Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis aka Tony Orlando (&Dawn)

We always include a reference link in posts such as this, OP. It helps get the conversation going. Let us do better next time.

Writer Ron Friedman once told me he thought Freddie Prinze Sr. was gay and closeted and that was the reason for his pain.

I know he was close to Tony O.

Thanks that make you go hmm

They did seem close, R2.

Waaaaay back in the day, my mother used to subscribe to what was then called a "travel club." Once a month, a big group of ladies (an a few very special men) would load up on a fancy "motor coach" and head to New York City to see a matinee of a show and then go shopping. If someone got sick or had to cancel, their ticket and seat would go up for grabs, so occasionally I got to go along. So, my first Broadway show was "Barnum" starring then relatively unknown Glenn Close and, filling in for a vacationing Jim Dale, Tony Orlando.

I remember the group leader announcing this on the way into the city, and the entire "motor coach" snickering and acting disappointed.

Turns out, he was fine. At least I thought so. I was maybe 8.

A yellow ribbon tied round the old oak tree seems an odd color.

I thought he was dead ... and to think he only retired last year, he was still playing casinos at age 80

I was listening to a countdown of 1961 Top 40 hits and was surprised to hear one from T.O. I had no idea he had a career pre-Dawn. He was only 17 at the time.

I'd still do him.

[quote]and to think he only retired last year, he was still playing casinos at age 80

And "Dawn" joined him on stage in 2024 for the last time when he was at the Mohegan.

[quote]Telma Hopkins went on to have a pretty solid career as a co-star, guest star type.

She was just on that Lavern Cox show that got cancelled. The woman has worked nearly every year on a tv show for over a decade and has been on multiple long running tv series. She did great for herself.

Someone who works that much must have a stellar reputation. Producers don't want to deal with difficult people, no matter how popular or talented they might be. Telma must be easy to work with.

Telma Hopkins deserves more recognition for her career longevity, consistent work schedule, and range of talent.

Telma put up with coke-addled Nell Carter for years on Gimme A Break so she must have a stellar reputation in the industry.

Give this woman an honorary Emmy.

That refrain in R7 "Bless every breath that you take, bless every move that you make" suggests that he time-traveled to 1983 and plagiarized from Sting.

*3* GIRLS *3*

"Oh, my sweetness!"

As a kid, I never understood how two women could have a single woman's name.

And they were named after a dishwashing detergent!

r2

I had never considered that Freddie being gay but then I saw this. He pings a bit.