Gay Rumors That Actually Surprised You

Cesar Romero.

He played such a ladies' man for all those years. Who knew he secretly loved to have rent boys throw orange wedges at his bare ass?

He also fucked Sam Kinison. Seems Richard Pryor was full of surprises.

A Streetcar Named Desire Brando or The Island of Dr. Moreau Brando?

What's wrong with more to love, R3?

R2 Thank God it was Richard Pryor. At first I thought you meant Caesar Romero fucked Sam Kinison.

You may find this now-closed thread of interest.

Hasn't this exact same topic been a thread before?

Never mind--R6 beat me to it.

At the time, Aaron Hernandez.

[quote] Aaron Hernandez.

What a disappointment he turned out to be. So fucking hot and I didn't even know about the gay until he was charged with murder. And I was a DLer at the time. Were his "gaylavanting" escapades known to DL before we found out he was a murderer?

Any drug addicted straight guy will take it up the ass for a hit.

All you need is determination to take it up the ass. You don't need an erection.

R11 Why would you?

I was told that Bill Maher has a fetish for black dick.

R9, circa 2011, while watching a Patriots' game in mixed company, a random straight male acquaintance remarked: "that fool be gay as hell" in disparaging terms regarding Hernandez. Naturally, I was curious and pressed him as to why he thought that. All he said is that he 'everyone knows he likes dick.' Mmmmm, okay. I figured it was just a straight guy being jealous.

Little did I know, I guess.

R13, he does love Condi Rice, after all.

Reginald Veljohnson. I never once in a million years suspected that Carl Winslow wanted to top Urkel.

Definitely Aaron Hernandez. Here was a football player with a gang-related background with a girlfriend and kid who murdered her brother based on gang related activity.

It was definitely a shock. It was such a shock, it wasn’t even acknowledged for a long time after everyone found out.

R17, and there are many gay men who exist just like him.

How many is enough for you to proclaim there are many?

R19, can't we just go by social media? Look at that Houston DL list post went viral, those Aaron Hernandez situations are all over TikTok.

Mike Nichols. Outed in the biography on Avedon. They had a relationship and were in the closet their entire lives. Avedon did not want to be known as a gay photographer like Cecil Beaton. The author of the recent Nichols biography denies it. Well he has to.

R19, my whole entire life of knowing men like him.

Avedon and Nichols would have been fantastic as an out couple.

Jonathan Bailey for me. For some reason, he did not strike me as gay. I put it down to his incredible skill as an actor.

NPH. I had absolutely no idea he was gay until I first read about it here on DL. I guess because I never watched either of his TV series (Doogie and Mother) that I just never picked up on anything.

Thank you, R5 -

I thought the same thing when I read R2's post, and the mental picture was not pretty.

R5 R26 Haha, sorry to do that to you guys. There was no R1 when I posted.

[quote]he was supposedly bottoming for Marlon Brando

"Supposedly" being the operative word here. Repeat a few times and it becomes fact.

R25 is this a satire post? You could see the gay from two galaxies away at whatever age you were introduced to him.

[quote]Any drug addicted straight guy will take it up the ass for a hit.

#truth! I worked with this hot "straight" guy. We invited him to go on a camping trip and he asked if it was going to be all gay dudes and I said "mostly, yeah," and he smiled and turned me down. After he got hooked on crack but before he looked like a junkie, he told me at lunch one day that he and his (gorgeous) girlfriend did a three-way with his coke dealer. I asked him how that went, position-wise, and he told me "I went down on her and he fucked me up the ass."

Sherman Hemsley was a big surprise to me.

R30 Wow, my lunch conversation is more like, "You gonna eat that cookie?" "Nah, go ahead."

R31 Sherman was never a "big" anything.

R28, You doubt Quincy Jones?

Will Geer kind of surprised me.

Sammy Davis, Jr.; Earl Holliman; Raymond Burr; Daniel J. Travanti; Sherman Hemsley

R17 Aaron was so hot. And he had a huge dick, as you can see in many photos when he was in football tights. I would have loved to be his prison whore.

The Jesus one was a little surprising until I thought about it, sorta make sense.

Never underestimate the power of the DL…DownLow that is.

Yes it seems like some posters on here want everyone to be gay, and are constantly declaring “so and so” is secretly gay! And always followed by the “give it a rest” brigade, who seem offended by the very idea.. “Why he was married with 4 kids! How dare you!”

All I know is, in my own life, I’m often surprised by ostensibly “straight” guys who come out late in life, or secret drunken confessions whispered to me in confidence, or families that find out years after a loved one has passed about a secret gay life. Or the casual anecdote about youthful experimentation. My brother-in-law came out a year after my sister passed away(after 35 years of marriage and 2 kids)-much to my families shock.

I live as far away from hyper-sexualized Hollywood as it gets. And we all know that the arts attracts more than its share of the gays.

My real point is that you never really know. Anyone can be gay. Most people aren’t. Human sexuality is a complicated beast. Why are we still so hung up on this in 2025?

I've read on gossip sites some rumours about Aarron Eckhart.

What's the tea on him?

