To kick off Movember, the month-long mustache growing contest for charity, we’ve put together this list of the manliest mustaches in history. Enjoy!
Tom Selleck
When pre-pubescent mustaches grow up, they want to be Tom Selleck’s mustache. It’s a modern mustache masterpiece. Magnum P.I. wouldn’t have been the same with some dude with a naked upper lip.
Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite’s mustache was the most trustworthy mustache in all of news history. And that’s the way it is…
Eddie Murphy
During the 1980s and early 90s, no mustache was funnier than Eddie Murphy’s. We won’t hold Eddie Murphy’s mustache responsible for Daddy Day Care or Norbit.
Alex Trebek
I’ll take game show host who lost major manliness points when he shaved his mustache for $800, Alex.
Daniel Plainview
Daniel Plainview’s mustache will drink your milkshake. And then bludgeon you to death with a bowling pin.
Hussein bin Talal
The King of Jordan’s mustache had an uber-manly lineage; it can be be traced all the way back to the Prophet Muhammad. Today, his son Abdullah II carries on his father’s peaceful policies and the manly mustache.
Errol Flynn
Australian film star Errol Flynn had a swashbuckling mustache that could make even tights look manly.
Rollie Fingers
Rollie Fingers brought back the waxed handlebar mustaches rocked by the baseball players of yore. Diamondbacks relief pitcher Clay Zavada carries that torch today.
Steve Prefontaine
Scientists have proven that the secret to Steve Prefontaine’s record-setting running times was the aerodynamics of his mustache.
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp is a Western legend. Some sources say he killed up to 30 men during his time as a lawman in the American frontier. He didn’t even have to use bullets; his mustache knocked em’ over cold.
Ron Burgundy
Ron Burgundy is the manliest fictional news anchor to ever live. He loves scotch (scotchy, scotch, scotch), leather-bound books, and the smell of rich mahogany. And of course, he had a kick ass mustache that injected the news with testosterone.
Clark Gable
Clark Gable’s mustache doesn’t give a damn.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche’s mustache can provide meaning to the life of even the most strident nihilist. Look at that thing. Awe inspiring.
Genghis Khan
Not only did Genghis Khan grow a manly mustache and rule over the largest empire in history, he also rocked the flavor saver way before it was cool. Wait, was the flavor saver ever cool?
Mark Twain
Mark Twain had some strong words to say about beards: “It performs no useful function; it is a nuisance and a discomfort; all nations hate it; all nations persecute it with the razor.” Guess that’s why he decided to go with an awesome mustache instead.
Martin Luther King Jr.
I have a dream, a dream that all men will grow a mustache as magnificent as MLK’s.
Mark Spitz
Michael Phelps may now have more medals, but Spitz’s mustache could beat Phelp’s any day of the week.
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{ 123 comments… read them below or add one }
Don’t forget the man Ron Burgundy was based on, Jim Gordon of WPVI Philadelphia’s Channel 6 Action News.
Some of these look like ‘porn stars’, what about some real handlebar ‘tashes?
Where’s Da Coach (Dikta)?
And Ned Flanders?!
http://us.movember.com/donate/your-details/member_id/31847/
Mike Dikta is a good add. But I’ll eat my hat if Ned Flanders is every considered “manly.”
How about that Paul Teutul from American Choppers?
Nice! Check out Master Of Malt’s charity release supporting Movember. http://caskstrength.blogspot.com/2009/11/whiskers-galore.html
Lanny McDonald! I haven’t seen him in years – great call!
Great, witty post! But I’ll stick with the clean-shaved look (even for my head).
i swear that Wilford Brimley was cloned from Teddy R.
From the manly days of the cowboys, John Wayne as John Bernard Brooks:
http://xrl.in/3ik2 . Duke was clean shaven in all but two movies of which I am aware, but when he did sport a mustache, it still looked great.
