Anonymous wrote:young(ish) Paul Newman (eg Cool Hand Luke) may be the most beautiful man ever in history. It makes Cat on the Hot Tin Roof almost unbearable to watch -- he's so hot and poor Elizabeth Taylor can't have him.
I never thought Robert Redford was close, but recently saw Three Days of the Condor and was blown away by how good looking he was too.
For modern day, I think Matt Bomer from White Collar and Jesse Williams are just unbelievably handsome.
For me, the difference between "classically handsome" and just plain hot is that the latter is sometimes a guy with a weird quirk but who pulls it off - like a young Sam Shepard was hot, but not "classically handsome."
Let's not forgot that Newman loved his wife of many many years. Makes even hotter.