Orson Bean is Dead To Me

How horrible! At that age he deserves to drift away peacefully. Damn.

Yikes. What a way to go.

Married to Alley Mills, correct?

[quote]Married to Alley Mills, correct?

Yes. I was surprised they've only been married for 27 years. I thought it has been way longer than that.

He was jaywalking to the coroner’s office to pick up his body?

One less Trump voter!

What a way to go at 91!

Poor Alley Mills.

Not that anyone who's married to someone 25 years older isn't prepared for them to go at any time, but still.

Do not jaywalk. There's no excuse for being lazy and not crossing at a crosswalk.

Sorry to hear that. Always liked that guy.

Orson's big hit song

I must say, Orson Bean is a fantastic name.

He was great at Password.

(And wore an earring in 1985.)

Sorry, R4, that was poorly stated -- the link indicated the police were called at 7:35 p.m., but at the top of the 11:00 news the shots from the news helicopter showed the tent over his body in the street, a crowd gathering behind police tape, and the reporter noting that they were waiting for the coroner's office to arrive to remove his body. In flipping back and forth, I missed how awkward what I typed would seem.

[quote]Do not jaywalk. There's no excuse for being lazy and not crossing at a crosswalk.

Dementia? He was 91 after all.

I have safely jaywalked for decades; the real hazard is crosswalks where reckless or distracted drivers turn without regard for pedestrians.

I've got Ally McBeal coming up with us live to discuss the tragic death of her husband, Mr. Bean, who was apparently hit by two gondolas when he fell into the Venice Canal.

[quote]I have safely jaywalked for decades

Aversion to any physical activity beyond the minimum?

Orson Bean (born Dallas Frederick Burrows in Burlington, Vermont; July 22, 1928 – February 7, 2020)

Mr. Bean was crossing the road when he was Beaned.

Barbra Streisand's first appearance on television was in 1961 on NBC's The Jack Paar Show. Orson Bean was the guest host that evening.

R18. In addition to Barbra, Orson Bean's other guest were Phyllis Diller and Gore Vidal.

I was really sad when Diller and Vidal split up their act.

He was the last of the classic 1950s game show panelists ( "To Tell the Truth"), aside from Betty White, who appeared on most game shows.

Was surprised when I learned he was born in the U.S. He seemed to have a slight British accent when he spoke.

I used to live near the accident site. That's an extremely busy and wide street, way too risky for jaywalking.

Alas, yet he was already dead to me when he supported/donated to Prop H8.

If only Dr. Quinn had been there!

He wrote a book in the 1970s about achieving ultimate sexual satisfaction, controversial for its time.

He starred in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? on Broadway with Jayne Mansfield in the 1950s.

He was against gay rights including marriage.

He had a recurring role on "Desperate Housewives".

I saw him in a small play in Venice maybe 15 years ago. Bean was so good. I had a good friend in the play. Met him after. He was like a DLer. Just a prick. But dying by car sucks even for douchebags. Ouch.

R12, in my experience older people are the worse offenders in jaywalking, they expect everyone will stop but sometimes it is not possible....

I got a ticket for jaywalking in Los Angeles over 40 years ago. Of course jaywalkng was illegal, but, paradoxically, a motorist was also legally obliged to yield to any pedestrians as soon as they stepped off the curb.

R.I.P. Orson, whether he was a right wingnut or not. The Twilight Zone episode 'Mr. Bevis' was always one of my favorites, and it was great to see him with Mary Kay Place in 'Being John Malkovich'.

[quote]Poor Alley Mills.

Who the hell do you think was driving?!

Moved the family to Australia when he thought the US government was going to crash,

He was also in Broadway flop Illya Darling

R31, Why was a 91-year-old man crossing a very busy street alone at 7:30 PM in February darkness?

R35, And Subways Are For Sleeping with Carol Lawrence and Tony winning Phyllis Newman.

Fuck that homophobic piece of shit!

Am I the only one who remembers him donating money to destroy gay marriage and deny us our rights???

Good riddance!

Actor Orson Bean, who supported Proposition 8 and contributed money to the “Yes on 8” campaign, is now starring in a Noel Coward play about a closeted, gay writer.

It seems a little weird to us, but perhaps what's even stranger is that Edge LA, a gay web site that runs a flattering story about Bean and the play, fails to mention anything about the actor's position on Prop. 8, which took away the existing right of gays and lesbians to legally marry in California.

Instead, Bean comes off as some kind of gay ally, recalling how theater people have always thought gays are a-okay.

“Homosexuality was always accepted by those of us working in the theater,” Bean tells Edge. “For example, everyone knew Laurence Olivier was a homosexual — we didn't care even though it was against the law.”

Bean, though, is not nearly that blase when it comes to gay marriage.

