I picture Slothrop as Tom Selleck. Hear me out.
I read Gravity's Rainbow for the first time last month. I don't think Pynchon ever provides much of a physical description of Slothrop, so I, for some reason, was picturing a young Tom Selleck. Hear me out.
1) Slothrop is relatively young and is in the military, so I assume he's in good shape.
2) Pretty much every woman (and some of the men) he meets is attracted to him, so I assume he's handsome.
3) He grows a mustache and wears a Hawaiian shirt.
4) They have the same initials.
I don't think I'm the first one to have this thought, because compare:
with
this picture of Slothrop from Zak Smith's book "Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow."
That's gotta be deliberate, right?
BONUS FUN FACT: While Pynchon was writing GR, Selleck appeared in an ad for Dubonnet (which apparently is "aromatised wine-based quinquina"). As in Pat Dubonnet from Inherent Vice, perhaps?