And don’t forget Wyatt’s brother, Virgil Earp:
http://xrl.in/3ik4
What, no Chris Lee as Fu Manchu? Shame.
Don’t Forget Don ‘The Predator’ Frye:
http://mmajunkie.com/dyn/images/fighters/Don-Frye.jpg
FYI, Nietzsche was an existentialist; not a nihilist.
I believe Sam elliot played virgil earp in Tombstone. So in a way, the mustache is still represented.
@Yerzriknot True, but his ideas have influenced nihilists.
I think Sam Elliot needs to play this fellow:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ferguson_Smith
If for no other reason than the moustaches and the quote, “D__n you, gentlemen, I see skulkers! I’ll have none here! Come on, you volunteers, come on! This is your chance! You volunteered to be killed for love of country, and now you can be!”
Robin Olds – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Olds
Sir Richard Burton … African (etcetera) explorer …
need to do a list for beards next!
What about Jamie from Mythbusters
What’s more manly than a mustache with some explosions
Nick Cave during the Grinderman days, that was one awesome handlebar: http://imgur.com/xemCR.jpg
No John L. Sullivan?
You left out the following:
- Emiliano Zapata
- Sir Henry Stanley
- James Hetfield
And most important of all, GANDHI. The guy stood up to the British Empire without weapons and armed only with willpower. If that isn’t manly, I don’t know what is.
Cheers
Saddam Hussein and Hitler… anyone? haha…
I am shocked and disgusted that Sam Elliot is not on this list. When I think mustaches, I think Sam Elliot.
Great list…….however, the late Dale Earnhardt(the Intimidator) should be here.
Also, if Ron Burgundy and Yosemite Sam made the list, so should Jeff Foxworthy.
Well, if fictional characters are included…Everett Cole from “Appaloosa”.
I totally support getting Ned Flanders on the list for great Mos. Also, what about Freddie Mercury!
And, more importantly, the walrus!
Finally, I think Ron Burgundy doesn’t belong on the list — he is a parody of manliness, and his mustache is a parody is hardly a salute to manliness.
For a list of manly mustaches, those are some of the gayest examples I’ve ever seen. Mark Spitz and Errol Flynn? Maybe manly men, but seriously homo-licious pics.
I can’t believe Sam Elliot wasn’t on this list. He has always had the best mustache in Hollywood by a mile.
What about Kaiser Wilhelm II, aka Kaiser Bill?
@Lucas and Mike-
Your eyes deceive you. Sam Elliot is assuredly on the list. Second page, fifth from bottom.
@Kevin-
Now that is a huge oversight!
Jamie from Myth Busters.
Since you included international politicians, I am shocked that you omitted famed anti-communist revolutionary, former Polish president and Nobel Prize recipient Lech Walesa- whose walrus stache was so world renown, even Gillette offered him a million dollars to shave it on TV- a dishonor that Mr. Walesa politely refused.
http://beatroot.blogspot.com/2006/09/lech-walesas-moustache.html
@Jack-
Lech was actually right at the cut off-we wanted to keep it at a nice number-but he was #36.
Where is Freddy Mercury??
I’m still trying to pick a style for my ’stache. I’m torn between Errol Flynn, Eddie Murphy, Ron Burgundy, and Johnny Depp (who didn’t make the list).
On a side note, anyone that is on Google wave, search for the (still small) Movember wave and post your progress pics!
Bismark?!?!?!
Are you excluding Charlie Chaplin because Hitler copied him?
Also, Vlad Tepes Dracula’s mustache was way better than Gengis Khan’s.
What about the late great Mr. Zappa?
http://irom.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/frank-zappa.jpg
@CrunchyKnee-
He’s on there. Second page.
Pretty cool that Day-Lewis made his way on to the list twice. And I would pay money to have Thomas Magnum’s mustache.
What about Hulk Hogan??? His commitment to the handlebar mustached is unmatched!
I gotta bring representation for the video game mustaches. While there is typically more beards the class and original 8-bit mustache belongs to….
