Is Tony "Head of the Class" O'Dell a gay?

Tony O'Dell Facebook

Tony O'Dell shirtless in Otherworld

Yes, per DLers who'd see him out and about in L.A.

Yes I kissed him in the early 90s and I am a male.

Was he fat or thin back then?

[quote]O'Dell was 26 years old when the series started and 31 when it ended.

A bit young to be playing a high school student, don'tcha think?

^^Ha ha, I'll say!

It's "Ha ha ha! I'll say."

He's a short lil fucker.

He looks like a cute little pocket gay.

Perhaps he can take over for Leslie Jordan...

I thought he pinged massively on HOTC and that he was cute.

Just a confirmed bachelor fella, that's all.

Yes, he's gay.

Of course he's gay! Everyone knows that.

He worked on the George Lopez Show according to his IMDB profile.

You would think now that gay slur loving George has no power over him, O'Dell would give him a good talking to on behalf of us.

Speak up Tony! Don't take his crap!

He looks good for 55 (though he could lose 15 pounds).

Gayer than a spring frock at a cotillion.

Holy shit, did you guys see that HOTC "reunion photo" he posted? The actor who played Arvid looks like he's about 70!

I think he's cute.

Wasn't he also a lesser known member of the Cobra Kai?

There were rumors he was molested by the fat kid (can't remember his name).

Hide your kids! Hide your wives! The fat Kid is molesting everybody up in here!

Whatever happened to the nerdy little girl in the class? I think she was supposed to bring the cute factor but failed miserably.

Also, did that fat molester guy get a boner when she was rubbing against his belly during this photo shoot?

I never realized John Wayne Gacy played the principal

He looks incredibly good for 55. Very handsome still.

So cute and sexy on HOTC!!!!

R23 The "nerdy little girl" was Tannis Vallely, She was just 10 years old when the show began. She's now a casting director.

I loved HOTC as a kid. It was on long enough to get into syndication, but didn't get much of a run. I don't recall seeing it on TV anywhere since the 90s.

Overall I never really liked this show. Howard Hesseman seemed miserable from day one and none of the students was very interesting or likable. You could tell Robin Givens was a grade-A bitch from the moment she first appeared.

Robin Givens is the only one of the students to have a consistent acting career after HOTC though. The rest have worked very sporadically or have left acting all together and moved behind the scenes.

R18 Unfortunately I have to agree. I thought he'd have his nose taken care of by now. It could be used by the police as a battering ram. Was Tony the only gay on that show? I thought there was also another guy who was.

Has robin givens done anything of note since the 90s?

I would say Brian Robbins had the best career after the show

R30, his nose always made me hot. I've always had a fetish for big honkers like that on a guy. It's a shame he's aged so badly, especially when Tony looks like he's actually gotten younger.

R31 She's works consistently as an actress, but no, nothing really great in a while. I meant that she has gotten the most work acting wise of the HOTC alums.

Brian Robbins has been very successful as producer/director. So yes, I would say he is most successful of them overall. You can make a lot of money as a producer. Probably a very good move on his part giving up acting for that.

[quote]He worked on the George Lopez Show according to his IMDB profile.

As a DIALOGUE COACH.What the fuck is that anyway?

The guy who played the indian Jawaharlal has acted quite a bit. (see below)

Leslie Bega gave a memorable performance as the slutty senior throwing the back to school rager on the 90210 pilot

R35 I'm surprised more than any of them that she didn't have more of a career. She was pretty and a decent actress. Seen her in some low rent movie on HBO in the early 90s playing a hooker and she showed her tits and had sex scene or two.

Khrystyne Haje had a decent career for a about a decade after the show. Remember seeing her in an episode of L&O SVU but it flamed out around 2002-2003. She then did one other movie in 2009 and nothing since. Apparently she still does print modeling and occasional commercials.

Michael DeLorenzo had a pretty decent career after the show too, for awhile anyway. He had series regular roles on New York Undercover and Resurrection Blvd. Plus several other guest spots and movie roles. He left NYU on bad terms, supposedly Dick Wolf did his best to get him blacklisted.

