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But then again suppose you do have a point. Paul Lynde likely became the bitter, drunk and often angry person he was off stage because his career was stalled to an extent. Yes, there was television (Bewitched and later Hollywood Squares), Broadway musical theatre (Bye, Bye Birdie) and films (again Bye, Bye Birdie), but everyone in Hollywood knew Mr. Lynde was gay including the *shirts* to were responsible for producing shows. So that was that. ...
Few if anyone outside the "loop" knew Richard Chamberlain was gay, so much for all those females lusting after "Dr. Kildare".
I used to love Paul Lynde, but I don't agree with that. Not everyone's talent moves them up to the top tier of stardom. Given his particular talent, that second tier was pretty good for him. In re, Richard Chamberlain, again, I disagree. Take a look at today's Jussie Smollett ("Empire") who has openly stated he is gay; yet the women are falling over themselves over him.
To be fair until really rather recently the only way a gay man was going to have a family was to marry a woman. Anthony Perkins, Joel Grey and countless other gay men of past went this route, and they would have wouldn't they? Surrogacy for pay (one step up from prostitution IMHO, but we're not on that right now), didn't really exist, nor was adoption a viable option.
Even if a gay man did marry and have children with a woman (wife or mistress) there was always the risk whatever "arrangement" was made could be thrown out. All the woman had to do was head to court and say the man was a homosexual. That alone was often enough grounds to deprive him of custody or even seeing his children. This would have been piled onto the then long standing bias that children, especially young ones *always* were given fully to the custody of their mother. A woman would have be declared really unfit to the level of major slattern for this not to happen.
Today of course Ricky Martin, Neil Patrick Harris, Cristiano Ronaldo, Elton John, and scores if not hundreds of other gay men the world over can simply "order" an infant with few to no questions asked.
I am pretty sure that happened to country music's Ty Herndon. When he was busted in the early 90's for picking up another guy for sex but that other guy ended up being a cop I remember the PR piece he sent out to a lot of the country music radio stations. He was standing behind his wife and kids and kept saying "I have a drug problem" and gave thanks to the cop who busted him saying how he saved his life. Oh he kept saying " I Love You" to his wife too. Kissie face the whole 9 yards !! I guess it worked since we and everyone else still played Ty's music. Flash forward to just the last few years and Ty Herndon came out. By that time his kids were adults and his wife I imagine is now his ex-wife.
I am pretty sure that happened to country music's Ty Herndon. When he was busted in the early 90's for picking up another guy for sex but that other guy ended up being a cop I remember the PR piece he sent out to a lot of the country music radio stations. He was standing behind his wife and kids and kept saying "I have a drug problem" and gave thanks to the cop who busted him saying how he saved his life. Oh he kept saying " I Love You" to his wife too. Kissie face the whole 9 yards !! I guess it worked since we and everyone else still played Ty's music. Flash forward to just the last few years and Ty Herndon came out. By that time his kids were adults and his wife I imagine is now his ex-wife.
*Both* wives are history, and according to Mr. Herndon they both "knew" he was gay. Much like Calvin Klein a wife was useful to an extent; but once being gay became "accepted", and or at least the celebrity in question felt coming out would do him no real harm professionally, the wife got the push.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not ok
Being from Alabama and all can well understand Mr. Herndon's apprehensions, however Jim Nabors was known to be gay for *years* (apparently Andy Griffith knew and wasn't that thrilled) and still sold scores if not hundreds of recordings all over the South and Appalachia.
Mr. Nabors was constantly invited to sing at opening of NASCAR (a greater gathering of good ole Bubbas and their wives/families as you'll ever find), and gave his final singing engagement at that event *after* he had come out by marrying his long time partner in Seattle, WA (IIRC). By all accounts there were more than a few teary eyes.
So much for the perceived rampant homophobia of the South.....
I used to love Paul Lynde, but I don't agree with that. Not everyone's talent moves them up to the top tier of stardom. Given his particular talent, that second tier was pretty good for him. In re, Richard Chamberlain, again, I disagree. Take a look at today's Jussie Smollett ("Empire") who has openly stated he is gay; yet the women are falling over themselves over him.
No one said Paul Lynde *could* have been a successful major dramatic actor (leading man), but the guy wanted to at least be given the chance to grow as an actor. Same as Marilyn Monroe was sick of being only offered "dumb blonde/sex pot" roles and wanted to be "taken seriously" as an actress.
You cannot compare females, especially young girls today (the target audience for entertainment such as "Empire", with those of the 1950's or even 1960's when shows like Dr. Kildare ran.
