Robert Reed

Was he a happy private gay man? Or a miserable closet case?

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• Did he have any famous fuck buddies?

• Many younger gays really think that gay men living during the 1960s and before just had to be unhappy. Believe me: yes, it's true, you couldn't "come out" in a public way, but good God, gay men led perfectly happy lives all the same. And in the big (and not so big) cities, there was so much man-on-man sex readily available...perhaps more (but certainly not less) than today.

• I read in IMDB that his mother and daughter both refused to attend his memorial. How sad!

• He was only happy after Florence introduced him the joys of Wesson Oil.

• I think he was more unhappy about being a TV actor rather than the Shakespearian actor he wanted to be, than he was about being Gay.

• I bet he was a jelly-legged mess around Barry Williams circa season 4.

• I was not around in the 60's but every time I try to imagine it, all I picture is the only movie around when I was grown up called Boys in the Band. That movie made me think twice about coming out, not because of other people but because of how mean, catty and depressed all the characters were. I a guessing it was really like that for some gay men at the time?

• Well I am sure that being cast as a father figure really put a damp on trying to come out. Sure he could have passed on the roll, but lets face it, actors dont get chances like that everyday.

• [quote]Sure he could have passed on the roll, And had a scone or a biscuit instead? Oh, dear.

  Betty%20Crocker

• Too early for scat jokes R9

  Sandra%20Lee

• He was a grumpy man who felt he was above Brady Bunch. He got into it with the head guy (Schwarz or something), and didn't appear in as many episodes toward the end. I don't think he hid his gayness. Neither did he trumpet it from the corner. Perhaps he had contractual agreements not to. Or, like others said, perhaps it was career suicide to do so. That would make me crotchety. If wonder what he was like on a personal level. Maybe a little bitter and not the kind of always-happy-go-lucky person?

• I agree with R5. He was a "serious" actor who trained at RADA and the Actors Studio, and ended up forever typecast as Mike Brady. That would make me miserable.

• I think someone here once posted a story about hooking up with him. I don't remember the exact details, but I think he said it was hot, but that Reed wanted him to leave at the end and only very grudgingly let him spend the night when it turned out it was difficult for him to get home or something.

• R7 Me, too and also Larry Kramer's book "Faggots." I knew I didn't want to be like the people in that book.

• Actors on TV didn't make that much money back then. No syndication royalties, straight pay. One time deal. Sure maybe 1,000 a week in the 70s was probably good but not even close to what reality TV hacks get today without ever having to remember a single line except Tardy for the Party.

• nobody.came.out.in.1969

• [quote]I think someone here once posted a story about hooking up with him. I don't remember the exact details, but I think he said it was hot, but that Reed wanted him to leave at the end and only very grudgingly let him spend the night when it turned out it was difficult for him to get home or something. That was me. It was in Pasadena, I lived on the Westside, and it was about 3:30 in the morning when we were done. VERY grudgingly allowed me to go to sleep, but not without mentioning the motion sensors all over the house. He woke me up at 5:30 and told to leave before the housekeeper arrived (and, yes, I wanted to make an Alice joke). It wasn't that hot. He wasn't that nice.

• Aren't they all miserable closet cases? You can't live a truly happy life ducking and dodging and pretending to be something you're not.

• It's one thing to be an actor taking on different rolls, its another when you are stuck in a roll as Dad when you really want to be Daddy.

• He may have hated being Mike Brady but he sure as hell took part in every revival and reunion that he could.

• Loved him in the early seasons. Hated the perm. But he did look good in his small swimsuit in the Hawai'i episodes.

• R7 I had a lot of sweaters, let's just say. R14 The Faggots '70s were the good old days compared to the Boys in the Band '60s. Simply because I'm the age I am, my life was a lot more like what you read in Faggots, and I cannot tell you how grateful I am for it. I was *terrified*, anticipating a Boys in the Band-like life when I grew up; that, or I'd join the priesthood. The '70s were so, so, so much better than that.