Wasn't dalbonzo an add on late in the run along with that tragically homely daughter of dick Pryor?

R36 Khrystyne Haje has an Emmy Award on her shelf.

Was that Emmy in the category of most ridiculous alternative spelling of a name?

Apparently DeLorenzo took grooming tips from Richard Greco

I think Lorenzo was also private Santiago who received the code red in a few good men

Tannis Valley, young nerdy Janis, is (as was mentioned above) a successful casting director, and she had a cameo in an "Arrested Development" as a casting director who gets one of Tobias's glitter-filled headshot submissions.

R41 He was good looking when he was younger, but hasn't aged well. There is talk on his IMDb board that he is gay. Don't recall him ever being discussed here as being gay (or for anything else really lol) though.

DeLorenzo from his Fame days (and pre nose job). His nose job hasn't aged well either.

Michael Dilorenzo is gay. His former dancer life, his Barry Manilow plastic surgery, his gay walk.

Malik Yoba and Michael DeLorenzo

See the gay mafia story on HRT Thread (#1, I think). I recognized O'Dell at a gay party, yelled his name in recognition and he didn't like that one bit. Somehow it got back to my boss only two days later and, upon arrival to work, I was told never to do that again, it makes actors "uncomfortable". To say the least! Couldn't believe he'd been called about it. The power of that Gay Mafia.

I wonder if he and Tony O'Dell ever hooked up.

Omg that is so depressing what happened to Delorenzos face ?,supposedly him and Yoba were a couple I liked that show it was so 90s.

Ugh. Yes, Tanis Valley is a casting director, and a huge cunt. She took a disliking to me the first time I ever read for her, some years back. I read for her a couple of other times and she was never anything more than totally unpleasant.

She's a power-tripping bitch and I avoid her like the plague.

Forget 'Head Of The Class' ........

Tony's major claim to fame is 'Chopping Mall' about "teens" trapped in a mall after closing with killer security robots on the rampage.

With the even hunkier John Terlesky and Russell Todd. And featuring the faboo Kelli Maroney and Barbara Crampton

I remember that movie, R52. I love bad 80s horror movies. Tony was very "adorkable" in that.

And yes, John Terlesky and Russell Todd were very hot in that one too.

All the death scenes from 'Chopping Mall'

The one around 3:30 is pretty iconic amongst cheesy horror fare.

Haje won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Program

R51 = Soleil Moon Frye

Do you think he feels bad that he was so hot and now he's just fat?

Tony was also in a couple of first season episodes of Dynasty as the insufferable Lindsay Blaisdell ' s friend.

Of course Lindsay is the dearly departed daughter of that Blaisdell women, Claudia.

He's not that fat, R57. In fact I think he looks good for someone who will be 57 in a few weeks. I'd do him and I'm 20 year younger than him.

It's sad though that he's apparently friends with DL fave Sherri Sheppard.

[quote]He's not that fat, [R57].

Not if he was a regular person who was not smoking hot in his 30s. But for someone who once was he is.

Wasn't Tanis Valley where Indiana Jones found the Ark of the Covenant?

R58

Did Lindsay Blaisdale really die ? I remember her father Matthew (Bo Hopkins) returned at a later date. I just thought both of them lived. I must've been skipping Dynasty a lot at that point.

So much for Lindsay showing up at Dynasty: The Next Generation .......... oh hell, it's a soap, she can still turn up. Bring crazy, scarred Claudia with you.

Is no one gonna say anything about his hair piece?

The girl who played Sarah, starred in Bill Cosby's last attempt at feature film stardom, "Ghost Dad", she hasn't been heard from since.

That hairpiece is listed in the catalogue as the 'Bob Stack'

God, I loved CHOPPING MALL. I'm a horror fan and a huge fan of John Terlesky. The man was sex on a stick. He was shirtless in this! I thought O'Dell and Russell were cute, too. The movie looks unbelievably bad watching those death scenes now. John is another who has not aged well.