Am not going to delve into the deep, confused and twisted pools of straight women who fancy gay men, even when they are strictly confirmed as such. But if it was widely know and or confirmed Richard Chamberlain was an out gay man back then highly doubt he would have even been given the role or any others.
Even is this so called era of "equality" and whatever for gays there are still plenty actors both major and minor who are gay and in the closet. Mr. Smollett was outed and thus came out of the closet not by his own choosing. Once that event occurred the man and his professional advisors had to deal with the real and manage affairs accordingly.
When John Travolta, Tom Cruise and a few others come out of their closets then we can talk about "equality" in Hollywood/entertainment media. Something obviously keeps that door shut and it cannot all be just for personal reasons.
Mr. Nabors was constantly invited to sing at opening of NASCAR (a greater gathering of good ole Bubbas and their wives/families as you'll ever find), and gave his final singing engagement at that event *after* he had come out by marrying his long time partner in Seattle, WA (IIRC). By all accounts there were more than a few teary eyes.
He sang at the Indy 500, not NASCAR. I think he did sing at the first NASCAR race at Indy in '94, but it wasn't a regular thing.
No one said Paul Lynde *could* have been a successful major dramatic actor (leading man), but the guy wanted to at least be given the chance to grow as an actor. Same as Marilyn Monroe was sick of being only offered "dumb blonde/sex pot" roles and wanted to be "taken seriously" as an actress.
You cannot compare females, especially young girls today (the target audience for entertainment such as "Empire", with those of the 1950's or even 1960's when shows like Dr. Kildare ran.
Am not going to delve into the deep, confused and twisted pools of straight women who fancy gay men, even when they are strictly confirmed as such. But if it was widely know and or confirmed Richard Chamberlain was an out gay man back then highly doubt he would have even been given the role or any others.
Even is this so called era of "equality" and whatever for gays there are still plenty actors both major and minor who are gay and in the closet. Mr. Smollett was outed and thus came out of the closet not by his own choosing. Once that event occurred the man and his professional advisors had to deal with the real and manage affairs accordingly.
When John Travolta, Tom Cruise and a few others come out of their closets then we can talk about "equality" in Hollywood/entertainment media. Something obviously keeps that door shut and it cannot all be just for personal reasons.
What every "star" wants, and what they are cable of actually achieving are two distinctly different things. Lynde was ALWAYS more successful as a supporting player, and with the exception of "The Hollywood Squares" didn't carry shows well when that was tried. I thought he was hilarious, and began to notice him the 2 years he was not much more than a bit player on "The Perry Como Show" right around 1961.
In terms of Marilyn Monroe, I cringe every time I see her in a film. It wasn't acting talent.
I agree that gay actors were at a true disadvantage in the old days. But, studios protected some pretty big stars, including Rock Hudson.
As for Travolta, now in his mid-60s...not sure it matters anymore. But, that's not really the point. I can see why some would say that a gay actor playing intense straight love scenes may distract from a film, just as when I see a straight actor playing a gay character. It isn't that it bothers me, but it distracts me from the film. In the same way that some said they were distracted by a supposed heavy drinker (Dean Martin) playing a trusted airplane pilot in "Airport". Most producers and directors pay careful attention to not crossing certain lines where it seems that an actor has a reputation that seems in conflict with a part. And the reason is very simple, if the public can't "buy" into a particular actor playing a particular role, then they also might not "buy" a ticket.
*Both* wives are history, and according to Mr. Herndon they both "knew" he was gay. Much like Calvin Klein a wife was useful to an extent; but once being gay became "accepted", and or at least the celebrity in question felt coming out would do him no real harm professionally, the wife got the push.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not ok
Being from Alabama and all can well understand Mr. Herndon's apprehensions, however Jim Nabors was known to be gay for *years* (apparently Andy Griffith knew and wasn't that thrilled) and still sold scores if not hundreds of recordings all over the South and Appalachia.
Mr. Nabors was constantly invited to sing at opening of NASCAR (a greater gathering of good ole Bubbas and their wives/families as you'll ever find), and gave his final singing engagement at that event *after* he had come out by marrying his long time partner in Seattle, WA (IIRC). By all accounts there were more than a few teary eyes.
So much for the perceived rampant homophobia of the South.....
If both of Ty Herndon's wives knew he was gay what about the kids in the video I watched back in 1995 ?? Wikipedia says nothing of the kids unless I overlooked it. Could they have been rent a kids ???
Last edited by Yac; 04-26-2017 at 07:17 AM..
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