• He did have a long time partner. Not sure what their "deal" was

• R23 Long time partner

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  Alice

• I told this story many times before... Robert Reed sponsored a Shakespearean acting prize at UCLA. One of the actors went totally blank during his monologue. Since he had already blown it, the actor went into "Brush up your Shakespeare" from Kiss me Kate as a joke. Robert Reed gave the guy a standing ovation. He later followed up with a letter of support for the actor. It seems as if he could be a nice guy.

• Didn't the kids from the show love him? I seem to remember some of them expressing genuine sorrow over his death.

• He was reportedly very supportive of everyone on The Brady Bunch set, especially the kids. Despite what was mentioned earlier, if he did have any grudges regarding content of the show, he was still professional and tried to do his best. He chose to not do only one episode due to what he considered the lack of material, the hair shampoo episode where Greg's hair turns orange.

• He's also not in the Cousin Oliver episode where the family goes on a Hollywood studio tour and gets in a pie fight.

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• In his defense, I don't think anyone wanted to be in the cousin Oliver episodes.

• He was very fond of the kids. He took them on at least one vacation, a cruise I think. They all got movie cameras from him. I can't remember if it was in Barry Williams' book, but there was a quote by him about the parties he had in his dressing room where they ended up "balling" a secretary. So it seems he wasn't out.

  Kitty%20carry-all%20

• [quote]He may have hated being Mike Brady but he sure as hell took part in every revival and reunion that he could. Please tell me I'm not the only one who remembers the Sid & Marty Kroft variety show. With the fake Jan, swimming pool, and Rip Taylor?

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• [quote]Did he have any famous fuck buddies? Sam the Butcher Mr. Dittweiler Bobby

• I've read in various places that RR was very fond of the kids and they liked him as well. Yes, he despised the lack of quality and goofy plot lines because he felt it was beneath him as a trained theatah actor and had lots of conflict with Sherwood Schartz (sp?) about coming up with better plots and scripts. I have friends that work in entertainment and several get pissed very often about being pigeon-holed as one "type" or constantly being asked to sing a hit song - as if thats the only thing they can do. It can't be easy for any actor or singer to deal with that every day, especially if they've trained for years with RADA or really put in time with serious acting gigs and then get known for something fluffy like the BB was. I dated a closeted singer for over year and I finally ended the relationship because *I* couldn't take the deception - I don't know how he did it. His manager kept telling him that if anyone found out he was gay, his career would be over. Being gay didn't do him in, but drugs almost did. The 60's and 70's must have been very interesting in Hollywood. I suspect that the "insiders" that exist today did back then on a larger scale and thus the big pool parties at some gay male celebs houses that are, or were, legendary.

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• He didn't hate being Mike Brady--he hated the weak scripts, especially in the show's last year. He adored the six child actorsand took them all on a transatlantic cruise with his own daughter. He was thrilled when the show was brought back to become a variety hour. he had always wanted to sing and dance (he loved musicals) and was adequate but not able to do it on his own--he loved the variety show because he knew he could sing most songs with Florence Henderson, who was a Broadway singer strong enough to carry him in duets.

• R27 That also ended up being the last episode of the series.

• I think he had something going with Warren Malaney.

  Marcia

• R17? Details please. Top? Bottom? Hung?

• Alice:Mr. Brady, what were you and Sam doing in the meat locker? Mike:Something suddenly came up!

  Badabump!

• He was great (and HOT) in Rich Man, Poor Man. Even though he was banging Susie Blakely on the show there was something kinda homoerotic about his manner. First time he ever pinged for me. Saw him nkd in a play called DOUBLES on bway. Nice butt. Assumed then he was a bottom.

• Why he didn't get along with his mother and with his child?

• He also played a transsexual in a ground-breaking episode of "Medical Center."

• Who the fucked talked him into that perm?

  Felicity%20

• He played a villain in an episode of "Wonder Woman" and you could tell he loved doing it. What gay man wouldn't have been thrilled to be around Lynda Carter in that fabulous costume?