In January, 2009, only two months after Prop. 8 was passed, Bean wrote an op-ed for the Big Hollywood blog. In it, the actor complains about taking heat for supporting the gay marriage ban, then explains how same sex marriage is “not a civil rights issue.”

“Seventy percent of African-American voters (all of whom, I'm sure, went for Obama) cast a ballot in favor of Prop. 8,” Bean writes. “They know it's not a civil rights issue. They believe in family values in that community. They've seen first hand what the assault on marriage results in. That's what Prop. 8 is trying to stave off: an attack on the institution of marriage itself. It's not about rights. Gay people already have all the rights of marriage; they've fought hard for them and they deserve them. What they want now is the WORD. And when a word means everything, it means nothing.”

Bean wraps up the piece by describing the anti-Prop. 8 marches in Los Angeles as a “war on democracy itself.”

My first thought was of Brad Pitt's character near the beginning of Meet Joe Black. Double whammy.

Additional details . . .

He leaves behind his wife, actress Alley Mills, who was performing on stage at the Pacific Resident Theatre, where she and Bean were both members. Bean was crossing the street shortly before 7 pm across from the theater, where he was on his way to see his wife's performance.

Was Alley Mills also anti-gay rights too? I would be sad to find out that Norma Arnold is a homophobe.

At 91 and still walking around like that? He was a spry old coot.

[quote]Bean was crossing the street shortly before 7 pm across from the theater, where he was on his way to see his wife's performance.

Did they wait until after the performance before telling the wife?

Go to amazon and read the first page or two of chapter one of Me and the Orgone.

Very creepy and very against "family values."

I saw him in the now also deceased Village (NYC) Chinese restaurant Charlie's Mom while dining with friends. I remarked to said friends, "Oh there's Orson Bean" They had no idea who I meant. My official induction into the Bronze Age.

RIP Orsen Bean...you lived a full life, lots of highs, lots of lows. Many posters are wondering like me, dementia, 91 years old alone, jaywalking? I also empathize with the ones that hit him.

He was a nasty, hateful wretch and good riddance.

Breitbart was his son-in-law and his politics followed suit. A Steve Bannon ass licker.

No excuses for these fascists.

He went from a free spirit to right wing crank. Perhaps he spent too much time following ideas/people like Summerhill, Wilhelm Reich, etc.

I *just* saw him a few days ago on an episode from this season of Grace and Frankie.

[quote]Was Alley Mills also anti-gay rights too? I would be sad to find out that Norma Arnold is a homophobe.

I've wondered about Alley's views on gay rights. Is she also a Trump supporter?

If he was so anti-gay, why did they hire him on "Will and Grace?"

r27 And Mr. Arlene Francis, in the legitimate theater!

People in California, unlike DC and New York, generally don't jaywalk.

This street isn't part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame is it? Because there's a kind of efficiency if it is.

[quote] If he was so anti-gay, why did they hire him on "Will and Grace?"

Because it was and is a disgustingly homophobic minstrel show designed to get parents to trans their gay sons to keep them from turning into Jack McFarlands.

[italic]Modern Family[/italic] is just as bad if not worse for that tr-nskid propaganda. Hollywood is not pro-gay, just pro-“alphabet people” shakedown groups.

[quote] Why was a 91-year-old man crossing a very busy street alone at 7:30 PM in February darkness?

I know this one, Dorothy !! To get to the other side 🤣!!!!!

He was interviewed on the Gilbert Gotfried podcast not too long ago and was very lucid. He did ask if he could talk about Donald Trump and the hosts said “Let’s not”.

When I was a kid I remember my mother mentioning he’d been on Johnny Carson and was talking about opening a school where the children could attend in the nude, which must have been the Summerhill school mentioned upthread. She thought he was pervy. I tried to imagine the cute boys in my class coming to school naked.

.

[quote] Why was a 91-year-old man crossing a very busy street alone at 7:30 PM in February darkness?

To get a nice fresh taco at Señor Sombrero.

I just watched a week of Super Password shows, He was a smart and clever player. Sorry to hear about his anti-gay politics, I hope he changed his mind by the end.

Alley was a huge peace and love hippie herself. It's probably why they were attracted to each other.

[quote]He went from a free spirit to right wing crank.

Which is ironic, given that his father was a founding member of the ACLU.

Of course he has AIDS and this is another convenient way to cover it up.

Alley Mills must be devastated. I hope the B&B cast is there for her in her time of need with some lemon bars.

Well, at least the Wu Flu didn’t get him.

Subways Are For Sleeping. He was nominated for a Tony Award and this was his big comic song.

Illya Darling. He was Not nominated for a Tony Award.

R65, At least he outlived Kirk Douglas.

This is the same way that Ben Vereen died.

Imagine getting to be that old and being killed accidently.

It's like the 95 year old woman who didn't hear from her 75 year old daughter for two days. She called a neighbor to see what's up and her daughter was murdered. Imagine getting to be that old and outliving your child.

