Sexiest Man Alive

The annual feature the "Sexiest Man Alive" is billed as a benchmark of male attractiveness and typically includes only famous people and celebrities. It is determined in a similar procedure to Time's Person of the Year. The origin of the title was a discussion on a planned story on Mel Gibson. A female editor exclaimed, "Oh my God, he is the sexiest man alive!" And someone else said, "You should use that as a cover line."

For the first decade or so, the feature appeared at uneven intervals. Originally awarded in the wintertime, it shifted around the calendar, resulting in gaps as short as seven months and as long as a year and a half (with no selection at all during 1994). Since 1997, the dates have settled between mid-November and early December.

Dates of magazine issues, winners, ages of winners at the time of selection, and pertinent comments are listed below.

As of 2012, John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Patrick Swayze are the only winners to have died since winning. John F. Kennedy, Jr. was the only non-actor to win the award.

Year	Choice	Age	Notes
February 4, 1985	Mel Gibson	29	First person chosen and then an Australian citizen.
January 27, 1986	Mark Harmon[14]	34
March 30, 1987	Harry Hamlin	35
September 12, 1988	John F. Kennedy, Jr.	27	Longest gap between selections: 18 months. Only non-actor to win. First member to have since died (1999). Youngest winner.
December 16, 1989	Sean Connery	59	Oldest person to win the title. First winner to have portrayed James Bond. First Scottish winner.
July 23, 1990	Tom Cruise	28
July 22, 1991	Patrick Swayze	38	Second member to have since died (2009).
March 16, 1992	Nick Nolte	51
October 19, 1993	Richard Gere Cindy Crawford	44   27	People took a one-year hiatus from Sexiest Man and instead awarded Sexiest Couple.
January 30, 1995	Brad Pitt	31	First of two awards.
July 29, 1996	Denzel Washington	41	First African American winner.
November 17, 1997	George Clooney	36	First of two awards.
November 16, 1998	Harrison Ford	56
November 15, 1999	Richard Gere	50	First two-time winner.
November 13, 2000	Brad Pitt	36	First two-time solo winner.
November 26, 2001	Pierce Brosnan	48	Second winner to have portrayed James Bond. First Irish winner.
December 2, 2002	Ben Affleck	30
December 1, 2003	Johnny Depp	40	First of two awards.
November 29, 2004	Jude Law	31	First English winner
November 28, 2005	Matthew McConaughey	36
November 27, 2006	George Clooney	45	Second win.
November 26, 2007	Matt Damon	37
November 25, 2008	Hugh Jackman	40	Second Australian winner.
November 18, 2009	Johnny Depp	46	Second win. First year with two winners.
November 17, 2010	Ryan Reynolds	34	First Canadian winner.
November 16, 2011	Bradley Cooper[15]	36
November 14, 2012	Channing Tatum[16]	32