Remember me the way I was, R66

Me too ...

You're too good to me, R67!

I loved Alan. He was sexy and supposedly smart, although he didn't seem particularly gifted intellectually. I always assumed the others in the school must have been really stupid by comparison and the gifted class were what have been the B and C students elsewhere.

R41 Holy fuck! What did he do to his face?

[quote]The girl who played Sarah, starred in Bill Cosby's last attempt at feature film stardom, "Ghost Dad", she hasn't been heard from since.

I remember reading somewhere that she's married to some rich white guy and lives in Malibu. Guess she doesn't care about working anymore.

R59 I'm amazed by how many gay men hang out with that homophobic bitch (who says she does not believe in gay marriage). They must be fucking idiots.

Toward the end of the show's run, when Howard Hessman was replaced with Billy Connolly, wasn't most of the class also replaced? I remember Rain Pryor joining as a new student, but I thought most of the other original students had been replaced as well.

Terlesky doesn't look bad. Reminds me a bit of George Eads here. But hot damn, he was just SEX in his youth. So beautiful.

R73 She's not homophobic (a person who fears of gays) or she would be running away from O'Dell in that photo.

She's a hetero-supremacist (a straight person who believes that are in some way superior to someone of a different sexual orientation usually involving religion or politics).

She's so comfortable around gays she will condescending tell them in public (like on the View) that they can't be legitimately married, etc. & many gays like O'Dell & Mario Cantone will still kiss her bigoted *ss as that picture confirms. If they're not being idiots then they are self loathers like that Gay Mafia/party story seems to prove.

It's sad.

Tony definitely keeps questionable company.

R77 That seals the deal - he truly is a pathetic Z-list hanger-on.

[quote]Toward the end of the show's run, when Howard Hessman was replaced with Billy Connolly, wasn't most of the class also replaced?

I fucking HATED that Billy guy! They should've just cancelled the show as soon as Hessman left.

BTW, did Hessman ever say why he left after only 4 seasons? I remember it was very abruptly.

R77 Thanks for posting that photo. When Paris Hilton had her anti gay anti AIDS rant a few years back, does anyone think she had O'Dell in mind when she said it? Was that pic taken before or after that tirade? Does she have any famous gay/bi friends that could've been the reason for that scene? Charlie Sheen perhaps?

R80 it was taken before. He posted it on facebook on March 4, 2012 and Paris made her anti gay/AIDS rant in September of the same year.

She's a nasty piece of work and a racist too. She got caught on tape calling two black men "dumb n----s" after they walked away from her after asking her very nicely to model for their fashion line.

Hilton is just... The dark side of humanity (no pun intended)- and whats worse, she's terrible at sucking cock. Its the only skill she needs.

[quote]The girl who played Sarah, starred in Bill Cosby's last attempt at feature film stardom, "Ghost Dad", she hasn't been heard from since.

Unless you count playing Paula Patton's lesbian lover in Precious.

[quote]BTW, did Hessman ever say why he left after only 4 seasons? I remember it was very abruptly.

From Hesseman's imdb bio page:

[quote][on Head of the Class (1986)] We're not doing the show that I was led to believe I'd do, and it's difficult for me to get off that. I don't want to air dirty laundry in public, but I do feel that the educational arena is one that offers a variety of story ideas as a means of investigating our lives -what we mean to one another and what's important. We could do all that with considerable humor, not with jokes, but with genuine humor that comes out of character and situations.

I'm more surprised he lasted 4 seasons. Maybe he couldn't break his contract.

Does Tony have a bit of another race in him (not black cock in him but rather another racial background other than Caucasian)?

It's called a spray tan addiction...

R85, Caucasian, but not WASP. Tony's real name is Anthony Dell'Aquila. Straight up Italian.

Does me "typical human" give a shit?

I thought Hessman left because the show became more focused on the students and less on his character.