Ben survived his accident.

R69, Ben is still alive but I get it. It wasn't Venice but PCH where he was hit.

Gene Reynolds, Kirk Douglas, Orson Bean. That is three 90 year old + deaths in just a few days.

Fuck him. He turned into a deplorable. Flush

No dementia R12. He was in a play with his wife just last week.

Uhhh, Ben Vereen isn’t dead, Rose.

I'm not surprised this happened on Venice Blvd -- or west of the 405 in general. Those bitches will hit you with their car and then drag your lifeless body for a mile, only stopping when they've reached their destination.

When I was very young I appeared on To Tell the Truth pretending to be a young scientific genius. The panelists were Kitty Carlisle, Peggy Cass, Orson Bean, and Tom Poston. Afterward everyone was very nice to us, except Mr. Bean, who was an asshole,. and even at that age I could see that the others didn't like him much.

[quote]It's like the 95 year old woman who didn't hear from her 75 year old daughter for two days. She called a neighbor to see what's up and her daughter was murdered. Imagine getting to be that old and outliving your child.

I remember reading about that case. I wasn't a fan of John McCain. But, I felt quite sad for his 107 year old mother at the funeral.

Yes, I'm still alive and that cunt David Foster was the one who hit me with his car.

The Angry Old White Men are dying-off.

R79... outta curiosity I Googled. She's still alive and turned 108, yesterday.

Christ, I'm really going to have to work for this, aren't I?

So weird. My husband’s grandfather was hit by a bus at age 91. There’s something about men in their 90s, I guess, thinking “Fuck it. They’ll stop for me.”

R82 I did the same too. Her daughter also died last year at age 85.

Hit by two cars. Well, go big or go home. And Orson did both.

I already liked him before I knew of his politics. I'm displeased, but the views of many people of that generation were set in stone. I'm sure you lot remember Susan Hayward hated queers, and Orson would already have been 40 when Stonewall happened. Mamie Van Doren just turned 89, and she, on the other hand, is a genuine progressive. Everyone can't be Mamie.

A good time for this reminder. Those of you gentle readers of a certain age will certainly remember this.

Has anyone checked on his brothers, Black, Kidney and Lima to see how they are taking the news of his passing?

No, R89, and no one checked on Pinto or String either. Bean was not his birth name.

90 replies and no "Ground Bean" joke?

R33 LOL!!!

I never knew Susan Hayward was anti-gay. Does this mean an end to Helen Lawson jokes?

They murdered Ben on Hot In Cleveland.

[quote]When I was very young I appeared on To Tell the Truth pretending to be a young scientific genius. The panelists were Kitty Carlisle, Peggy Cass, Orson Bean, and Tom Poston. Afterward everyone was very nice to us, except Mr. Bean, who was an asshole,. and even at that age I could see that the others didn't like him much.

More details, r78! I'm obsessed with the TTTT and What's My Line? channels on YouTube.

Despite Orson Bean's reported wit and skill, he's actually awful on TTTT — each time the questioning falls to him he has to make some joke to demonstrate what a clever boy he is, or rambles on without even managing one question. Plus he smirks at his own "wit." Carlisle, Cass and Poston manage to be entertaining while still playing the game.

I watched many episodes of "To Tell the Truth" and "What's My Line" on Buzzr when it was shown late nights on weekends (and also in the mornings, I think). Now Buzzr is showing the early '70s syndicated episodes of both, which are in color but not as much fun (although Arlene Francis, thankfully, is still on the WML panel).

In watching the old episodes of "To Tell the Truth," I was always disappointed when Johnny Carson turned up as a guest panelist, which he did fairly often. He acted the same way as you described Orson Bean, R95. Always making jokes instead of playing the game, to show how clever he was. Worse, Carson was very condescending toward the contestants and often made jokes at their expense.

Is Billy Porter considered the new Ben Vereen?

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[quote] Was Alley Mills also anti-gay rights too? I would be sad to find out that Norma Arnold is a homophobe.

[quote] I've wondered about Alley's views on gay rights. Is she also a Trump supporter?

Anyone who contributed to Marco Rubio's PAC "Reclaim America" is probably against gay rights, which she did. Looking at donation records, Orson did the majority of contributions. It's a whole catalog of right wingers. He was a BIG Rubio supporter. After he dropped out, he switched to Christie. Eventually Trump. (He recently donated money to Mills' castmate, Trumpette Kimberlin Brown-Pelzer, who LOST .. lol!)

R95 -- my family knew some of these panelists; one of them was my godfather. So when I was three I was on I've Got a Secret. Did TTTT and another two which are defunct, gone forever.

