Cheesecake, Beefcake & Bagdad-on-the-Subway

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CHEESECAKE & BEEFCAKE

   The Sidney Skolsky clippings show him making these two claims, and I don't believe either one.


   February 1957, PHOTOPLAY, pg. ?:
_THAT'S HOLLYWOOD FOR YOU_
By Sidney Skolsky
(...)
Cheesecake:  The first performer to whom the label "cheesecake" was applied was Elvira Amazar, a Russian opera singer, when she arrived in this country back in 1915.
(...)
Beefcake:  First actor to get the coined beefcake label was Tony Curtis.


   I couldn't find "Elvira Amazar" in the Performing Arts Library's note cards, and she's not in the NEW YORK TIMES full text.  The date of 1915 seems early for "cheesecake."  The HDAS has 1934.
   "Beefcake" came along in 1949, as did Tony Curtis.  But he played the part of a bell boy and other very tiny roles.  Victor Mature was much better known.  Here are Tony Curtis's first roles (some of these films probably weren't released when "beefcake" appeared in October 1949):


How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border (1949)
Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949) (as Anthony Curtis) .... Joey Hyatt
Take One False Step (1949) (uncredited) .... Hot Rod Driver
Lady Gambles, The (1949) (as Anthony Curtis) .... Bellboy
City Across the River (1949) (as Anthony Curtis) .... Mitch
Criss Cross (1949) (uncredited) .... Gigolo

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BAGDAD-ON-THE-SUBWAY

   I made errors here all around by googling too quickly.  It's "Subway" and not "Hudson."  It's "Bagdad" and not "Baghdad."  The nickname is mentioned in this short story:


http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/O_Henry/Strictly_Business/XXIII_What_You_Want_p1.html

Author Henry, O., 1862-1910.
Title Strictly business; more stories of the four million, by O. Henry.
Imprint Toronto, Musson Book Co. [c1910]
Descript 310 p. ; 20 cm.
Contents Strictly business.--The gold that glittered.--Babes in the jungle.--The day resurgent.--The fifth wheel.--The poet and the peasant.--The robe of peace.--The girl and the graft.--The call of the tame.--The unknown quantity.--The thing's the play.--A ramble in Aphasia.--A municipal report.--Psyche and the pskyscraper.--A bird of Bagdad.--Complements of the season.--A night in new Arabia.--The girl and the habit.--Proof of the pudding.--Past one at Rooney's.--The venturers.--The duel.--"What you want".