In this picture, Hutch Dano has the fey, androgynous, sultry look of a
Tiger Beat centerfold from the 1970s. One expects to see Shaun Cassidy and Donny Osmond on the next page. And his name is redolent of the 1970s, It sounds like a combination of two Baby Boomer icons,
Starsky and Hutch and
Hawaii Five-O ("Book him, Dano!").
But actually the actor was born in 1992.
He got his teen idol cred in the Disney Channel teencom
Zeke and Luther (2009-2012), buddy-bonding with fellow skateboarder
Adam Hicks so obviously and so significantly that the one wonders if the gay subtext was intentional (Disney incorporates subtle and not-so-subtle gay subtexts all the time, on
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, The Wizards of Waverly Place, Even Stevens back in the 1990s).
He's grown up since, with muscles, tattoos, chest hair, and a beard, turning into a veritable bear.
In 2011 he played a teenage Robin Hood who attracts the attention of Neal on
White Collar.
In 2013 he starred in
Breaking Fat, a webseries spoofing
Breaking Bad, about a trio of overweight girls who start a meth lab. His medical student Matt is oblivious to the girls' romantic attention.
Some ample gay subtexts.
A rap artist as well as an actor, Dano has performed in several music videos, including "Summertime" and "Last Christmas," which are nearly pronoun-free:
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
He is the subject of gay speculation in real life, but hasn't made any public statements.