THE MARIO BROS!
Dang, sorry for the double post but I had to elaborate a little.
I just wanted to say that the Mario Bros are keeping the mustache alive for millions of children who are not used to seeing them.
And Rockstar this year is having a mustache growin’ contest for gamers (typically seen as unmanly due to the overbearing stereotypes) in the name of Movember.
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/31/grow-a-moustache-for-charity-end-up-in-red-dead-redemption/
The greatest mustache this side of Tom Selleck belongs to Billy Dee Williams. Sadly, he’s not in here!! I’d also say Taft, but the Presidential mustache debate was clearly won by the Teddy.
I also forgot to mention Captain Hook!!
Jamie Hyneman
and
Adam Savage
No Kevin Kline (circa “French Kiss”)?!?! LAME!!!!
His is by FAR the sexiest mustache EVER.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/28/candykline.jpg
The best in mustaches: http://flavorwire.com/47100/design-porn-mustachioed-edition
A bit thnmbs up to Tom Selleck, Clark Gable, Zorro and Hussein bin Talal. I really do think mustaches should be confined to the upper lip though and not droop over the lips. Thumbs down to offended Lanny McDonald. Not a good look – needs a trim badly!
I protest against Ron Burgundy! For one, he’s fictional, for two he took a headlong-diving leap across the line between Manly and Chauvinistic. For three, I really don’t find Will Ferrel the least bit funny. If you want a moustachioed Ron on the list, I’d consider Ron Jeremy, otherwise no. Just no
More seriously though, I love the list. I’ve had some reservations about growing my own stache out for Movember, but seeing this has filled me with confidence. Also, I am pleased to see at least one arab up there with a mighty stache!
Also, I must echo a previous commentor’s words in saying that I would love to see a list of the most Manliest beards!
That dude from Mythbusters has a pretty good one.
Samuel de Champlain!
Charles Bronson. Both the actor and prisoner rocked the a fine ’stache
How could you leave out Freddie Mercury?
What? Where are Australian cricketers from the ’70’s? What about Dennis Lillee? The greatest man of all time. David Boon, Merv Hughes? Leaving out John Newcombe is just sloppy work. These are the absolute shortlist of manliest moustaches in the history of the world.
Classic. I would be joining the AoM Movember team except I already organized one in my office. We of the Liberty Street Hooligans wish you success!
I know he’s not that famous but Will Oldham’s stache is sublime.
Good to see Tom Selleck in his rightful place at number one.
Emiliano Zapata!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What about Vincent Price, he always had some kind of awesome ’stache.
What about Lando Calrissian? His mustache helped destroy the second Death Star over the forest moon of Endor.
What about Charlie Chaplin? The power of understatement is perfectly exhibited in that ’stache.
No John Stossel?
lemmy kilmister has an extemely manly mustache
joseph stalin’s mustache is extremely manly regardless of his dictatorship
I cry foul for putting Daniel Day-Lewis on the list twice. His representation here suggests he is the equal in mustachery to Tom Selleck and TR combined, which we all know is impossible. You absolutely should have combined his characters into one spot. Mustaches everywhere are weeping at this travesty.
Hulk Hogan always had a great ’stash.
Let’s not forget Don Mattingly (of the NY Yankees) who had a great mustache. And I’d throw Borat in there too just for fun.
Lanny McDonald never scored 98 goals. The record is 92, set by Gretzky. McDonald got 98 points once, but that’s not the same thing at all. I love this website anyways.
Mike Hammer http://www.serienoldies.de/images7/mike_hammer_2.jpg
uh.. Freddie Mercury?
http://celebritydeath.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/freddie-mercury.jpg
oh and Dick Dastardly
http://listverse.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/dick9we.jpg
i think you should add jamie hyneman from mythbusters
Top marks for including Sam Elliott. My all-time favorite Hollywood ’stache.
David Crosby?
vincent price.