Sometimes my parents would have a party and a number of these people would be there. They all drank like crazy. Martinis, Gibsons, Manhattans for the women. Martinis, Scotch, and Bourbon for the men. Lots and lots of cigarettes. A few of the men went for cigars. Eventually the living room seemed like a scene from The Fog. And the women, I remember, wore incredible amounts of make-up. It would flake off when they'd bend down to kiss my brother and me. We'd have to wash our shoulders afterward. Even at that age Kitty Carlisle already looked rather embalmed. Peggy Cass was delightful. She was also nicest to the young 'uns. Betsy Palmer would give us her olives from her drinks. The men drank, swore, and made suggestive leering remarks about women. It was the late 50s.

Damn, I liked Alley Mills on The Wonder Years. Too bad she's in the Trumpster Dumpster...

Didn't that homophobic right-wing asshole Ron Silverman get taken out by a car too? Cars must really have it out for old bigots.

R72, And David Foster was the driver who hit him.

My father ran into him in a NYC bar in the early ‘60s. They had a good conversation, apparently.

[quote] Is Billy Porter considered the new Ben Vereen?

No, Billy Porter is the new Zara Cully.

I didn't know any of this about Orson Bean. I saw him last year in a musical version of Prelude to a Kiss that a friend dragged me to in Orange County. It was terrible. But I'm shocked to hear that Craig Lucas (who wrote the book to this) would work with such a homophobe.

[quote](He recently donated money to Mills' castmate, Trumpette Kimberlin Brown-Pelzer, who LOST .. lol!)

lol I still remember Kimberlin's awful speech at the 2016 RNC.

I'm completely grossed out by all this dirt on Bean.

He's worked with gay directors, writers and producers over the years. It's sad he didn't think they deserved the same rights as him.

So sorry

Right wing shill. We’re better off.

In all seriousness, I've known a few men like this in my life. They were more liberal when they were youthful, open to trying new things. Reading the hot philosophers.

My friend's dad was Mr. Ideas and came across as so liberal, such a hippie, reading Isaac Asimov and just being The Cool Dad. But all that was predicated on the world remaining as it was, with women, brown folks and gay people staying on the perimeters. Most of those guys followed the same path as Bean did, and became hard right assholes in the last 10-20 years.

They had their young fun, their flexibility, all the gay fucking they wanted and four wives, and now they wag their fingers at others for doing the same.

which ha been true in every generation since Pliny the younger complained about Pliny the elder

sorry bronze age gay

Susan Hayward hated effeminate men...all of her husbands were a bit macho. I met a guy who was a former actor who claimed he met her when she was in NYC in talks to do MAME. she was sweet, he said and they went bar hopping. She could really knock them back too.

Dallas Burrows sounds like a gay porn star name.

Alley Mills was a Buddhist for decades but converted to hardcore Reborn Xtianity several years ago because of her husband.

MAGAts and Trumpers.

She was let go from contract status on B&B two years ago and barely has appeared since.

Nobody cares what was on his iPod?

I don't get how people can swing so wildly from one extreme to the other. And just because of a man? Sure, I know it's common to become more conservative as we get older, but when someone changes their views that much, it makes me think they never had any real convictions to begin with. Just an empty vessel going along with the status quo in whatever circle they happen to be in at the time.

[quote]Nobody cares what was on his iPod?

Crash Into Me - Dave Matthews Band

Jaywalking is usually safer than intersection crosswalks as far as I'm concerned, especially when there's a median in the middle to wait half way. You only have to deal with people driving in a straight line in two directions. At the intersections where the crosswalks are, you've got lights, cars coming from four directions, people turning without looking, and no one obeying any of the signals. I'll take my chances jaywalking.

[quote] He recently donated money to Mills' castmate, Trumpette Kimberlin Brown-Pelzer, who LOST .. lol!

[quote] lol I still remember Kimberlin's awful speech at the 2016 RNC.

I went back and looked again, and Alley also donated to Kimberlin under her married name, "Alley Bean."

Maybe Kimberlin sent them a bushel of rotten avocados.

Good riddance to bad rubbish

Killed in car crash at 91! That is the saddest way to go.

As a youngster watching TTTT and other panel shows and talk shows....I dreaded when his face would show up on the screen. As another poster upthread said, he didn't play the game he tried to be clever and joke just made as ass out of himself.

I would like TTTT when Polly Bergen or Peggy Cass would give him the side eye....

Professional naysayer and bore.....sorry he's dead.....but television would have been better without him.

For those who live in that neighborhood is it a dangerous crossing?

[quote]I don't get how people can swing so wildly from one extreme to the other. And just because of a man?

I've seen a similar situation with my brother. He was a conservative who voted for GWB twice and then when he got with his far left wife-- he changed his political affiliation to Democrat. Both are hardcore Bernie Sanders supporters and are annoying as fuck.

I knew a guy who was all in for Bernie in 2016. Now he's a full MAGAtard.

r127, see r23.

