# Has a a celebrity's heterosexuality surprised you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 18, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206 "2010-09-18T18:41:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/1 "2010-09-18T18:41:29Z")
Turning the other thread on its head, has a celebrity being straight made you go,“What he’s/she’s straight?” ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/2 "2010-09-18T19:05:12Z")
Way back when Trading Spaces was a hit show, Frank casually mentioned something about “his wife”. Not only did I do a double-take, but later heard from a woman in NYC who said her husband was in the next room, heard the comment and said, “WTF - he has a wife?!” I still have my doubts about the whole thing, but hey. Then again, I am still pissed off that people like Ariana Huffington and Nicole Kidman are legally allowed to marry Gay men, and I’m not. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/3 "2010-09-18T19:06:29Z")
I have long been a fan of Talking Heads and David Byrne, and I always thought he gave off a somewhat gay vibe (both in interviews, and with the very theatrical nature of his live performances) and so I suppose that I was a bit suprised to learn that he and his wife (ex-wife?) have a teenaged daughter. I guess that dosen’t really prove his sexuality one way or the other, but I never would have guessed that he was married with children. I should add that I have almost no gaydar to speak of, so take my opinions with a grain of salt… ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/4 "2010-09-18T20:17:38Z")
Pretty much anytime a movie star is not gay, I’m surprised. Running joke at my house: Wife: Hey, STAR has just admitted he was gay. Me: Well, he is a movie star you know. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/5 "2010-09-18T20:23:45Z")
Tony Randall had some mannerisms that I associated with gay men, but apparently he was straight, and if I remember got married to a very young woman in the last few years of his life, and they had a kid together shortly before he died. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/6 "2010-09-18T20:25:56Z")
Moved from MPSIMS to be with its very close “friend” in Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/7 "2010-09-18T20:27:53Z")
Alton Brown. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/8 "2010-09-18T20:32:16Z")
Alton Brown is straight? Whoa. I can think of a couple people IRL… ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/9 "2010-09-18T20:51:31Z")
AB set off your “gaydar”? I can see it, but maybe because I’m a fan, I’ve got past it. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/10 "2010-09-18T20:54:33Z")
RE: Alton Brown. Just because a guy is anal retentive doesn’t actually mean he’s into buttsex… ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/11 "2010-09-18T21:28:39Z")
Bronson Pinchot. I always assumed he was gay, not just because he played gay characters in several projects but… well, everything about him when he was interviewed. Apparently he’s not only not-gay but something of a hetero horndog. > [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Tony Randall had some mannerisms that I associated with gay men, but apparently he was straight, and if I remember got married to a very young woman in the last few years of his life, and they had a kid together shortly before he died. Two, fourteen months apart: Julia Laurette and Jefferson Salvini, born when he was 77 and 78 respectively. His widow, who wasn’t born when _The Odd Couple_ premiered, said gay rumors never bothered him, but rumors that his kids were conceived through artificial means made him furious and threaten lawsuit. (He was very proud of the fact he got them naturally.) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/12 "2010-09-18T21:31:32Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Tony Randall had some mannerisms that I associated with gay men, but apparently he was straight, and if I remember got married to a very young woman in the last few years of his life, and they had a kid together shortly before he died. Same here. Also, the photographer Bruce Weber (simply because of the homoerotic nature of some of his work). ---
**Author:** ![BMada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BMada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMada)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/13 "2010-09-18T21:32:32Z")
The host from the Marriage Ref. Tom Papa. He’s got a heavyish gay lisp or gay way of talking but he’s married with kids. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/14 "2010-09-18T21:35:28Z")
Dave Gahan, the lead singer of Depeche Mode. Apparently I wasn’t alone; there’s a side comment in an episode of “Venture Brothers” where two of the characters exchange their shock that he isn’t gay." ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/15 "2010-09-18T21:37:45Z")
[Geoffrey Holder](http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsH/8105.gif)- dancer/artist/actor/poet probably best known for his[7-UP commercials](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvdLfyctct8) ("The **un** -cola… hah hah hah). I always assumed he was gay for several reasons, especially the fact he had a career in musical theater and released two books of photographs of male nudes, but if he is it hasn’t hampered his marriage. (He and his wife, also an actor/dancer/choreographer, have been married 55 years.) I was surprised to learn that David Ogden Stiers (Charles from _M_A_S_H\*) was straight when he mentioned his girlfriends and the (false) gay rumors in interviews. I was less surprised (but a bit irked) when he came out, again, as gay a year or two ago (and admitted he’d lied about his orientation in the past for fear it would hurt his career [especially since so much of his work was with Disney]). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/16 "2010-09-18T21:44:16Z")
Gerard Way of Chemical Romance- [pics](http://www.google.com/images?q=gerard+way&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1584&bih=809)- I was surprised to learn he was straight. I would have pegged Renee Zellwegger as gay, but perhaps that’s largely because she looks just like a friend of mine who’s a lesbian (or vice versa). Evidently she’s very not gay. Brandon Flowers (The Killers) is perhaps the gay friendliest Mormon in showbiz but credits gay rumors to some of his popularity in the early years. (He evidently has a large gay fan base.) ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/17 "2010-09-18T21:48:44Z")
Ira Glass. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/18 "2010-09-18T21:50:36Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I was surprised to learn that David Ogden Stiers (Charles from _M_A_S_H\*) was straight when he mentioned his girlfriends and the (false) gay rumors in interviews. I was less surprised (but a bit irked) when he came out, again, as gay a year or two ago (and admitted he’d lied about his orientation in the past for fear it would hurt his career [especially since so much of his work was with Disney]). He had a guest star role on Fraiser where he played a gay man, an old friend of Fraiser’s mother. I think this was before he came out, and I wondered if he took the role as a sort of test-run (maybe that’s a stupid assumption on my part, but it occured to me when I read that he announced that he was gay) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/19 "2010-09-18T22:10:49Z")
Several months ago I was listening to “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” and they had Neil Sedaka on for the guest segment. At the end of the segment he mentioned something about his wife of 40 or 50 years and I thought “WTF? No way!” ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/20 "2010-09-18T22:31:58Z")
Speaking of designers, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen of “Changing Rooms.” There was an episode where he and another designer swapped homes (rather than helping two families or groups swapping homes or churches or whatever) and I was SHOCKED to see that that foppish Laurence was married to a lady of the same general type as my mom (middle aged, comfortable weight, and I think her hair was a bit frizzy, but who’s isn’t in the British mist?)- I always thought he was gay and expected that if he wasn’t, he’d have a trophy wife. Rick Steves, the travel writer/radio host/television host. That was a double whammy: I thought he was gay and Canadian, turns out he’s straight and from Edmonds, WA. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206.md?page=2)