I've always thought he was a married man with tons of kids.

Earl Holliman

Never would have guessed

Frankie Grande for me. Was shocked when he ended up hooking up with his Big Brother co-star.

Edmund Gwenn

[quote]You doubt Quincy Jones?

Pryor's widow confirmed it, too. And Pryor also documented it in his diaries.

[quote]Jones first made the allegation in a wide-ranging interview with New York Magazine while talking about Brando’s sexual habits. “He’d fuck anything. Anything! He’d fuck a mailbox. James Baldwin. Richard Pryor. Marvin Gaye,” the producer said.

[quote]Pryor’s widow Jennifer Lee Pryor later corroborated Jones’s comments, telling TMZ that the comedian, who was openly bisexual, would be “cracking up” about his relationship with Brando being made public. “It was the 70s! Drugs were still good, especially Quaaludes. If you did enough cocaine, you’d fuck a radiator and send it flowers in the morning,” she said.

Charlie Sheen

R20 Houston DL? Link? Why Houston?

R46, Houston is challenging Atlanta for the most downlow men.

R45 Was it ever confirmed that there’s a video of good ‘ol Charlie sucking some drug dealer’s cock?

Any good celebrity gay4pay rumours that surprised you?

R21, Nichols’s biographer was Mark Harris, a militant homosexualist, whose husband is the similarly militant Tony Kushner. He wouldn’t have covered up for a closeted gay man.

James Cagney and Audie Murphy.

R2 Say what? GTFOH

R2 It was Richard Pryor JR. Allegedly.

sorry, meant to post this

DAMN and this...

RICHARD PRYOR JR.SAYS HE WAS MOLESTED ...Mooney Again Denies, Points Out Holes

Caryl Simon, who was good friends with Mike Nichols, strongly suggested he was gay/bi in her memoir about Jackie Kennedy.

In his Nichols biography, R56, Mark Harris addressed the gay rumors & found no credible evidence.

I was sorta surprised that Mary Martin was gay or bi. Just never really considered it. And Janet Gaynor, for that matter.

[quote]In his Nichols biography, [R56], Mark Harris addressed the gay rumors & found no credible evidence

I think there was evidence. Strong evidence that Mike Nichols and Richard Avedon carried on a decades-long affair and thought about running away together.

[quote]I've read on gossip sites some rumours about Aarron Eckhart.

LOVE Aaron. He's Mormon so chances are good.

Aaron is a raging alcoholic, that I've heard, not the gay stuff.

Dan Ackroyd - spelled his name wrong

Aaron seems…asexual. Did he ever get married?

Judy Garland (not gay, but bi). That surprised me, for some reason.

Jean Arthur--didn't Patsy Kelly out her?

There were rumors about James Dean being Bi and occasionally having male companions. Not sure it is true, but it might be. He had a slight ping.

nah-uhhh!

R44 we’ve heard the Pryor gossip before, but never the positioning. Brando seemed like such a fan of black cock, I would picture him bottoming. But who knows.

[quote]There were rumors about James Dean being Bi and occasionally having male companions. Not sure it is true, but it might be. He had a slight ping

I think Dean was more gay than straight. In his book "Laid Bare" (and in another one specifically about Dean), John Gilmore wrote about his relationship with Dean which was sexual. His longest straight relationship was with Dizzy Sheridan. She turned down a marriage proposal from him probably after he told her of the man who was keeping him on the side. In 'Laid Bare" Gilmore goes into specific detail of what they did in bed together. It was hot. I've read it a couple of times.

Robert Drivas who had a good start on a career - that eventually went nowhere.

I did not know that he was Terrence McNally's boyfriend for a time.

[quote] His longest straight relationship was with Dizzy Sheridan.

R68 For those who don’t know, that was actress Liz Sheridan, who played Jerry Seinfeld’s mother on Seinfeld.

John Goodman freaked me out.

Goodman freaked me out too.

Kevin Sorbo surprised me. I wanted him to be gay or bi or whatever he is but in my mind I was convinced he was only straight.

Rock Hudson surprised the hell out of my mother, There were rumors going around even back then that. He was her dream man. She confided this "rumor" to me, her 6-year-old (and already showing signs) son. I had no idea what she was talking about.

John Goodman?

Richard Pryor publicly talked about his experience dating a transgender back in the day. It shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone.

Nell Carter was a shock.

Robert Conrad being gay (or at last bi) was a surprise. But then again, he played up his body in every show he was ever in. He knew not only his fan base, but how to attract the kind of guys he liked.

Nick Adams was supposedly one of his many boyfriends.

Mayors Ed Koch and Harold Washington.

When I told straight women that some actor was gay, They'd always say, "Him?? You're kidding! He can't be!"

And my reply was always, "Do you remember the guys in the Drama Club in [italic]your[/italic] high school?" Usually I'd see the light bulb go on. "So now you know."

I've had similar conversations, senior lesbian.

Sorry, but I don't get it. How are the guys in drama club everyone knew were gay in high school similar to professional actors who were so straight-acting they fooled everyone?

Isn’t high school drama club kinda the farm system for up & coming professional actors, R79?

