Ann B. Davis may have been a deeply closeted lesbian

May have been???????

And like all deeply closeted lesbians, I believe she joined a religous order...

She was in a cult.

She became a nun.

Hmmmm....looks like there were multiple gays on the show!

[quote]Sherwood Schwartz: “She told me she once had a relationship, I think with a married guy or something, and it ended badly.”

Well, imagine that!

I wonder if she were alive today she would have been supportive of Robert Reed.

No!

If she were alive today she'd probably be attending every Trump rally.

My dad (who I doubt ever saw The Brady Bunch) once said to my mom over dinner, “Who was that girl who was on the Bob Cummings show, back in the ‘50s?” “Which one?’ Mom said. “The lesbian,” Dad said. “Oh,” Mom said. “Ann B. Davis.”

r10, you sure had "interesting" parents...

R11 Why? They just had eyes and ears.

I wonder if Ann B ever got together with the mannish actress who played her replacement, Kay.

r10 Sure, Jan

My folks were talking about actresses everyone knew or assumed were lesbians. They also mentioned Patsy Kelly, “the girl from Dobie Gillis” and “secretary from he Beverly Hillbillies” My mom told me Mary Grace Canfield - “Ralph”, from Green Acres - was “playing a dyke”, but I was really young and all of this was a surprise to me.

R14 I’m not going to argue about it, but I notice this attitude here a lot - the assumption that people of other generations were idiots, or totally uninformed or unsophisticated. They weren’t.

Here's her official obituary. Reads like she had a terrific life. I remember she did do a lot of stock and dinner theaters -- back when they existed.

She loved the Lord and the ladyham!

[quote] the actress illuded that

You know what? I’ll let someone else deal with this.

I think it was apparent certain actresses didn't connect with men just like gay performers today. Whether people actually articulated that they were lesbians depended on personal curiosity and sophistication.

WHAAAAAATTTT!!!!?? Shocking!

Oh! She was connected to the Episcopal church?? Then she WAS a lesbian.

[quote]“the girl from Dobie Gillis”

This one?

I'm not Gay, but my cousin Emma was...

She just never found the right guy

She only played one on TV.

She was abusing Cindy.

r27 Homophobic trope. GTFO.

Mike and Alice used to cover for each other when they were sneaking their respective lovers into the Brady house.

Explains why one Christmas Mike bought Alice a brand new Subaru and Alice bought him a "hammock" and a Tom of Finland coffee table book.

@r22, "Oh! She was connected to the Episcopal church?? Then she WAS a lesbian. "

Episcopalian here, can confirm ✋, but we're an understanding lot, no need to hide... Just don't push it

[quote]My dad (who I doubt ever saw The Brady Bunch) once said to my mom over dinner, “Who was that girl who was on the Bob Cummings show, back in the ‘50s?” “Which one?’ Mom said. “The lesbian,” Dad said. “Oh,” Mom said. “Ann B. Davis.”

Nancy Kulp also made regular appearances on the Bob Cummings show. It was Lesbian Central!

[quote]I suspect she was stuck in the closet somewhere back in Narnia. Poor Alice!

I went to Catholic school and have known quite a few nuns. The stereotype that women in religious orders are all closeted lesbians is not entirely accurate. While there are lesbians in that milieu, there are other women who don't prioritize intimate relationships. It's just not on their radar at all. This can be due to past trauma, or being on the autism spectrum, or simply lack of opportunity or interest. Ann B. Davis strikes me as belonging to this second group.

I'm shocked. SHOCKED.

[quote]'s just not on their radar at all. This can be due to past trauma, or being on the autism spectrum, or simply lack of opportunity or interest. Ann B. Davis strikes me as belonging to this second group.

Of course she does.

@r31, " the Bob Cummings show. It was Lesbian Central! "

Wasn't Bob Cummings a speed and sex freak?... Got to love the 50s 😉

Without knowing much about her, I like her because she's one of those people who improbably made it (somewhat) in showbiz with minimal talent & nothing special in the looks department. The "Meet Me in St. Louis" thread makes me think that Katie was a model for Alice - a gruff, older woman with no family of her own she was devoted to kids but also told them off in a way their parents didnt. As other posters noted, I doubt she was that closeted.

“She was never married and everybody suspected that she was gay. [Ann] and I actually talked about it and she said, ‘No, I have lots of issues, but that’s not one of them,’.” That's right Bitches, no one here has to worry about me. I was all in for that A-grade Man Meat!

^ " I was all in for that A-grade Man Meat! "

So, Sam the butcher was the real deal, huh? 😏

In the reboot, they better let Alice be out and proud.

also r10 likes to WW herself - how odd

Are we really still talking about this? What generation is this? What CENTURY????

R7 He's been dead for 32 years.

My eyes!!!!

R41 That looks more like trans Bill Clinton.

My mom said Alice was a big lesbian

r40 Glad you bumped the thread

Why does any woman that is not into men automatically considered a lesbian? Maybe she was asexual.

In the late 50's she and her identical twin sister Harriet were on I've Got A Secret.......and none of the panel could tell them apart....it was very funny......

Never forget...4:15 into this...Perhaps the gayest moment in the history of television...

R48 I wonder if one of her "issues" was something sexual with her sister (like Melissa Etheridge).

R9 Ann must've been a far right wing Episcopal as she appeared on The 700 Club with Pat Robertson in the 90s & on the E! True Hollywood Story they made it sound like she had some issues with Robert Reed at multiple times during the various Brady Shows. Possibly a closeted repressing lesbian being routinely annoyed by a free spirited gay guy? Didn't the Marsha actress say that Ann went after her once verbally for having an abortion?

Perhaps she was asexual.