Michael DeLorenzo displaying his package in his Fame days.

"I'm more surprised he lasted 4 seasons. Maybe he couldn't break his contract."

I thought Hesseman was famous for working without a contract. Can't imagine anybody getting away with that today.

[quote] Tony's real name is Anthony Dell'Aquila. Straight up Italian.

That explains a lot.

HOTC was a mediocre show. I thought O'Dell was really cute but his character had nothing going for him.

The mini-cast overhaul took place at the start of the fourth season when the characters of Maria, Janice (thank god) and Jawarhalal were written off and replaced by some blonde chick and Short Round/Data from "Indiana Jones/Goonies" and DeLorenzo. Rainn Pryor had been around as recurring a few seasons prior to that point.

Lindsay Blaisdel stayed dead on Dynasty.

I always thought it was strange that O'Dell had the handsome leading man looks but was not given or made a romantic interest on HOTC, the Brian Robbins character was the heartthrob and he and Haje's character were the primary romantic duo. I would've thought they would've matched O'Dell's character up with Givens' Darlene, but maybe the mixed race thing might have been too controversial for the late '80s.

[quote]he Brian Robbins character was the heartthrob and he and Haje's character

Robbins had no lower lip or was it upper lip, either way he was missing one of them.

[quote]HOTC was a mediocre show.

I agree. I just found out that the highest it ever went in the ratings was #20. Not surprised.

And why was the classroom always so dark?

Tony is now an acting coach.

Tannis Vallely and Dan Schneider were smart go get jobs behind the scenes because obviously there would be limited roles available for them.

I think Brian Robbins would've had a decent career as an actor if he continued pursuing it, but he wouldn't have made nearly as much money as he makes as a director/producer.

Krhstyne Haj was beautiful and still is judging from the photos on O'Dell's site.

He looks more gay every year

Brian Robbins had no upper lip

[quote] I would've thought they would've matched O'Dell's character up with Givens' Darlene, but maybe the mixed race thing might have been too controversial for the late '80s.

After 10 years of [italic]The Jeffersons[/italic], gimme a break!

Antenna TV just started showing "Head of the Class." (The pilot was on yesterday.) It was rather ironic to hear Dan Schneider's character give an impassioned speech about women's rights and sexism.

As to OP's question, this thread can prove helpful in providing an answer.

In doing promo interviews for the show, Houseman complained about weak scripts. He was let go after that.

It wasn't on the same level of [italic]WKRP[/italic] or even with [italic]One Day at a Time[/italic] which was past its prime when he was on it. It was basically an average show that managed to be less objectionable than [italic]Who's the Boss[/italic] or [italic]Growing Pains[/italic], which were on the same network at the same time and were popular for no good reason whatsoever.

I think he is gay. I remember a friend worked in casting and had a crush on him and he seemed to think he was gay. I also saw him at my gym in Burbank in the 90s when I was young and cute and I thought he checked me out. I was too shy to respond but hopeful I'd see him there again but never did.

Sexy. Would fuck

[quote]One in a long line of Alex Keaton clones on 80s sitcoms,

Who else was an "Alex Keaton clone"?

Wow, I had no idea that Haje is almost ten years younger than O'Dell. She looks good, as does Russell.

And the poster who said Arvin looks 70 wasn't kidding. Holy cow! He looks like he did heavy drugs...

I hate Paris Hilton but Tony looks good in that pic. He looked like he didn't age that much from the show (at that point).

I’ve met him. He’s gay.

[quote]Who else was an "Alex Keaton clone"?

The guy from Thob

"Who else was an "Alex Keaton clone"?"

Jason Bateman

Nice ass and bulge.

I watched HOTC because I was a nerd and the right age. But, Welcome Back, Kotter was cooler.

I thought Robin Givens was BEAUTIFUL and was going to be a huge movie star.

Tight ass and great head giver. Loved bukkake.

News flash. People age. They look older. Nothing to see here. He looks great.

He was the Stockard Channing of the 80s