He always pinged for me, at least as bi. But being from that generation, the self-loathing must have been egregious. The earring must have been a desperate plea for... something.

He once told a story on Merv about when he and some straight friends went to a gay bar as a lark. Someone kept pinching him on the butt and he was sure it was one of the gay guys there. So he says he pinched him back, and the guy turned around with a big smile.

He told his friends about it later, and the woman he was with confessed that she was the one pinching him.

In the super password episode I just saw, he mentioned that he just moved to Venice. Who knew that 35 years later he would get run down and killed in the same neighborhood he called home for so many years.

Marriage is not a right, can someone explain why American gays are so endlessly obsessed with it?

Has Deb Messing commented yet?

Eileen Brennan was also in Venice when she was hit by a car in 1982. Really fucked her up for years afterwards.

I knew a girl who heard that most accidents happen within a mile of the home…

Driving or walking in LA/downtown LA is scary as hell. Trying to get off an exit with everyone doing 85 to 95! Yikes.

On a separate note, LA theatre sounds dreadful

Geez, the guy looked like he's about to die back in the "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman" days. To be honest I thought he was already dead.

I was a big fan of Dr Quinn Medicine Woman so remember him from that. I had no idea he was married to Allie Mills. His death reminds me of the mathematician guy John Forbes Nash who was killed in a car crash with his wife, they were both in their 80s.

[quote] In the super password episode I just saw, he mentioned that he just moved to Venice. Who knew that 35 years later he would get run down and killed in the same neighborhood he called home for so many years.

He died the way he lived - as a car wreck

I was just watching a To Tell the Truth episode circa 1973 and thinking he was the only still-living person.

Betty White appeared as a guest panelist on "To Tell the Truth" occasionally, R143, even back in the '50s.

Too bad he turned out to be a Limbaugh-loving douche

Just last weekend I was watching one of the early '70s episodes of "What's My Line?" on Buzzr, and Orson Bean was the mystery guest. No one guessed who he was, not even legitimate theater expert Arlene Francis. Anyway, then-host Larry Blyden asked him why he had returned from Australia. Bean brushed the question off, saying something like, "You know how it is, you fall in love, you fall out of love." Then I read in one of his obituaries yesterday that at one point in the early '70s he moved his family to Australia because he thought the U.S. government was on the verge of collapse.

R144, I was referring to the Buzzr shows from the ‘70s. Bean was the last survivor of that iteration of the series.

And, R146, Larry Blyden’s death was also car-related.

Excuse me! What am I, chopped liver?

Venice is an odd choice of neighborhood for someone who thought like him.

I met him a few times through Alley. I have pals in the soap world.

He was always very nice and she was so clearly in love with him.

I didn't know his politics; my odds of finding a guy to marry, someone who will love me and someone I love as well, are not great; but if I were to find him and this guy thinks I don't have the right to marry?

No.

RIP, Orson.

R127, I live in LA, not near the site, but I've been to that area at night; to see Orson on stage, ironically.

I recall it being dark without a lot of traffic lights and the streets are wide.

I saw the report on my local news, not knowing the decedent could be actually someone I'd met a few times.

[quote]Venice is an odd choice of neighborhood for someone who thought like him.

I'm guessing he found a good real estate deal many years ago and just decided to stay put.

R137 Venice is SO far from downtown LA it's comical, but I get your point.

[quote]Eileen Brennan was also in Venice when she was hit by a car in 1982. Really fucked her up for years afterwards.

It's the Will & Grace curse!

Watch out Matt Bomer!

[quote]Both are hardcore Bernie Sanders supporters and are annoying as fuck.

Redundant.

I live in Santa Monica; Venice is the next town over (for you non-locals). Venice Blvd. is a heavily traveled street. He should not have been crossing by himself in the dark. I thought I read in the local paper that his wife was appearing on stage in the theater there, so that's why he was alone, having parked his car and crossing to get back (why at 91 was he still driving?). What's really weird is that a friend of mine talked about seeing him in a play where he played the role of a priest role (at a little local theater called the Ruskin near the Santa Monica airport) and the theater is so small that his priestly garb brushed against her as he passed. It's so weird--that was just last week that she talked about it.

I think I remember reading that wacko book of his years ago--he was a devotee of the eccentric and famous (at one time) psychiatrist, Wilhelm Reich IIRC, who was the creator of the so-called "orgone box" and that was the thing that improved Bean's sex life.

Because his daughter was married to Breitbart, does that guarantee that he shared the Breitbart politics? I have to google this.

[quote]Because his daughter was married to Breitbart, does that guarantee that he shared the Breitbart politics?

I read that he wrote some articles for Breitbart.

I always thought that Alley was a dyke.

[quote]And, R146, Larry Blyden’s death was also car-related.

I don't recall the details, but I do remember hearing that there were a lot of questions surrounding Blyden's death, which was initially reported as a from a car crash and that his body wasn't found for a while. But there may have been foul play. Perhaps someone else knows more about it.