Perhaps she was asexual and on the spectrum.

[quote] Why does any woman that is not into men automatically considered a lesbian?

Ann B Davis has a very distinct look that most lesbians have. It's not that difficult to tell in her.

^ "Ann B Davis has a very distinct look that most lesbians have."

So, you're saying when she played cousin Emma on the Brady Bunch it wasn't a stretch? 🤔

Does anyone know where her home was when she was filming the Brady Bunch. I've often wondered what her personal life was like when she was not filming the Brady Bunch in the 70s. How her house was decorated, who her friends were, where she dined, shopped, etc. She didn't seem like someone who would've been hobnobbing with the Hollywood crowd.

She lived in Denver in the 1980s when she was in that weird religious cult. I was working as a teller at a bank during that time, and one day, she walked in with another woman. She looked exactly like Alice looked when she'd go out on errands with Mrs. Brady. Big, heavy cloth coat, purse in her hands, hair styled exactly like Alice's.

She came to my window and deposited a check. I didn't let on that I knew who she was. I just completed her transaction and she was on her way. She was very pleasant, just like any other old lady who came to the bank. You'd never know she was in one of the most iconic TV shows.

Alith wath a lethbian? Wath a lethbian?

[quote] She lived in Denver in the 1980s when she was in that weird religious cult. I was working as a teller at a bank during that time, and one day, she walked in with another woman.

Was it a "lady friend?"

R59 I didn't pay that much attention, but the other woman just seemed like a neighbor or a friend. I don't recall picking up a "lesbian" vibe. Then again, I was screaming to myself inside, "Alice is at my teller window!" so my attention wasn't really on the other lady.

^ I do, however, remember that she deposited a check for a fairly small amount, and it looked like some kind of rebate check or something like that.

[quote] She didn't seem like someone who would've been hobnobbing with the Hollywood crowd.

She certainly wasn't at any of my parties.

[quote] I do, however, remember that she deposited a check for a fairly small amount, and it looked like some kind of rebate check or something like that.

Maybe it was a residual check from The Brady Bunch.

How "small" was it? Something she could maybe live off of, for the rest of her life?

It would be sad it it was only $50 or something like that. For such an iconic role.

This is the last home she lived in in San Antonio

Nine replies and it's a Trump thread. You classic TV gals are on the case.

Ann's former home in Colorado

R64 I notice she had a stairlift installed.

Rubbish! Ann was secretly married to Raymond Burr.

I totally wouldn’t be surprised. But she was deeply religious. And it was an Episcopalian community and they’re among the least offensive Christian churches. So she’s ok.

According to Mazar Lesbian Archives Ann may have frequented the Green Door in North Hollywood

R64 I wonder what went on in that room with the dirty carpet.

@r61, " I do, however, remember that she deposited a check for a fairly small amount"

Must have been one of her Brady Bunch residual checks 😏

When I was starting grade school, LOVE THAT BOB reruns were on everyday. Ann was very funny as Bob's man-crazy secretary.....and of course Dwayne Hickman and Rosemary de Camp were also in the show......

I don't think she was paid enough for the Brady Bunch to afford living in a home in Beverly Hills. Most likely she had a small apartment close to Paramount Studio.

Ann B. Davis with her identical twin sister Harriet.

R75 Ann actually got the looks between the two.

[quote] Ann actually got the looks between the two

Either of them could have played the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz.

Imagine being "the ugly twin" to Ann B. Davis.

“B” for “Beaver.”

R63 It definitely wasn't a residual check, because I do remember checking to see if it was from ABC or a production company or SAG. I can't remember who issued the check, but it looked unremarkable. The amount was less than $500. I remember that, because back then, we had to put a hold on checks of $500 or more, and I was happy I didn't have to tell Alice that I was putting a hold on her check.

>>She certainly wasn't at any of my parties. >>—Robert Reed

She wasn't on my guest list, but she may have come to one of my parties... Sometimes the ladies brings a guest.

-Bea Benaderet

The B in Ann B. Davis stood for Butch.

Or Bulldyke.

She was a really groovy guy. Miss him.

^ Marsha was a clit tease.

The house shown in R64 gives me off-putting vibes. It just looks both so Brady and so...uncomfortable. The colors in the various rooms, the horrible 1980s easy chair in that bedroom, the ugly nasty kitchen... I think Ann did not live that great in her final decades. Maybe she should've munched the carpet instead of living on that horrendous blood-red carpet in the living room.

My ex's house gave me similar vibes. I can smell the mustiness and the leftover animal scent throughout the place. She and those religious nutjobs were obviously weird.

That living room is big enough to hold both worship services and orgies.

Does any human being really think that Ann B. Davis was NOT gay?

That’s like saying water might be wet

I can’t believe she was only 43 years old when The Brady Bunch started.

[quote]Ann B. Davis may have been a deeply closeted lesbian... according to Sherwood Schwartz.

WHO according to WHO?

R70 The woman on the far left looks like it could actually be Ann B Davis.

Shallowest deep closet in all christendom.

Thread closed she was a lesbian! It is common knowledge amongst those in the know, DL.

[quote] [R11] Why? They just had eyes and ears.

Oh my god! How horrifying. My parents had full faces, so foreheads, hair, cheeks, teeth, the whole thing. They just have been so scary to look at. I’m so sorry.

She was such an obvious lesbian, just like Nancy Kulp. Kulp was openly lesbian later in life, when the times had changed somewhat.

This was a perfectly acted scene by the two best performers on the show.

That *was* a sweet episode.

[quote]Nancy Kulp also made regular appearances on the Bob Cummings show. It was Lesbian Central!

My mother was NOT a lesbian!

Ann B. was the prettier one.