My sources have provided me with some forgotten gems from the career of Mr. Link. These are from the early '70s when his career began winding down after the scandal involving Ms. Tova.
First, is the ad for Swiss Colony, circa 1971. Let's take a look at it and discuss:
This ad was the result of Mr. Link trying to revive his slumping fashion career. He knew Swiss Colony was looking for an authentic he-man type to plug their meat. Regardless, Mr. Link thought he could fake it and set out to get that job. After wooing the Wisconsin Sausage Council President's daughter with a wild night in Milwaukee, he was named spokesman. Of course, this was done with the approval of the scheming Mrs. Link II (Tova Benvik). After a year of flogging wieners, Mr. Link caught the eye of the Swiss Colony folks. Like many of Mr. Link's careers, it was short-lived. As can be seen, he had gotten quite paunchy after a year of sausage, cheese and beer. The extra heft, the refusal to remove the gold jewelry, the ever-present sausage-cheese-beer breath, and worst of all - the holier-than-thou, self-righteous, sarcastic attitude that could not be humbled made Mr. Link a liability. The good people at Swiss Colony could take no more and after one contractually- obligated ad, Mr. Link was history.
Next: The Downward Spiral Part II - Mr. Link: Superhero??
Hi-Ho! AZ Jr here again. I've spent some time trolling the vast Mr. Link archives and have come up with more from his multi-faceted life.
This time we'll focus on a brief career in the clothing industry. This was the late '60s, a time for change and social upheaval. Where was Mr. Link you ask? Why, he was wrapped up in a bundle of narcissism, celebrating an unrelenting hedonistic lifestyle.
This was, of course, helped along by the first Mrs. Link (Gladys Manishevitz). It began in 1964 with tea dances at Miami's La Gorce Country Club and hanging out with her mod friends. One of those friends, Verna Buffington-Smythe first suggested to Gladys that Mr. Link meet with her photog acquaintance, Billy Snaps.
Mr. Link, having no usable skills to speak of, looked at this as his attempt to break free of rural West Palm Beach (no coconut farming for him!). With only his high school class photo (see below), he and Gladys went to Billy Snaps office in Miami.
Suncoast High School - 9th Grade
Of course, no matter who you know, you have to start at the bottom. From the archives of Billy Snaps comes Mr. Link's first ad for Chapstick:
The 1966 Chapstick ad was Mr. Link's launching pad to success. It was on to the good things in life: Norwegian beer, Cuban cigars, Canadian bacon, and Swedish models. One Swedish model in particular, Tova Benvik, would be a factor in rerouting Mr. Link's life.
After three years of living in a swirl of the jet set lifestyle, his fame and fortune came to a head in 1969. Where was the long-suffering Mrs. Link? She could no longer share Mr. Link with the rest of the world, so she divorced herself from him and his ego. The word on the street is that along with the settlement came "hush money". The hush money concerned incriminating polaroids, taken by an enterprising drifter named Hoji, of Ms. Benvik and Mr. Link "partying" on Panama City Beach.
Below, is Mr. Link's last photo taken by Billy Snaps in 1969. Ahh, the arrogance of celebrity. Here we have Mr. Link mocking the working man. Wrapped up in his full-length, sable, man-fur, taunting the blue collar worker. Vanity, thy name is Mr. Link. Smug SOB!
