63. Rudolf Nureyev (1938 -1993)

Nuruyev, the greatest dancer of his generation, lived as dramatically as he performed.  Born in the Soviet Union, he defected to France in 1961 after Khrushchev ordered the KGB to kill him.  Later, in Paris, Copenhagen, London, and New York, the artist became a celebrity, a household name among enchanted straight women and gay men who would never see him perform in person. 

The photographer Richard Avedon, who photographed the famously well-endowed dancer nude, said that Nureyev “slowly raised his arms, and as his arms went up, so did his penis. It was as if he was dancing with every part of himself.” 

After living (and working) with an impressively long series of lovers, Nureyev died of AIDS in January of 1993, refusing to reveal until after his death that he had the illness.

(image via)