R80 I think you missed my point.

R77, I've said the same for years. I especially love how they all got injured playing football and turned to drama

I think everyone did, R81. Your drama club story makes absolutely no sense.

R81, I was in high school in the ‘70s. There was no talk then about the drama club members being gay. Yet, looking at my senior yearbook, every boy in the club turned out to be gay, including a friend who was married to a woman for over 25 years, & had two children with her.

R83 It wasn't my drama club story. My post was R79.

[quote] Cesar Romero. He played such a ladies' man for all those years. Who knew he secretly loved to have rent boys throw orange wedges at his bare ass?

Nah, not gay, he just clearly had a Vitamin C deficiency.

So the author of the Avedon biography was out and out lying about Nichols? Was the individual also lying about Avedon's homosexuality? It seems a very stupid thing to do.

Dead men cannot sue.

And they wear plaid.

I had a relative surprised about Freddie Mercury. “But he was so macho!” 🙄

My ophthalmologist.

Mike Nichols married Diane Sawyer.

Of course he was gay!

[quote] Diane Sawyer.

Legend.

R25 He definitely pinged to me as Doogie.

I wasn't really shocked when he came out.

Robert Reed. I always thought he was the quintessential masculine family man as Mike Brady.

Reed was both a good actor and one of the many gay men of his generation who did first marry a woman and have a kid.

Will Smith and Duane Martin

Raymond Burr.

[quote] Aaron seems…asexual. Did he ever get married?

According to Wikipedia: "Eckhart met actress Emily Cline during the filming of In the Company of Men and they became engaged, but they separated in 1998. He has always been reluctant to speak about his relationships in interviews. Eckhart dated songwriter and member of SHeDAISY Kristyn Osborn from 2006 to 2007."

What's the word on Timothy Chalamet?

R100 In the real world or on DL?

Kevin Sorbo is gay? Gross. Can we make the straights take him?

Dan Cortese anyone?

Really r103? I never thought about it much but it fits. Do you have personal knowledge? Handsome guy.

Hernando Cortez.

[quote]Dead men cannot sue.

[quiote]And they wear plaid.

Which is a shame because men who where plaid tend to be the most litigious.

If men can have straight sex for years, get married and even father children, but ultimately end up gay does that mean men can have gay sex and ultimately end up straight? Or does it not work that way?

Those men who married women and had children were playing house but were always gay. So no, gay men cannot end up straight.

I think you missed the point r108, I didn't ask if gay men could end up straight. I asked if men who have had gay sex can ultimately end up straight? Or are you saying that every single male who has had any kind of sexual interaction with another male is gay?

If men can have straight sex for years, get married and even father children, but ultimately end up gay

This is what I was referring to. If men occasionally experiment when they are young but end up with a woman probably not.

Yes, again, I think you are confused by why I originally posted because the point you are arguing in r108 was never brought up in my post. Yes we are using the same words, but to different affect. My point is if gay men can fuck women at some point and still be gay, then straight men can fuck men at some point and still be straight. There are men who probably had gay experiences earlier on but eventually figured out they were actually straight and not gay just as the reverse happens.

There was a time in high school the 1970s that I tried to rationalize being bi and marrying a woman, having kids, etc. However, I knew that I'd use business trips to look for gay sex. I decided to remain celibate, hoping that I'd either outgrow my attraction to men, or hoped that being gay would eventually be accepted. The only time I kissed a woman was on stage.

I can understand the mentality of those who remained closeted.

There was that rumor that Dan Cortese and two soap actors did a privately funded gay porn and a copy was up for auction on Ebay in 1998.

[quote] A Streetcar Named Desire Brando or The Island of Dr. Moreau Brando?

Love is love!

[quote]Brando seemed like such a fan of black cock, I would picture him bottoming. But who knows.

He was also an alleged fan of vegetables

D-List celebrity interviewer Skip E. Lowe published his memoir which began with a scene set at the Park Savoy Hotel on 58th Street back in the 1950s. A dominatrix with whom Brando was enamored asked Skip to go out, find the biggest zucchini he could, and bring it back to her. When he did she took the vegetable, lubed it up, and fucked Brando with it.

You weren't bi, bi people don't need to rationalize it. They're just bi.

[quote]Rock Hudson surprised the hell out of my mother

My mom too! She was definitely shocked, but I think she blamed it on Liz Taylor, as if hanging around her "turned" him gay

My mom too. She told me Rock Hudson was homosexual. I was 6.

My grandmother and her sister talked about Roddy Mcdowall and Rock Hudson being "homosexuals" and said all of Elizabeth Taylor's male friends were, and she slept with or married the ones who weren't. This was as I watched Bullwhip Griffin on tv in the same room. Years later I put two and two together regarding Tony Geary.

They also said Suzanne Pleshette and Troy Donahue's marriage ended quickly when she found out he was gay. I haven't heard much about that one since then.

[quote]I had a relative surprised about Freddie Mercury. “But he was so macho!” 🙄

Just like in the song by the Village People!

Why would Troy Donahue get married 4 times, then live with a woman for 10 years before his death, if he was gay? Just very confused?

