Vanishing Gay Cultural References

[Peloso]

It all started to go downhill when Rip Taylor died.

 

[KaraBulut]

It all started to go downhill when Rip Taylor died.

Well, and when Paul Lynde's "friend" fell out of that window.

This Suspicious Death Kept Paul Lynde From Getting His Own Show After 'Bewitched'

Certain he deserved the spotlight and painfully insecure, Paul Lynde wanted a show he could shine in and nearly got it except for this death.

doyouremember.com

 

[cabinfever]

^^^I had to wait on Paul and his buddy Martha Raye one night and it was NOT fun.

His humor in a gay club was extremely uncomfortable and not at all funny unlike his TV characters and persona.

I ended up begging and bribing a co-worker to serve the two of them.

 

[KaraBulut]

^^^I had to wait on Paul and his buddy Martha Raye one night and it was NOT fun.

His humor in a gay club was extremely uncomfortable and not at all funny unlike his TV characters and persona.

I ended up begging and bribing a co-worker to serve the two of them.

He was a mean drunk. He got sober toward the end of his life but by then, he had driven away most of his close friends. He died of a heart attack when he was just 55 years old.

There's a bunch of mentions of him in autobiographies and interviews that I've seen over the years that were almost identical - that he was brilliant, even in college theater, and he was smart, quick-witted and incredibly funny... until he had a few too many.

 

[cabinfever]

He was a mean drunk. He got sober toward the end of his life but by then, he had driven away most of his close friends. He died of a heart attack when he was just 55 years old.

There's a bunch of mentions of him in autobiographies and interviews that I've seen over the years that were almost identical - that he was brilliant, even in college and he was smart, quick-witted and incredibly funny... until he had a few too many.

Spot on.

He was quite the asshole. When a customer wants to flirt with a bartender which is pretty much a constant part of the job - with 90% of them it is harmless and fun.

The other 10% - not so much - and then there are the worst ones who are total assholes and that is maybe just 2%

Paul was definitely in the 2% crowd.

 

[Peloso]

I learned a lot about fending off homophobia and keeping my own affectations in check by studying the men my dad hurled insults at while watching 70's game shows.

But Paul Lynde can't be a gay icon because he was closeted and likely self-loathing. In his day, I doubt American television audiences were ready to accept a gay man as the center of attention.

But I always had an appreciative fascination with Rip Taylor. The guy was a gay hurricane. Talk about out and proud. Well, maybe he might not have been out, but you didn't need a team of sociologists and a case of Zima to know where he did his banking.

 

[KaraBulut]

I learned a lot about fending off homophobia and keeping my own affectations in check by studying the men my dad hurled insults at while watching 70's game shows.

But Paul Lynde can't be a gay icon because he was closeted and likely self-loathing. In his day, I doubt American television audiences were ready to accept a gay man as the center of attention.

A couple of things to know about Lynde: he was fat as a kid. Really fat. Supposedly, before he got famous on Broadway, he lost like 100 lbs. Around the same time, he lost a brother and both of his parents.

One of the first times that I saw him was in the movie version of "Bye Bye Birdie". The cast was impressive - Dick Van Dyke, Maureen Stapleton, Janet Leigh and Ann-Margaret. Even with these talented people, Lynde still stuck out.

While it was easy to dismiss Lynde as just a stereotypical bitchy queen, he was in that category of people like Liberace who the average American didn't realize was gay or he was so funny that people just overlooked it. People who watched the shows he was on (and in the 1960s, he was everywhere) looked forward to his appearances because he was witty.

Gay people liked him because he used his wit to fight back. He wasn't the stereotypical pansy. You didn't mess with him.

But I always had an appreciative fascination with Rip Taylor. The guy was a gay hurricane. Talk about out and proud. Well, maybe he might not have been out, but you didn't need a team of sociologists and a case of Zima to know where he did his banking.

Rip Taylor was an interesting character. Another comedian with a shitty childhood. He started his career as more of a vaudeville comedian- the kind that had two acts: one for families and another racier version for the strip clubs (kind of like today's drag acts!). Believe it or not, he was straight and married (*wink wink*) during the 60s. It wasn't really until later, when he was working Vegas that he developed the act that you probably saw- the one with the outrageous toupee, the over the top clothes, the confetti and the one liners with the props. He and Liberace were good buds.

There's a documentary called, "Rip Rip Hooray" that I haven't seen but I seem to recall that he acknowledged he was gay. You might try to see if you can find it.

If you haven't seen the HBO series "Hacks" you might watch Jean Smart's performance, watch a few episodes. Everyone said that Smart was portraying Joan Rivers but to me, she seemed more like Rip Taylor without the props.

 

[Peloso]

^ Great videos, thanks. I will actually watch them all later.

 

[KaraBulut]

Before the internet, before the easy access to gay porn, there was beefcake. Beefcake was in the form of muscle magazines and young hunky actors who were frequently featured shirtless.

One such show as "The Wild Wild West" (1965-1969) which featured Robert Conrad.

