Who was the enemy in '42?

[Maxwell]

I have read a lot of quotes by those who knew Mr. Grant very well saying that he was not gay at all. Those rumors started back in the early 30s when, as a struggling young actor, he shared a house with Randolph Scott. And at that time, the word 'fag' was a slang name for a cigarette. L-S-M-F-T!!

I've also read that when at least a couple of his marriages broke up, he and Scott also shared quarters. Betsy Drake was quite insistent that he wasn't gay.

[helloagain]

Of course dead people are easy targets for rumors. We can say anything we want about them and they cannot sue or even despute it. We can't ever be 100% sure unless we were there at the time. Rumors sell books and tabloids.

[Yhtapmys]

I have read a lot of quotes by those who knew Mr. Grant very well saying that he was not gay at all.

Well, he didn't walk like Mary.

Sexuality seems to be a fluid sort of thing in Hollywood, so trying to make definitive statements about some stars of olde would be an exercise in futility.

Yhtapmys

P.S. I'm amused by the fact no one ever says "Paul Lynde was secretly straight."

[helloagain]

Funny you mentioned Paul Lynde. I never thought he was gay until I read about it after his death. I guess it was because he never played a gay person. I always thought of him as sort of an over the top smart ass. Maybe I was just being naive.

[mackdaddyg]

Funny you mentioned Paul Lynde. I never thought he was gay until I read about it after his death. I guess it was because he never played a gay person. I always thought of him as sort of an over the top smart ass. Maybe I was just being naive.

Actually, now that you mention it, that's how I always saw him as well.

I think a lot of people (thankfully) just don't wonder about that kind of stuff. It's better just to enjoy the performer for what they do.

[Mister Kitzel]

Funny you mentioned Paul Lynde. I never thought he was gay until I read about it after his death. I guess it was because he never played a gay person. I always thought of him as sort of an over the top smart ass. Maybe I was just being naive.

Actually, now that you mention it, that's how I always saw him as well.

I think a lot of people (thankfully) just don't wonder about that kind of stuff. It's better just to enjoy the performer for what they do.

Same here. I never thought about Paul Lynde being gay until I read about it years after his death. The comedy I saw him do was never about sex jokes, although he got in a few on Hollywood Squares. Lynde came along at a time when being funny required being funny, not relying on dirty jokes and an attitude.

[helloagain]

Yes, he was very funny. The first time I remember seeing him was playing a dad in 'Bye Bye Birdie'. Around this time I think he was also a regular on 'The Perry Como Show'. Yes, you had to be funny in those days. Now some so called comedians come out of the closet and build their act around the fact that they are gay. Take that away and they're out of business. I think it's a cheap way to get laughs. I don't think it's anybody's business what you do behind closed doors.