I think people mixed up Troy Donahue with Tab Hunter. Tab was the gay one

[quote]Mike Nichols. Outed in the biography on Avedon.

I used to wait on Mike Nichols in the 80s when I was a waiter at Ernie's on Broadway and 76th. I was in my early to mid twenties and was I think an attractive guy. He was overly solicitous to me all the time, which puzzled me because I heard he was a stern, often tough customer in real life.

He was always asking my opinions on movies and current theater. I found it strange he was so gabby, but now I see it more as flirting. He once told me his favorite currently working actor was...Dorian Harewood!

No idea r122. It was a rumor at the time, maybe because the marriage was so brief. In any case the rumor didn't endure.

R123 is probably onto something

Secretly gay?

Actor Burt Young from the Rocky movies was gay.

I used to see actor Paul Winfield at Uncle Charlie's on Greenwich Ave in the 80s.

They both surprised me.

oh deer

R115, the vegetable thing gets complicated. I remember how he offended Sophia Loren for life when he complained about having to be close to her in a shot, because he could see up her nose and that her nose hairs were "thick, like asparagus."

At least Monty never wanted to be fucked with a zucchini.

[quote]Why would Troy Donahue get married 4 times, then live with a woman for 10 years before his death, if he was gay? Just very confused?

Troy outed himself back in the 90s I think. He said that there were times he ended up in a pile of men at a parties.

R131 Are you sure?

Zac Efron being a porta potty.

[quote] They also said Suzanne Pleshette and Troy Donahue's marriage ended quickly when she found out he was gay. I haven't heard much about that one since then.

R120 I think Suzanne Pleshette would have recognized a closeted gay man when she was with one. She once told a story on The Johnny Carson Show that she had worked with a closeted actor who was making a fuss about kissing Suzanne while they were making a movie. She got tired of the delay and told the actor to “close his eyes and pretend he was kissing Bruce.” I don’t think she was referring to Troy Donahue, because they made their two films together before they got married.

Probably Dr. Kildare.

Now we have an old bag who cares whether a forgotten hasbeen like Troy Donohue is gay or straight.

R136 Looking through your replies. Just FYI, if you reply to a poster aren't you supposed to use a capital "R" if you want them to see your post? You never do. You post things like "r87".

Maybe it was her smoky voice but Suzanne always struck me as butch.

I love Alan Bates, saw a bunch of his movies and he never pinged for me. Then I was surprised to read on DL that he was gay (this was years ago, when he was still alive).

Van Johnson was another one I was surprised to find out about on DL. He never pinged for me in his movies

Was watching Hud tonight and thinking about how hot Brandon De Wilde was in that movie with Paul Newman. That queen Darwin Porter who writes those fake biographies did one on Newman and Newman's "hot affair" with De Wilde has been repeated as fact on social media ever since. Could've happened, right?

I couldn't believe the story that Whitney Houston and Jodie Foster got into an altercation over Kelly McGillis on the set of the Accused. I figured Jodie might be gay. But Whitney...no way. And definitely not Kelly McGillis. I don't think I really believed it about Whitney until Robyn wrote about it and then that Oprah interview with Whitney's mom showed why Whitney would never have been able to be herself around her family.

The shocking thing wasn't that any of those women were gay, r141, it's that anyone would throw down over Kelly McGillis

SWEETIE @ R137. I've been here since before 9/11. You're nice, but even a lowercase R goes uppercase when coupled with a post number.

Take care cutie

One hears murmurs that Clifton Webb was "light in the loafers"

Puhleeez Pleshette wasn't known as Big Sue for nuthin bitches.

Somewhere out there is a story about Clifton Webb coming on to a very young and naive, straight, Bob Newhart. It's hilarious.

"Small cock big cock sucker" Rock on Troy.

Robot from "Lost In Space."

I clocked Dr. Smith as a fruit when I was five.

A friend of mine mentioned that his mother dated Marlon Brando when they were teens (Omaha, Nebraska). I asked him what she said he was like.

"All hands' was her reply.

She should have looked harder, R149.

The late and unlamented PA Congressman, Rev. Bill Gray. I met him and Mrs. Gray at my grandparents house in the seventies. Mrs. Gray looked like Usha Vance; dead behind the eyes. I asked my uncle who was also there, why she seemed so unfriendly. My somewhat homophobic uncle told me that she knew that Bill was cheating on her. She thought it was a woman. Found out that it was some white boy intern in DC. Bill allegedly paid rent for him at a studio apartment near DuPont. Oh, Reverend…

Not very well known, but Margaret Lindsay. (When I was younger I probably saw every Warner Bros. movie my local station had on.) I liked her a lot. She played the Northern wife Henry Fonda brings home in Jezebel (1938). She also played the girl Fonda and Pat O'Brien fought over in Slim (1937)--one of Fonda's many forgotten '30s films (not bad, he and O'Brien played linemen).

She actually had a very deep voice.

I remember in a later Stanwyck picture (for MGM), B. F.'s Daughter (1948), she played Stanwyck's best college friend. They both sounded like men.

