here.
A few years ago, you were featured in the Palm Drive doc, and now there will be a whole film about you?
The filmmakers decided to make a new one about me. Blew me away. It's called Mickey & Richard and we had a fundraiser at the Bob Mizer Foundation in San Francisco the week of the Castro Fair. I got to see a 10-minute clip and, you know, it was quite interesting to see myself in that way. I never could have imagined that. But, you know, this whole thing with "Mickey Squires" has been very surprising throughout my whole life ... hundreds of people coming up to me in my life going, "Hey, you know, I used to jerk off to you and I love all your pictures." Nothing surprises me anymore.
So, the concept of the doc will be looking at the real you vs. the persona?
Right, exactly. They're going to counter the image of Mickey Squires. On camera, I portrayed this tough masculine image. And Richard-me is diametrically opposed to that, you know? I mean, I'm masculine, but I'm not. I don't have that gruff image. I'm multi-facted. So they're going to juxtapose that against the image of Mickey Squires and what it's done for me and what it hasn't done for me and how it's hurt me and how it's helped me become a more well-rounded person because I have that inside me. I have Mickey inside.
Is it strange having all of the attention from your past back on you again?
I've always felt that I never wanted to be the star. I always wanted to be the second banana, really. I always wanted to be the, you know, the star's best friend — the wingman.