This list is great. I’ve been trying to convince my sister that mustaches are the business, but she refuses point blanc to believe me and keeps claiming they’re old-fashioned. I am of the opinion that mustaches just WIN. Something about them seems to add great character and self-confidence to the face of a man; a slightly ironic but winsome charm. On a different note, I couldn’t agree more with a poster below me- where is Freddie Mercury? His was truly awsome! And what about David Niven? You can’t beat that witty rake. Add David Niven!
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:qO1BfcpudOdWGM:http://www.kaposnet.hu/kata/movie/faces/niven_david.jpg
The moustache is the epitimy of manliness. Mainly because, and not to sound sexist, we can do it and girls can’t
Not only that but it is just a unique and bold statement. Mine is well on its way, I think i want to go for something like Tom Sellek, neat but bold. I deffinitly couldn’t pull off the handlebar look. There is nothing like a clean shaven face with a nice moustache at the center of it all.
I completely agree. You absolutely need Jamie Hyneman. The guy has an epic walrus-stache and when he isn’t blowing things up or smashing things, he’s setting them on fire. How could you have missed him?
Love the list. If anyone is a Rollie Fingers fan I created a museum of baseball players with excellent facial hair. Lo and behold… the Jeffrey James Reardon Beard & Moustache Museum. Enjoy: http://www.erikwallace.com/misc/museum/
Art Of Manliness, keep up the stellar work.
I love this list, for you mustache challenged folks scope out some mustache bandanas at http://www.InstaFace.com
I’ve been rocking mine biking in the cold, but soon my own handle bar will be ready!!! I’m working on a curled handlebar with a communist Lenin style waxed beard, If it turns out as good as I hope I could be on this list……just gotta get famous first.
OKAY Freddie Mercury was gay (not that there is anything wrong with that) Ergo, not Manly!!
I agree with the Hulk Hogan comments and/or the father from Orange County Choppers
Nietzsche! Thank you for including Friedrich Nietzsche!
One of the Manliest Moustaches is a Moustache of Science: The one worn by Max Planck.
The best tash here has to be yosemite sams, that tash is the business, if i could get one like that i would walk into a bank and demand they hand over the cash, and they would, they would give it willingly because of my mighty tash, and all the counter girls would be moist at the sight of my tash, and i would end up bedding all of them, everyone should have a tosemite sam style tash, it should be law!
Earl Hickey from My Name is Earl has the best mustache on tv today.
http://z.about.com/d/tvcomedies/1/0/b/-/-/-/earllee.jpg
I am
@ brad mcpherson.
Great to see the Aussie spirit.
A shame to not include Bad Seed Nick Cave who was also a judge at the 2007 World Beard & Moustache Championships.
and the link to it…..
http://www.worldbeardchampionships.com/
The ‘86 Mets get my vote: That was a team full of great mustaches.
Salvador Dali anyone? His mustache was so epic it had a mind of it’s own! Crawlin across his face like that all the time, making seussian shapes and what not…
YES, PRE!!!!! The moustache is glorious and is most DEFINATELY the reason why he was such a good runner. Screw drug testing… they should start testing moustaches.
Salvador Dali anyone?
Nick Cave and Eugene Hutz!
Groucho Marx! Otherwise it is a great list!
John Stossel!?!?! I was devastated to find him missing.
Billy Dee Williams
Salvador Dali
Gen PGT Beauregard
We here may possibly be leaving out one of the greatest moustaches and manliest men of all film history…Gomez Freakin’ Addams!!! watch the addams family and tell me that Raoul Julia doesn’t belong here!!! Caramia!!!!
Leaving Charles Bronson out of this list is a damn crime.
Don Frye, hands down.
OMAR SHERIF!!! the one he sported in “Dr.Zhivago” is legendary
If the father of modern cricket W.G. Grace is not on a beardier version of this list I will eat my cap.
http://freespace.virgin.net/jill.hewett/gifs/grace.gif
If Fingers is on the list he should be coupled with Catfish Hunter. 72, 73, and 74 World Series dynasty won by Oakland’s ’stache clad bullpen.
