# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/61 "2010-09-20T12:19:53Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > On a side note: > The Liberace Museum has just closed this month in Las Vegas. > Seems few people alive today even remember who the hell Liberace was and attendance dwindled to about zip. There are also rumors of financial mis-management. > On the upside, they might be touring his artifacts around the country for those who never got a chance to visit his museum here in Las Vegas. That kinda makes me sad. When I was a kid, Grandmom watched Liberace all the time so I have fond memories of his associated with Grandmom. I was fortunate enough to go to the Roy Rogers/Dale Evans museum a couple of years before it left California for Branson (and recently closed there). ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/62 "2010-09-20T13:03:45Z")
Heterosexuality is a tough one, especially if we’re looking at people that have been married for decades - they reached adulthood in a time when being openly gay was likely a very bad idea, and more than a few people married the opposite sex to help hide their sexuality. Even though it’s pretty acceptable now, they’ve been in a partnership for most of their lives and may not want to destroy it or they were brought up like my parents and don’t consider divorce an option. I don’t think I’ve ever really been surprised by a celebrity’s orientation, but I do wonder sometimes. I remember hearing rumors when I was younger that Whoopi Goldberg was a lesbian, but damned if I can remember where I heard that. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/63 "2010-09-20T13:42:20Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > > [@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) Speaking of Fraiser, what about Kelsey Grammar? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/64 "2010-09-20T13:47:07Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Alton Brown. I was more surprised to find out he’s a Born Again Christian. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/65 "2010-09-20T14:15:25Z")
Of course, I’m never _too_ surprised, because, probably 50% of the time actors who seem gay or have rumors swirling around them, but deny it, end up admitting it years later. So I always take such things with a grain of salt. ---
**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 20, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/66 "2010-09-20T18:09:31Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Speaking of Fraiser, what about Kelsey Grammar? While I think that Kelsey Grammar (or at least his signature character Dr. Frasier Crane) has a few “gay” mannerisims, in real life Grammar has had kids with at least 3 different women and just left his current wife to be with his pregnant girlfriend, so if he is gay, someone needs to tell his dick. 😉 Fraiser had several episodes where closeted/repressed homosexuality was a main theme, and from reading SDMB it was one of the only mainstream network shows with three gay principal actors, all who played straight men. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/67 "2010-09-20T18:27:23Z")
I was pleasantly surprised to find out Danny Kaye was straight. Now if only he weren’t dead! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/68 "2010-09-20T18:30:28Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > > > Speaking of Fraiser, what about Kelsey Grammar? > > While I think that Kelsey Grammar (or at least his signature character Dr. Frasier Crane) has a few “gay” mannerisims, in real life Grammar has had kids with at least 3 different women and just left his current wife to be with his pregnant girlfriend, so if he is gay, someone needs to tell his dick. 😉 > > Fraiser had several episodes where closeted/repressed homosexuality was a main theme, and from reading SDMB it was one of the only mainstream network shows with three gay principal actors, all who played straight men. I think that was Annie’s point. She was aware Grammar is a heterosexual but was surprised by it due to his mannerisms and the predominantly gay group he works with. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/69 "2010-09-20T18:36:08Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > > [@Sampiro](#): > > > > After he died the reps of the magazine that he had successfully sued for libel (I think the magazine itself was defunct but there were assigns who had some rights to its affairs) actually sued his estate for the verdict money plus 30 years of interest back. It was tossed out of court. > > On a side note: > The Liberace Museum has just closed this month in Las Vegas. > Seems few people alive today even remember who the hell Liberace was and attendance dwindled to about zip. There are also rumors of financial mis-management. > On the upside, they might be touring his artifacts around the country for those who never got a chance to visit his museum here in Las Vegas. UPDATE: Just read where they are closing October 17th - so if anyone should be coming to Vegas beforehand, this will be your last chance to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/70 "2010-09-20T19:38:39Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I was pleasantly surprised to find out Danny Kaye was straight. Now if only he weren’t dead! There is a persistent rumor that Danny Kaye had a relationship with Laurence Olivier, fueled in part by comments made by Olivier’s wife, Joan Plowright. I suspect that in many cases two things are true - orientation is not binary and we will never be certain. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/71 "2010-09-20T19:55:42Z")
Early in the first episodes of Mythbusters, I coulda sworn both Adam and Jamie were gay. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/72 "2010-09-20T20:16:57Z")
I was surprised to find out that Robert Preston was straight. Maybe he just did such a good job playing an old queen in “Victor/Victoria” that he fooled me, but I’d have pegged him for gay. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/73 "2010-09-20T20:20:07Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Just read where they are closing October 17th - so if anyone should be coming to Vegas beforehand, this will be your last chance to see it. I think Prince Poppycock has already raided it for the red-white-blue hotpants. Wonder if he got anymore. I’d love to see the stuff if it goes on tour. I wonder if PETA protested the museum much because that must be the most furs that ever belonged to any man who wasn’t a member of royalty (like seriously- I can’t think of anybody who’d have had more at anytime in history). I used to love watching Liberace but it’s far more surprising it stayed open 23 years than that it’s closing; most of his fan base was the same age he was and he’d be in his 90s now. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/74 "2010-09-20T20:26:28Z")
Andrew Ridgeley. He lives with a total fox and golfs. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/75 "2010-09-20T20:44:47Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I was surprised to learn here that Hugh Laurie was straight. > > NOT because he has EVER set off any gaydar, but because I was told he was gay by something/someone apparantly reliable enough that I was astounded but accepted it. I can’t recall at ALL where that might have been, but now I imagine scene when Laurie might be asked if he’s gay: “Nope, just British”. :smack: Hugh Laurie doesn’t even cause a blip on my gaydar. He causes another kind of blip, but that’s for another thread. But I will go to my grave swearing that Regis Philbin is gay. I don’t care about his wife and daughters; that man is as gay as I am . . . and that’s a whole lot. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/76 "2010-09-20T21:07:08Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > But I will go to my grave swearing that Regis Philbin is gay. I don’t care about his wife and daughters; that man is as gay as I am . . . and that’s a whole lot. Is that your final answer? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/77 "2010-09-21T04:21:57Z")
> [@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. For what little it’s worth, my uncle was a pilot for many years. One of his earliest jobs was flying a small plane out to Fire Island, a gay-oriented resort. And he claims Tony Randall was one of his regular passengers to Fire Island. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/78 "2010-09-21T05:17:06Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Ira Glass. LOL, seconded. I love the guy, love This American Life. Of course, _This American Life_ has featured [David Sedaris](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sedaris) (whom I also love) more than once, and man…he makes Ira sound straighter than straight 😃 Love them both, both genius. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/79 "2010-09-21T05:20:15Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I was surprised when I learned commentator [Dick Morris](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Morris) had a wife. Thought for sure he was gay. I guess Dick has succeeded in making a name for himself beyond riding on his association with the Clintons, then: the first I ever heard of the guy was while he was still working in the White House and there was some kind of scandal over a (female) prostitute sucking on his toes. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206/80 "2010-09-21T07:22:17Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > For what little it’s worth, my uncle was a pilot for many years. One of his earliest jobs was flying a small plane out to Fire Island, a gay-oriented resort. And he claims Tony Randall was one of his regular passengers to Fire Island. Lots of straights go to Fire Island, too. It’s quite a big piece of land with a lot of different sections, some gayer than others. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-a-celebritys-heterosexuality-surprised-you/554206.md?page=5)