Why was Blyden in North Africa anyway?

R133 needs to jaywalk in Venice.

Asshole.

I heard the second car went right over his head.

Poor driver.

[quote] Because his daughter was married to Breitbart, does that guarantee that he shared the Breitbart politics? I have to google this.

R157 If you google it, you'll probably discover that Orson is the one credited for turning Breitbart to the right. This is direct from breitbart.com:

Pacific Resident Theatre. Attached is a link to their website. He was a company member.

R161, He was on vacation.

Linking to Breitbart is a bad idea, folks. I realize it's part of the story, but.....just don't.

He held a special place in my life. When I was a teenager, a friend was really enthralled by his book "Me and the Orgone," his paean to the cult of Wilhelm Reich. It dealt with sex, so, naturally it was appealing to teenagers.

One of the topics that stood out to me was that of whether or not to circumcise his son. In those days, everyone in America seemed to circumcise their sons. So, for some reason or another, Bean decided that his son, unlike himself, should not be circumcised.

I had no idea at the time what circumcision was. But from his book I learned it involved trimming off some part of the penis.

Looking at my own penis, I was kind of baffled about what part could be so easily removed.

Hanging out at the home of my parents' best friends, I cam across a copy of "Harper's Bazaar" magazine. The cover was a photo of a naked baby with two band-aids covering up its genitals. The cover story was about circumcision. While Mom and Dad were getting drunk with their friends, I perused the article. What I gleaned from it was that the author hung around a lot of gay bath-houses where he found most of the men there were circumcised and, therefore, circumcision caused homosexuality. I thought this was silly because I was homosexual and yet, my penis was, as far as I knew, intact.

So I'm in junior high school and in the locker room and there's lots to be oogled there (don't know if this still happens) but I'm all focused on getting the chance to check out this guy, Scott. He's about 5'2", like the rest of us, weighs about 140 pounds, is sexually attractive as a pound of pastrami, but I'm dying to check him out. Why? Because he's Jewish. And I've learned that Jewish guys are circumcised. I wanted to see what the fuss was about.

Thank God I get a glimpse of Scott's penis and things get really confusing. What did I have he don't have now?

It's horrible what I came up with, what a circumcision would involve. Finally, I assumed that it involved the removal of what we call the "corona," figuring that I hadn't seen the true extent of Scott's mutilation.

Luckily, before too long, I overheard my mom telling someone that her obstetrician didn't charge for my circumcision. (Why the hell was this such a big conversation in those days?). Things turned sort of inside-out for me. It explained why everyone's penis in the showers looked the same (though some poor guys had rather short ones).

So this is why Orson Bean's death means a little to me. Hearing his support for prop six doesn't make me glad he's gone, but it helps me chuckle about the way he went.

About a half block up one direction from the theatre, there's a pedestrian crosswalk with designated yield signs. A half block the other way, there's an actual traffic light allowing standard crossing at an intersection with the light.

So it's Los Angeles, Friday night, a very busy six-lane boulevard, and you're 91-years old. Do you really want to jaywalk?

This is why you don't do this. He could have caused a different kind of accident where two or more cars collided causing injury or death, because drivers were trying to avoid HIM.

btw - I hope the unfortunate drivers are doing okay. Hitting and killing someone -- even when it's not your fault -- can be an extremely traumatic experience. I know someone who went through this awful experience -- totally blameless -- but not only did they almost have a nervous breakdown over it, it was followed by months and months of depression. It's been years since, but I'm told there's still the occasional nightmare, and not a day goes by when they don't think about it.

[quote][bold]My father ran into him in a NYC bar[/bold] in the early ‘60s. They had a good conversation, apparently.

Second time was the charm, I guess.

R163 Everything went over Orson's head Rose.

Better him than me.

I could never go so quick.

It lacks the drama & attention that I seek.

Holy shit, hit by not one but two cars. What a way to go.

[quote]In addition to Barbra, Orson Bean's other guest were Phyllis Diller and Gore Vidal.

And every eldergay on Datalounge took to their chaises longues, lightheaded from the sudden memories of days long past.

His Desperate Housewives co star Kathryn Joosten probably couldn't stand him.

She was so pro-gay rights as well as left wing (& funny in this brief interview on 8-4-2010).

Hard to believe that she has been dead for almost 8 years now =

He's been dead to me for more than three decades, so this "news" comes as a small surprise.

Given his background, it's not surprising that he became a wingnut---he'd gone from one extreme to another and embraced cranky ideas like Reich's orgone energy.

"I still dream of Organon..."

His head popped like a melon.

Horrible.

I remember on Bob Costas last night interview show Bean was discussing his time on The Facts of Life and said something nasty about Mindy Cohn. He didn't enjoy being on the show except for working with Cloris. I've disliked him ever since. Nasty bastard.