Now I sometimes take notice of an actress with a deep voice, wondering if it signifies lesbionic tendencies.

[quote]I clocked Dr. Smith as a fruit when I was five.

Jonathan Harris? He was married for over 60 years until his death in '02 (and had a son, also an actor who played Dumbledore in a Harry Potter movie). A goodlooking straight male friend who worked at the same studio said Harris was definitely not straight and relentlessly hit on him. You just never know.

Well, with him, you kind of did know.

Suzanne has said that shortly after she and Troy were married - he came to her and told her he was having serious tax problems and if they were still married at the end of the year she would be on hook for half of it. He told her they should get divorced to protect her $$$.

R153, while Jonathan Harris’ son was named Richard, he wasn’t the famous Richard Harris who played Dumbledore.

And comedian Margaret Smith wasn't Maggie Smith, as seen in Harry Potter, either.

Actor William Phipps was named as one of Charles Laughton's boyfriends in the book Simon Callow did about Laughton. Phipps did the voice of Prince Charming in Disney's Cinderella, so I guess you could say Laughton found his Prince Charming!

Paul Newman. I still don’t know if I believe that.

I have a friend who was surprised by George Michael. Bless his heart

In a men's restroom?

Hearing about Dan Travanty and Earl Holliman surprised me. I grew up watching their respective shows and had no clue they craved cock.

My straight brother was absolutely dumbfounded by my remark that John Travolta was gay. "No fucking way dude! No fucking way." This was back in the 90s when Paul Baressi sold the story of his relationship with Travolta to the Enquirer. I was tempted to send him the article but he was so adamant that I didn't want to puncture his fragile belief system.

I know straight people who were shocked about NPH

[quote] Who knew he secretly loved to have rent boys throw orange wedges at his bare ass?

Anyone who wasn’t deaf, dumb or blind. Caesar was flaming.

I’m SHOCKED

R164, I’m gay and I was shocked about NPH. I had no idea until I first read it here on DL.

R144, as you know, murmurs concerning Clifton Webb's light loafers were the equivalent of a herd of drunk elephants stampeding through the Mall of America on Christmas Eve.

Clifton just never found the right girl

Was it George Sanders who called Clifton Webb "the world's oldest orphan" when middle-aged Webb's mother died?

[quote] Was it George Sanders who called Clifton Webb "the world's oldest orphan" when middle-aged Webb's mother died?

Noel Coward said that he became an orphan.

Thanks r171. That makes more sense.

Tab Hunter, believe it or not!!!

Ethel Merman

John Mahoney

Eleanor Roosevelt Roosevelt

Lance Bass! Justin Timberlake had me convinced that Lance loved the ladies and the ladies loved Lance!

DL's original Cheryl threatened to "tell the editor" when I said Lance Bass seemed gay.

Wait, there was a real Cheryl?

I thought she was like "my friend Julie, what a cunt."

The writer of this article claims George Orwell was homosexual. News to me! I've been looking elsewhere to confirm it but can't find a thing. Even Wikipedia describes Orwell as a womanizer.

Yes r179, there was a real one. She was a "straight chick" who often, but not always, took offence at gay speculation. Anything suggesting Tom Cruise was anything other than 100% straight sure to get a a "he's straight! You just wish he was gay!" type response.

And when she got furious about it she threatened to "tell the editor " or "editor, please!"

Then she was followed, post by post, by a someone calling themselves Iola. Every single time Cheryl posted it was followed by "Cheryl is a cunt" by Iola.

At one time DL was selling swag. I bought the ballcap with the DL logo. But among the other items was a tee shirt with a name tag saying: HELLO my name is CHERYL.

The "my pussy stinks" came later, after she left in disgrace.

The worst part is I think I know her. The real one. And might be responsible for her presence.

R181, is the real Cheryl still alive?

R181 Thanks for that info! That's hilarious.

I came on board here c. 2010 and while I caught on to a lot of history, sometimes it's been hard to distinguish fact from the collective jokes/stories.

I think so r182. If it's who I think she lives in British Columbia now. She would have lived in Ontario then. She was a travel agent who came to DL to acquaint herself with what gays would want on vacation packages.

A close relative's ex wife. We lost touch when she and her straight female friends started invading gay bars during their drunken bachelorette parties and Girls' Nights Out fiascos.

I doubt she would talk to me now. But I apologize for giving her the DL.

If it is her, she was a big girl. Not obese but not thin. 5'10". HUGE head, masculine featured face, with streaked permed big hair.

Thank you, r184.

Eduardo Noriega being caught in bed with flamenco dancer Rafael Amargo, and also being with Alejandro Amenábar.

He didn't ping for me. Must be deep in the closet for his female fans.

Carrot Top.

We should probably add James Garner and his alleged paramour, Blake Edwards.

Wait, what's this about James Garner and Blake Edwards?!!

r188 that sounds like wishful thinkng on Blake Edwards's part. I wish it was true.

Mr. Noem apparently may be light in the loafers and that’s why wife sleeps around.

don't want him for more than a useful idiot.

Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett

John Amos and John Paul Lavoisier

R194, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT?!?

