Dirk Shafer

~Dirk Alan Shafer~

Born November 7, 1962 | Carbondale, IL

Died March 5, 2015  | Los Angeles, CA

First graced the pages of Playgirl in their special Holiday 1990  issue. He was a reader favorite and was chosen as Playgirl's 1992 "Man of the Year".  After being given this title, Dirk continued to model, act, and began to write and direct films. He came out as gay sometime in the early 1990s after being Playgirl's Man of the year and eventually also came out as HIV positive.  In 1995 he came out with the queer cult classic Man of Year starring former playgirl models including Thom Collins, and was a mockumentary film in which Dirk played himself, and  in a generally light-hearted fashion, showed  the tribulations a gay man might face when he's presented as the female's ideal of a sex symbol.

After 1995, Dirk continued to work in the modeling and the film world and also entered the fitness world in 2000s as a fitness and pilates instructor. In 2012 he splashed the pages of Playgirl one more time to celebrate their 20th anniversary. in 2015 Dirk passed away due to an overdose of meth, a drug that has killed many and continues to destroy the lives of people in the queer community.