When I watched "To Tell the Truth" as a kid, he was always my least favorite panelist.

I loved Kitty Carlisle and her "Traviata" gowns, of course.

SOPHIA: I don't want to be killed at my age. That would be like being tackled on the one yard line.

I saw the story on the news last night. From the videos it looked like there was a crosswalk about 30 feet away from the accident. Maybe that could’ve made a difference?

R183

R183 It depends some people don't slow down at crosswalks.

[quote]Maybe that could’ve made a difference?

I think it's safe to say that jaywalking is a very bad idea for anyone over 90.

[quote]I remember on Bob Costas last night interview show Bean was discussing his time on The Facts of Life and said something nasty about Mindy Cohn

Yeah it was bad. And he should've expected Mindy to push everyone out of the way and eat the entire buffet herself, anyway.

[quote] Of course jaywalkng was illegal, but, paradoxically, a motorist was also legally obliged to yield to any pedestrians as soon as they stepped off the curb.

Only if they’re in a crosswalk. That of course doesn’t mean they can legally run them down, but they won’t get a citation for not yielding.

[quote] Nobody cares what was on his iPod?

Obviously all the albums of The Cars.

[quote] in my experience older people are the worse offenders in jaywalking,

Oh, dear!

I don't know, R183.

But his wife (Excuse me. Widow.) said it sounded just like this.

I think was on his iPod R119 =

Dead Man's Curve

"Highway Star" by Deep Purple

Bitchin' Camaro

Lord, Mr. Ford (What Have You Done?)

Only two cars? Homophobes should be hit by three cars at minimum.

Kirk Douglas, Orson Bean, just saw where Robert Conrad died. Not a good week for old time actors.

R197 And one of them should be filled with the drag queens from "To Wong Foo"

Good article from LA Times.

on his iPod

and....

Just....a little.....

and lastly

Who knew Orson Bean would be so popular ... in death

White Bean Soup

I've got the brains...

It wasn't two cars. It was someone who knew who he was and came back to run over him twice.

He ran into my car

TEN TIMES!

If you'd have been there, if you'd have heard it

I betcha you would have done the same!

Get Smashed Gate Crash

Judith Borne, publicist for the theater, said Bean was on his way to meet his wife, Alley Mills, who was volunteering as an usher, to watch a production of Arthur Miller’s play “All My Sons.” He had parked on the opposite side of the street and was crossing alone.

“Many of us do this, including the audience,” Borne said. “The crosswalk is out of the way. Many people … just cross” the lanes.

I jaywalk all the time, but I try to be extremely cautious. If I got hit, It'd be my fault.

Bean’s death comes as new figures show that the number of people killed in car crashes in Los Angeles remains stubbornly high. In 2019, four years after Mayor Eric Garcetti launched the Vision Zero initiative to eliminate traffic deaths on city streets, 244 people died.

Is that really a LOT in a city of 4 million?

R205, I know, right?

Poor Alley. Now she'll just be left to flick her Bean.

I think a lot of the increase in pedestrian deaths has to do with distracted driving. Too many people on phones -- talking and texting.

....

Personally, I would rather die than sit through another production of "All My Sons."

Right wing trash who was besties with Limbaugh, opposed not just marriage equality, but most rights that gay people worked towards. Hopefully Satan is fucking him in hell.

Hard pass.

What was on his iPod? I think the question is 'which 45s were on his record changer?'

Just for you, R181.

91 yrs old crossing a street at night ....Must’ve had a death wish

He played the anti-gay father on the John Goodman show Normal, OH. I guess he was palying to character.

R220, the publicist for the theater in the LA Times article is Judith Borne.

She played 'Angela Forrester' - aka Deveny Dickson (we never knew her real name) on B&B, the show on which Alley now recurs.

Hopefully, Brad will throw her some work to keep her busy.

R224 Wow!

*it's a small world plays in background*

During Prop 8 he was doing a Noel Coward play and said about playing a closeted character:

[quote]"This story couldn’t be timelier," said Orson Bean, the veteran stage and television actor who plays the closeted writer in the current production at the Odyssey Theatre through March 7, "Because right now, with Prop-8 and ’Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ this is the next big thing to happen to society."

How funny that all the while he was a supporter and donor for Pro 8.

During Prop 8 he was doing a Noel Coward play and said about playing a closeted character:

[quote]"This story couldn’t be timelier," said Orson Bean, the veteran stage and television actor who plays the closeted writer in the current production at the Odyssey Theatre through March 7, "Because right now, with Prop-8 and ’Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ this is the next big thing to happen to society."

How funny that all the while he was a supporter and donor for Pro 8.

That was part of Noel Coward in Two Keys. I saw that with Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn and Anne Baxter.

Fabulous, R221. Thank you ever so.