[quote]Mr. Noem apparently may be light in the loafers and that’s why wife sleeps around.

He's probably just scared she'll shoot him in his sleep.

I never believed the gay rumors about Troy Aikman, but after his weird hookup with Lori Morgan & marrying the secretary in the Cowboys PR department when he was (and still is) an image conscious guy that could've married any socialite in Dallas....well, the math became a bit more clear. I think that's way the 2nd marriage broke up so quickly; she had her own $$ and while she knew the deal with Troy, maybe "professional beard" wasn't what she wanted after all

Dick Chamberlain

Blake Edwards was a hot piece back in the day. Here he is looking lovingly at beautiful hunk Guy Madison in 1946's "Till the End of Time."

I could see him mixing it up with James Garner.

So Blake and Julie bearded for each other while Julie munched Carol and Blake rode Garner?

[quote] John Amos and John Paul Lavoisier

I'd heard about John Paul and Tuc Watkins but JP and John Amos is an entirely new-to-me rumor!

R201 I can picture JP with Tuc, but not with John.

r201 same

....not that I would blame JP for getting some John Amos dick.

John Goodman

R205 So has that been confirmed? I've been reading that a lot. Has he "come out?"

You know, the young John Goodman, pre-fat, was sexy as hell. I'd have hit that.

R184 I have a feeling Cheryl may be back, but now she's Hortense, the Chrissy Metz defender and MAGA lover.

Second Lionel Jefferson also gay. Not so much a surprise I guess. I assume he was probably known to be gay at the time. But at the same time Helmsley was in the closet.

Clifton and his mom, Mabelle. They were very close, he took her everywhere, to Hollywood parties, premieres--she was a stage mother, probably responsible for his career. He was inconsolable when she died (at 91), but he wasn't middle aged--as the poster above wrote--he was 71. He lived to age 76.

R206 That commercial could never get made today, with John Goodman putting on the aftershave like a limp-wristed fairy.

(Though maybe on DL, 71 is considered middle-aged.)

Kenney Chesney. What a FRAUD!

r206 damn, he really WAS. I had no idea.

[quote] Though maybe on DL, 71 is considered middle-aged.

In Palm Springs 71 would make you chicken!

Mabelle Webb looks like Ian McKellen in drag in R209's lovely family photo.

I hadn't seen it before. Thanks, R209.

R215 She usually looked a lot like Clifton (or vice-versa). You're right, though.

From a blog about celebrity letters:

Clifton Webb lived with his mother Mabelle almost his entire life. She was the centre of his universe, and the two were inseparable (Webb would take his mother everywhere: to dinner parties, movie premieres, on vacation etc.). When Mabelle died in 1960 at age 91, Webb's world collapsed and he became inconsolable. His uncontrolled and incessant grieving made playwright and close friend Noel Coward write in his diary a few months after Mabelle's death:

"Poor Clifton is still, after two months, wailing and sobbing over Maybelle's death. As she was well over ninety, gaga, and had driven him mad for years, this seems excessive and over indulgent. He arrives here on Monday and I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas. Poor, poor Clifton. I am, of course, deeply sorry for him but he must snap out of it".

Letters of sympathy from Mary Pickford, Fred Astaire and Jack Warner:

Do we think Mabelle knew Clifton was one of those?

He aged fast.

[quote]Clifton and his mom, Mabelle. They were very close, he took her everywhere, to Hollywood parties...

I read an alleged quote about Mabelle Webb apparently from Humphrey Bogart to Clifton-

"I don't mind you bringing your mother to my parties, but next time you clean up the vomit"....I'm paraphrasing, but not much.

[quote]Do we think Mabelle knew Clifton was one of those?

Oh, I'm pretty sure Mabelle knew from the start. Mabelle split from her husband when Clifton was 2 and took him with her to New York, where she enrolled him in dance, theater, music, and art classes. Years later, when Mabelle was asked about Clifton's father, her response: "We never speak of him, he didn't care for the theatre." She raised that child to be gay.

[quote] Mabelle split from her husband when Clifton was 2 and took him with her to New York, where she enrolled him in dance, theater, music, and art classes.

At 2 years old? He must have been very precocious.

When Clifton went to Mother for advice as he was seriously considering asking Jeanne Eagels for her hand in marriage, Mabel told him not to make such a decision in haste. "Wait a little while," she advised. "Make sure this is really what you want."

Clifton wrote in his memoirs: "The great thing about Jeanne was our intense love for one another... We had a very romantic affair but marriage would have been fatal-- we were very much alike."

Did Clifton and Jeanne do it?

Smell this, editor!

R223 my best guess in NO they didn't.

Clifton's family name was Hollenbeck and he was from Indianapolis. I met a guy named Hollenbeck here and he said they were probably related.....I think he was.....he was an insufferable prick.

[quote]Though maybe on DL, 71 is considered middle-aged

I am 71. I am on the Datalounge.

I am NOT middle-aged.

R223, they were every bit as in love as John Travolta and Lily Tomlin in Moment by Moment

Christine Baranski and King Princess!

King Princess is almost as good a name as Chrystal Ball.

*Or Crystal.