Conrad was fit, tan with green eyes.

In "The Wild Wild West", Conrad played Secret Service agent Jim West and was set in the 1870s.

For some unexplained reason, Jim West wore tight pants and a short bolero jacket.

Every episode involved some sort of scene where Jim would be captured or in distress. This involved showing Jim's butt in the tight pants or shirtless in bondage scenes.

Robert Conrad began his career in Hollywood as a frequent feature in Hollywood beefcake and gossip magazines.

After "The Wild Wild West", Conrad did a number of TV projects and was a frequent guest on "Battle of the Network Stars", where he frequently appeared shirtless and in a speedo. He also did battery commercials where he dared the audience to knock the battery from his shoulder.

 

[Peloso]

^ Much adolescent sperm was spilled as a consequence of Robert Conrad.

One of the highlights of my youth was the annual Battle of the Network Stars, where both heartthrobs and beefcake paraded around in soaking wet speedos.

Here's Andrew Stevens, his circumcised penis and two testes. I don't know who the other guy is but it looks like he's not as hung.

 

[KaraBulut]

The other guy looks like Sam Jones. If so, here's his Playgirl centerfold.

 

[KaraBulut]

Oh and Andrew Stevens and Robert Conrad were in the same episode of "Battle of the Network Stars":

 

[Peloso]

Oh and Andrew Stevens and Robert Conrad were in the same episode of "Battle of the Network Stars":

Wow. Vintage 70's television. On VHS, no less.

 

[KaraBulut]

Another 70s actor who was constantly featured without a shirt on was John Saxon. Saxon was Italian and from Brooklyn but he was given a typical Hollywood name by Henry Willlson, the same (gay) agent who created "Rock Hudson" and "Tab Hunter" other beefcake actors from 1950-1980.

In the mid-70s, he starred in a TV series produced by Gene Roddenberry (of Star Trek fame) along with Ted Cassidy, the 6'9" actor who was famous for portraying Lurch in the Addams Family series. Both actors were frequently featured in futuristic butt-hugging jumpsuits that left little to the imagination.

In one episode, the two actors end up being captured by a culture where women are in power and men are used as sex slaves. They are paraded around shirtless for the women to ogle:

Early in his career, Saxon was featured in Sal Mineo pretty-boy type roles where his lack of formal acting training and Brooklyn accent was apparent but he was still pleasant to look at.

As he got older, he was featured in more and more low-budget horror flicks that some how managed to find excuses to feature him shirtless, including the movie about killer bees.

https://youtu.be/cQnBlINxFKE

 

[Peloso]

^ Yep, he was another one. I never knew he was Italian, nor have I ever seen pictures of him so young.

Now it you'll excuse me I'm going to go and befoul a sock.

 

[KaraBulut]

A random Robert Conrad video. Conrad was notoriously hypermacho and insisted on doing his own stunts in "The Wild Wild West" until he injured his back swinging from a chandelier (literally).

There were a couple of scenes where his pants were so tight that he split them. In at least one instance, the network left the wardrobe malfunction in and didn't reshoot.

An odd trivia note: back in the 60s, the censors decided that men's belly buttons were too sexual to show on TV, so pants were always hiked up to cover the navel. This also meant that the crotch of the pants was often very high:


View attachment ConradRobert_WildWildWest-wardrobemalfunction.mp4

 

[KaraBulut]

During World War II, there was a major military presence on the West Coast, out of fears of a Japanese invasion. Many young men from small towns enlisted or were drafted and sent to military bases in California.

After the war ended, many of these men remained in California, lured by the weather, the movie industry and, in some cases, by the liberal attitudes toward sexuality.

This is how Roy Scherer from Winnetka, Illinois became Rock Hudson the movie star.

 

[KaraBulut]

Also assisting with the war effort were young men from other countries who spoke multiple languages. They were recruited to work for organizations like The Voice of America or as intelligence officers to listen in to other countries' communications.

After the war, several of these men obtained US citizenship and sought jobs in the entertainment industry. At the same time, several "physique magazines" began publishing images of young, fit men posing in scant clothing while working out. Photographers began hiring young actors needing money to pose for them. The tamer photos were published in physique magazines while the more explicit pictures were sold to "private collectors".

Yul Brynner (born Yuliy Borisovich Briner in Russia) came to America during the war and worked for the US government as a French and Russian translator. After the war, he trained as an actor and took roles in the theater and movies.

Brynner is probably best known for his role in "The King and I":

Many of his movies featured Brynner shirtless or wearing loincloths.





During Brynner's lifetime, there were rumors of multiple affairs with female co-stars. He had 4 marriages and 5 children before his death from lung cancer in 1985 at age 65.

After his death, stories of his same-sex affairs surfaced, as did his physique pictures for photographers like George Platt Lynes.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Bette and Joan

View attachment 1886704

"Whatever Happened to Baby Jesus?"

 

[jockofstrap]

Rock Hudson gave me few boners.