A 1999 Fairfield High School graduate is L.A.'s newest poster boy for the holidays.

James Ellis recently won the Los Angeles Beverly Center's eighth annual "Hunky Santa" contest. The high-end shopping center holds the model search every year to select a young, handsome version of the jolly old elf to appear in 60 performances of an aerial show put on for shoppers during December.

Ellis is no aerialist, but his toned-to-the-max physique -- decked out in a little red and white -- will provide just as much holiday cheer as the show's acrobatic Candy Cane Girls. Promotional billboards for the show prominently featuring the New Paris native have already been put up around the city and in Las Vegas and Times Square, New York.

"It's pretty incredible. I've even had friends from New York call me and say they've seen it. It's been a little surreal," said the full-time fitness model and aspiring actor.

Even in the highly-competitive L.A. modeling and acting circles, his physique keeps Ellis employed full-time.

He works regularly for local supplement companies and national fitness magazines, but the Hunky Santa campaign will reach a wider audience.

Ellis' professional goals include landing a national supplement campaign and a soap opera role. The pragmatic 29-year-old calculates that marketing himself based on his Hunky Santa exposure will be an effective means to both ends.

"It's great pay, but for me it's more about what I'm going to do with that exposure," Ellis said. "Otherwise, it can be just another job."

The former Fairfield student moved west after graduating and then attending Indiana State University for a teaching degree. Bodybuilding began as a hobby at ISU, his mother Debora said, but then it began paying the bills.

While his family has always been into healthy living and regular exercise, only James parlayed the lifestyle into a lucrative career.

"I think it's pretty exciting. He's worked really hard to get where he is," Debora said.

The family stays in regular contact and Debora and Jim, Ellis' dad, plan to visit during Hunky Santa's run and catch the show. His three older sisters are always asking how they can help him further his career from their home bases in Elkhart County and in South Carolina, he said.

Ellis respects the culture of his Midwestern upbringing, even in the midst of L.A.'s glamour and fierce film and modeling industries.

He makes a concerted effort to keep his appearances in good taste, rejects the party lifestyle, eats right and makes sure to get enough sleep because a Hunky Santa body doesn't happen by burning the candle at both ends.

Besides, that would disappoint his biggest fan -- his grandfather.

"He picks up my latest magazine and carries it around with him. He takes it out to dinner and shows it around. I think he kind of gets to live vicariously through me, and that seems to make him happy. I just love that," Ellis said.

Ellis' Tinseltown resume is growing rapidly. The New Paris native has already been seen in the following ad campaigns and television shows:

Print appearances (U.S., Canada and Australia)

* Men's Fitness

* Exercise for Men

* Men's Workout

* Muscle and Performance

* Reps

* Maximum Fitness

* Exercise and Health

* Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness

* Men's Exercise

* Inside Fitness

* XFitness

* Natural Bodz

* Ed Hardy Eyewear

* Christian Aud eyewear/clothing

* PRVY jeans

* Diesel underwear

* James Ellis Fitness Calendar

Television roles

* Jose Luis

* Bones

* Melrose Place

* Scrubs

* Cougar Town

* Dirt

* 90210

* Party Down

* Fleggaard commercial (Europe)

* America's Got Talent

National television appearances

* Conan O'Brien

* Jimmy Kimmel

* Chelsea Lately