Alejandro Rey was a surprise to me. As were Earl Holliman and Daniel J Travanti

Alejandro Rey surprised me, too

He was stunning, emerging from the sea, in Moscow on the Hudson.

Gabriel Soto and William Levy. They ooze heterosexual Latin Lover vibes.

I seem to remember an old DL thread that alleged Garner and Edwards went on regular vacations in North Africa.

There were rumors of Dean Cain and Dan Cortese banging each other back in the 90's.

Dean Cain is a straight patriot who would never participate in sodomy

R234 Huh? Soto maybe but I’ve never heard it about Levy. Actually Levy gives off serious Gay4Pay vibes from his pre-fame days, hustling to make it big in that wildly homoerotic world. Some of his nudie pics from that time scream casting couch.

[quote]There were rumors of Dean Cain and Dan Cortese banging each other back in the 90's

Those weren't so much rumors but more every gay man's fantasy at the time

R238 if not Levy, then his son…

Scrolling through the thread I thought this was about Eugene Levy for a second.

Dan Ackroyd- not sure I spelled it right

[quote]I read an alleged quote about Mabelle Webb apparently from Humphrey Bogart to Clifton-"I don't mind you bringing your mother to my parties, but next time you clean up the vomit"....I'm paraphrasing, but not much.

I believe I read this in one of Boyd McDonald's old books he put out that contained personal sexual experience narratives that men had sent him. (Straight to Hell?) but the line was "your mother can clean up her own sick".

Reading the DL obit thread about Tom Lehrer warmed my heart. I've loved his work since firstI listened to my mom's vintage copy of his first album. Finding out he was a cool gay guy who taught musical theater was the missing piece for me.

[quote]Dan Ackroyd- not sure I spelled it right

Really? Never heard that one

Kiefer Sutherland hitting on guys when drunk

Is there any truth to the rumors surrounding Director Steven Spielberg?

[quote] Jonathan Harris? He was married for over 60 years until his death in '02 (and had a son, also an actor who played Dumbledore in a Harry Potter movie).

The actor Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore in the early Harry Potter movies, was not related to Jonathan Harris.

Don't forget Jonathan's daughter and Richard's sister who ran for president in 2024!

R174, it was Ethel Merman who was rather surprised and not always delighted (It got out of hand.) with Jackie Susann's approaches, of course.

[quote]Ethel Merman: Jackie was obsessed with her. There was quite a bit of gossip about them on Broadway. Many had seen them making out on a couch at a party. Jackie also did a private striptease for her to get Merman ready for "Gypsy". They had a huge fight in a restaurant, after which Jackie showed up at Ethel's apartment screaming "I love you!" Jackie was then admitted to a psychiatric ward, having threatened to commit suicide over her. !

Jackie Susann asked me if I'd scissor with her. Scissor! So I got a pair out from the sewing drawer and got some nice construction paper and said, "Here, Jackie, let's go to town!"

R250

{quote] Many had seen them making out on a couch at a party.

I didn't have my glasses on and read this as "Mary." I thought Mary Martin had seen them making out.

James Dean being blackmailed by his former sugar daddy

R253 The James Dean/Rogers Brackett relationship has been documented in multiple biographies for decades. The confirmation of it is new.

I remember being surprised the first time I heard about Tab Hunter's affair with Tony Perkins.

Was Susann in that psychiatric ward because she was screaming 'I love you!'? Or was it because her obsession was Ethel Merman? Like a gay man being obsessed with Mickey Rooney.

Not really a "rumor" because she confirmed it, but Elvira being in a LTR with a woman surprised me

I had no idea about Niecy Nash until she married a woman. Completely shocked me.

R256, Jacqueline Susann was a very confused lesbian who was rejected by her former lover Carole Landis.

Chachi/Scott Baio- Although I think the rumors are bi sexual rumors not gay and also someone here on the datalounge said in so many words that Tony Danza likes cock as well.

Carole Landis and Jacqueline Susann were a couple?

[quote] Tony Danza likes cock as well.

I’m listening…

I do don’t think they were a couple, R261. They only had a sexual affair for an undefined length of time. Jackie based the Jennifer North character in Valley of the Dolls on her.

Tony Danna only likes cock on the Datalounge

Bruce Willis buying lavish gifts for Aaron Carter

Everyone who ever worked in Hollywood.

These things usually don't surprise me at all, but yes, another hand up for Neicey Nash. I was rather surprised because before that her schtick was all about how to keep ypur man from straying, even writing a book about it. Ultimately, her advice was to fuck his brains out every time before the left the house. I thought, "How can anyone who likes dick in her that much be a lesbian?" Hey, not so much, I guess. Apparently she introduced Sharri Shepard to the man who ended up screwing her over, so, especially with Neicey herself marrying a woman, her advice was so good after all. I'd like to hear some stories from ladies who read her book & took it to heart only to have their relationships end as radically as hers & Sharri's.

“Tony Danna only likes cock on the . . . “ D L

Danza

I've heard the Tony Danza rumor too. He likes blonde twinks. Just like Yassir Arafat.

