Steve Holland (actor)

Steve Holland (born Thomas Philip Hollands;^[2] January 8, 1925 – May 10, 1997) was an American actor and male paperback, magazine, and fashion model.

Steve Holland
Born	Thomas Philip Hollands (1925-01-08)January 8, 1925 Seattle, Washington, US
Died	May 10, 1997(1997-05-10) (aged 72) Arcata, California, US
Occupations	Model Actor
Spouse	Betty Dalores Miller(aka Gina Holland) ​ ​ (m. 1945)​ [1]

Early Life

Steve was born Thomas Philip Hollands on January 8, 1925, in Seattle, Washington,^[2] the third child born to Louise Teeda (née Carlson; 1904–1985) and Wilbur John Hollands (1903–1957). Holland had two older brothers, Theodore (1921–1995) and Wilbur (1923–?), and one younger brother Kenneth (1926–1985). His father worked as a rivet heater in the ship yards of Seattle as a teenager before becoming a cook with the railroads at which time the family had moved to Covina, California.^[3][4] By the time Holland turned 15 his father was committed to a state mental hospital in Steilacoom, Washington where he would live out the remainder of his life.^[5]

Career

Before his acting credits, Holland was the model for Fawcett Comics' fictitious B-Western cowboy Bob Colt, which ran for ten issues in the early 1950s.^[6]

Holland played Flash Gordon in the 1954 television series of the same name. The television show ran 39 episodes. He had a cameo appearance in the 1953 movie The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell.

His best-known model role was for artist James Bama's illustrations of the character Doc Savage used on the covers of the paperback reprints of the 1960s.^[7] Bama called him "the world's greatest male model." His facial features were also used in the 1970s reprint of the original pulp Avenger novels.^[8] Holland was also the model for Mack Bolan of The Executioner novels.^[9]