And I vote Cheech Marin. Potheads don’t make the manliest of men, but hilarious none the less.
You guys are forgetting Keith Hernandez and Clyde Frazier. Also as much as I despise him as a baseball announcer, but back in the day Al Hrabosky had pretty nice stache as well.
This is a great list. My dad wore a mustache for more than twenty years, but, sadly, shaved it off when it started turning grey.
Difinitely agree on Tom Selleck
What about the great australian cricketers of the late ’80’s and early ’90s? Now there were some incredible national icons of mustaches lore!!! David Boon and Merv Hughes will always be the ’stached heros of cricket.
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Sport/Pix/pictures/2009/7/17/1247840973038/David-Boon-001.jpg
http://about.theage.com.au/150images/1989_04b.jpg
Missed out on Arthur Saxon’s moustache.
http://sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Saxon/saxon.gif
Well, I’d like to make him soup but I guess it’s impossible now…..Baboo!
jamie from mythbusters!
Glad to see Wilford Brimley with the diabeetustache. He was my second thought upon reading the title of this post.
First thought went to Freddy Mercury. I know, I know, his homosexual tendencies and falsetto vocals aren’t necessarily the manliest things out there, but let’s face it: if anybody knew how to rock a mustache and excessive body hair, it was this guy.
Kaiser Wilhelm II had a special barber whose sole function was to trim and wax Wilhelm’s moustache daily.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Kaiser_Wilhelm_II,_1905.jpg
I would like to point your eyes towards the manliest moustache worn by the manliest Canadian to ever live – Lt. Gen (ret) Romeo Dallaire, former Commander of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Rwanda.
http://k9freakingout.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/17674.jpg
Salvador Dali
William Faulkner
Edger Allan Poe
William Shakespeare
Charlie Chaplin
Second Salvador Dali and Freddie Mercury. Regardless of what insecure boys say, gay does not mean not manly.
I agree with some of the ones left off the list, e.g Lech Welesa, Salvador Dali, Charlie Chaplin, Freddy Mercury, Gomez Addams, Walt “Clyde” Frazier and definitely Billy Dee Williams. I agree, however, that it is way too US focused….one of the greatest mustaches of all time belongs to Indian film star RAJNIKANT! Remember, the mustache lives on as a sign of mainstream manliness in India. Police officers are paid a BONUS to grow mustaches in India!
One other mustache that was left off is someone known as the ’stache….Adam Morrison! He shaves his ’stache = his career declines precipitously…
And one other one….Tony Stark (pre-Robert Downey goatee style) always sported a debonair stache to attract the ladies and defeat the villains!
Ossian Everett Mills. Ask any Sinfonian.
For shame. You forgot Lee Marvin in “Paint your Wagon.”
The description of Chamberlain’s mustache just made my day…
Once you had Tom Selleck and Sam Elliot, the mustache list was pretty complete. All others are also-rans.
Agree with Matt. There are million great suggestions, but my vote goes to Otto Von Bismark’s mustache. You can never wear a pointy metal hat like this and look serious without looking like a real MAN. Just look at his mustache and disagree with that.
http://www.mdln.hws.edu/german/moderne/Bismarck-1871.gif
Sexuality aside, I’m appalled that Freddie Mercury’s mustache was not included in this list. Despite the fact that Freddie did dudes, his attractiveness to the ladies and the epic status of his ’stache are undeniable. The album cover of “I Was Born to Love You” contains scientific proof.
http://991.com/newGallery/Freddie-Mercury-I-Was-Born-To-Lov-156285.jpg
Oliver Wendell Holmes, former Supreme Court Justache…. any mustache that is wider than your face without using wax is manly by default. Also, he rocked it most of his adult life.
http://www.phillwebb.net/Topics/Society/Holmes/Holmes.htm