Blonde twinks, eh? Any chance he was Aaron Carter’s benefactor back in the day and not Bruce Willis?

R265 Looks like Bruce and Aaron will soon be reunited.

Robert Conrad surprised me.

It was a surprise to him too, R273.

Allegedly Ed Harris (!) and Samuel L. Jackson (!!).

^ Separately or together?

Ed Harris?!!!

will.i.am

Separate.

Tony Danza reportedly hired Ken Ryker, the gay porn star when he was popular.

Link to the Tony Danza gay/bi thread!

R280 I would have loved to have watched that pairing.

[quote] will.i.am

Ewww!

I went to a bachelor party when I was in high school for a kid who got married at 18. His best man's dad was there, one of those ex-Marine types, a little guy with a crew cut who smoked Camels. I always remember him saying, "Rock Hudson is a card-carrying homosexual." This was 1976. It didn't particularly surprise me, I don't know why.

And allegedly, Ed Harris likes his men the way he likes his coffee 😏🤨

With sugar and cream?

Yes, Rose.

Brown sugar

[quote] And allegedly, Ed Harris likes his men the way he likes his coffee 😏🤨

Weak and white?

I think the Rock Hudson and Jim Nabors gay gossip goes back way before '76. I remember in Parade magazine which was a Sunday supplement in a lot of different Sunday papers when I was a young teen which had a question section and somebody asked if the two of them had gotten 'married.' The fact that this question was published in that type of family magazine means at that point it had reached the who gives a shit phase. Fun for idle gossip. I believe the answer was no which obviously was the truth. I couldn't imagine Nabors being Hudson's type even if they could have had a symbolic ceremony. I read that at the Ice Station Zebra world premiere which was in '68 that as Hudson entered the theater somebody yelled out 'cocksucker!' People will talk.

I remember it from around that time as well r290. Classmates in elementary school were talking about it.

[quote] I remember in Parade magazine which was a Sunday supplement in a lot of different Sunday papers when I was a young teen which had a question section and somebody asked if the two of them had gotten 'married.

I'm pretty surprised that was in Parade Magazine in the '70s.

The Jim Nabors and Rock Hudson wedding rumor started from a private joke in 1971, when a group of gay friends in Huntington Beach, California, sent out fake gag invitations for a wedding where Hudson would take the name of Nabors's character, becoming "Rock Pyle". This joke was then picked up by gossip media, radio, and print, spreading the rumor despite both men denying any relationship beyond friendship.

I don't know about Parade Magazine, but like R292 along with spider eggs in Bubble Yum, the Hudson / Nabors wedding was a definitely schoolyard topic at my early 70s NYC public school.

And nobody seemed surprised.

God, somewhere deep beneath the bots and trolls, DL still lives.

Mine: Star Trek, of course. I have an ex, who I was very close to and actually considered ditching my husband for, who was a hardcore Trekkie (me, on steroids). Has a shitton of memorabilia and props. Anyway, he and I drifted after I got sick, but we still talk. He has a fuckbuddy who used to top for an actor on Voyager. Did a lot of AIDS rides in the 90s, so I don’t know why I was surprised.

R295 So...who was the actor?

L.A.'s Joyce Haber published a blind item in her Hollywood newspaper column around 1968 or a bit later:

Two male Hollywood stars got married last weekend. One is as strong as the Rock of Gibraltar and the other is as friendly as your neighbor.

Even MAD Magazine spoofed it with Rona Boring, Jim Nelly, can't remember what they called Rock Hudson

I find it fascinating that a rumor with roots in the early 1970s became so widely believed, or at least know. I remember being about 14 (1972-ish) and my mother and some neighbor (ha!) ladies talking about it. How the hell did it get from SoCal to Nowheresville, NY is such a short time?

**known.

[quote][R295] So...who was the actor?

Robert Duncan McNeill.

Which does make me wonder about the tension between Tom Paris and Harry Kim.

Robert Duncan McNeill is practically unrecognizable these days.

R297, if that is true, the fact that Joyce Haber would take an unsubstantiated rumor that seemed highly unlikely for its time (considering there was no gay marriage then), and still publish it in her syndicated column, shows her character and lack of ethics.

This is the woman, after all, who colluded with the FBI and published unfounded rumors about Jean Seberg, that was ruinous to Seberg's reputation.

[quote]I think the Rock Hudson and Jim Nabors gay gossip goes back way before '76

RIGHT. That's because it was 1972-73, dear.

A friend who was an intern in a summer theater on the Cape told me about Kurt Kasznar. (Or however you spell it.) He was referred to as The Island Queen.

Surprisingly, it surprised me, but then I was pretty young.

Didn't know Robert Duncan McNeill was family

I remember a guy in a gay bar in the '80s telling me Michael J. Fox was a male protitute on Santa Monica Blvd in LA before he got famous.

Alexander Skarsgård and Jack McBrayer being an item— that one boggles the mind

R293, THAT is the kind of gossip I come here for! (It's better if it doesn't date from 1972, but even so.) I agree, the rumor was all over the place in the 70s, but that is the first time I've heard that explanation and it's too convincing for PR to have thought up.

Ha ha, R308.