I know people change as they age - and their appearances change. But he looks like a different person at the end, with almost no resemblance to how he appeared at, say, age 40.

Um, the difference between 40 and 91 is 51 years. You expected him to look the same?

Yes!

R231 I meant, he'd obviously look way older. But an older version of himself.

His face changed a lot and I wouldn't recognize him as an older version of that same guy.

[quote] I know people change as they age - and their appearances change. But he looks like a different person at the end,

You’re not kidding.

R95 I watched many of the old episodes of 'To Tell the Truth" when they were airing reruns, and I have to say, he's my least favorite panelist on the show. Rather annoying actually.

I was telling my Mom about his death. I said I mainly remember him from 70s game shows. I told her I don't know he was the smartest guy in the room, but he sure acted like he was, She said, yes that was him alright. Now I read some comments and see I was right in my memories.

Don't look at me.

Well, of course look at me! But I didn't do it.

I'd like to see that Noël Coward play, a song at twilight, I wonder if it is ever revived

I met Orson Bean once back in the mid-80s, when my roommate dated his son, Max. He seemed like a crotchety 91-year old man, even back then. (I suspect he disapproved of my roommate, who was "white-adjacent"). But Max was fun! Tripped my face off with him (LSD) one night!

He was around a long time, so lots of people remember him and he had this wacky bio--I mean Summerhill, Reich, wingnut crap. And this seemingly odd way to go at 91--you expect a coronary in the parking lot, not getting hit while jaywalking.

Orson had heard that Robert Conrad was not feeling well and he was crossing the intersection with a green bean casserole when he was hit.

He heard that Kirk Douglas has passed and was bringing matzoh ball soup over to his widow, on his way to Beverly Hills when he was hit.

He had heard about Kobe and made a wonderful meatloaf for his wife and kids, was on his way jaywalking down to Newport Beach when....screech!

White Bean Soup

R239, i wish you had said "my female roommate" or "my male roommate" so i wouldn't have to wonder and ask...

Apologies, R245. My *female* roommate.

[quote] Now I read some comments and see I was right in my memories.

In your memories, perhaps. In your syntax, oh no!

Was the female roommate the one who ended up married to Breitbart?

No, R248.

p.s. It was Orson Bean's daughter who married Breitbart.

"Sorry to hear about his anti-gay politics, I hope he changed his mind by the end."

I think it's safe to say that by the end, his sole thought was, "Holy shit. That car isn't going to stop."

Well, it was the ultimate expression of "liberty" which wingnuts like him carry on about---both the jaywalking and the driver mowing him down.

One less Trump voter....

I hope that the driver of the car that struck him was gay and was getting a hummer from a male hustler while he was driving. 😈

Back in the late 1960s, Bean frequently played Finch in summer stock and regional productions of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. I remember this because I was living in North Carolina at the time and he played Finch for several weeks in Charlotte. it became a big story in the regional press because the set designer designed it with a stage raked nearly 45 degrees and the dancers kept falling into the orchestra pit and some were injured. Equity or OSHA or local authorities, I can't remember who, finally had to step in and force them to change the set during the run.

I am a fount of useless knowledge.

Wrong part of town, r193.

256 replies.

[quote] Venice is an odd choice of neighborhood for someone who thought like him.

R150 I believe I've read he bought the place In Venice back in the 80s, which may have been before he switched to conservative. (One of the local papers said he began identifying conservative "in the 90s.") .. In any event, there were probably other reasons for him to stay put. He not only owned the one home there, but at some point, he bought the place next door, as well as another adjacent cottage, so he formed something of a secluded "compound." Reports say he and Mills often had someone visiting them. Plus, he and Mills were active in both the theatre near where he died, and just up the block from the theatre is the Lutheran Church where they were members. (Missouri Synod, of course, which fits with the anti-gay marriage stance.)

I can't imagine there being enough Missouri Synod Lutherans around there to support a church between the hipsters and the gangbangers.

I’m still getting over that r257 counted all the replies.

R259 Yeah, their "Men's Bible Study" meets at the French Market Cafe on Abbot Kinney two Saturday mornings a month. Looks to be mainly old white guys.

261.

Is that connected to the late, lamented French Marketplace in WeHo?

R263 No. The French Quarter Restaurant in WeHo's French Market Place was opened by Tom Simms, Sr. back in 1973. (His sons, Tom, Jr. and Mike, still run some restaurants in SoCal as the "Simms Restaurant Group".) The French Market Cafe in Venice was opened by Agnes Martinez in 1993.

She was a good girl, no one can live forever.

You bumped an old thread for THAT?

I'm not reading all 266 replies, so I apologize if this was already said, but seeing him on 1970s and 1980s game shows on Buzzr, he came off as an asshole. Very sexist, always trying to be funny, and just annoying. I'm not sure what Wayne and Kevin's mother saw in him.