# Has Any Famous Person Who "Came Out" Ever Truly Surprised You? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867 "2010-02-21T13:52:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/101 "2010-02-22T07:08:54Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Janis Ian is a seemingly-crazed self-proclaimed lesbian incest victim who claims the FBI harassed her lefty family back in the day (agenda, anyone?). I just read her [autobiography](http://www.amazon.com/Societys-Child-Autobiography-Janis-Ian/dp/B0035G046G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266821832&sr=1-1). Nothing in it about incest. She was physically abused by her ex-husband. The FBI was, indeed, harassing lefties back in the day. She [obtained records of FBI surveillance via a Freedom of Information Act request](http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=12738). > [@](#): > > Her story about running into Hoover in “the late '70s” at a bathhouse is only slightly compromised by the fact that Hoover died in May, 1972. Probably why she didn’t include this particular story in the book, mistaking some other overweight, giggling transvestite for Hoover. I was prepared to apologize, and then I read… > [@](#): > > Oh, wait – it’s completely compromised, and there was no “eyewitness,” just some crazy lesbo. I’ve met her, and though I’m not a particular fan of her music, I admire her writing and her anti-RIAA stance. You owe _her_ an apology. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/102 "2010-02-22T07:21:33Z")
Will Geer- Grandpa on The Waltons- shocked me, not just the fact he was gay but that he was openly gay. (He was married for a time and had children but he lived a rather openly gay life.) I’ve never seen video of George Washington Carver but was surprised to learn he was gay, and again fairly openly considering the times in which he lived. He lived with a longtime companion in his home at Tuskegee, and later with a much younger companion when his older love died. The younger companion was Dr. Austin Cooper, Jr., who was probably more of a caregiver than romantic interest (Carver was feeble in his final years) but Cooper was openly gay, and later became a millionaire in chemical products he developed. (Carver was also an extremely talented artist and embroiderer.) I was shocked that I was shocked to learn that Roscoe Lee Browne was gay. He wasn’t flaming exactly, but I just assumed he was “Shakespearean”- such a gorgeous voice. He toured and worked on stage frequently for many years with the actor Anthony Zerbe, who has been married (to a woman) for 50 years; I’ve wondered if Browne and Zerbe were lovers and the marriage was one of convenience or long ago annulled or whatever. Cesar Romero was a bit of a shocker also. He never officially came out as he was very devout Catholic and from a time when you just didn’t do that, but he never married or had any women of significance and several people who knew him well attest to it. A couple of stars I’d like to know the truth about include Cary Grant (it’s so established that he was gay or bi that it’s a surprise when you look at the evidence and it’s not overwhelming to say the least and in fact he seemed to have several affairs with women he tried to keep secret from his wives), Rudolph Valentino (I’ve heard he was gay and that he was impotent and that he was straight- no idea which is true). I doubt the conclusive evidence exists though- I tend to think Grant was either straight or at most bicurious with a preference for women, Valentino I tend to agree with whatever I read last. ---
**Author:** ![dragoncat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6a8cbe/32.png) [@dragoncat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragoncat)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/103 "2010-02-22T07:24:03Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I think you mean Pete Williams? If so he works for NBC news and has for a while. Well that would explain why I couldn’t find him on any search engine! :smack: Thanks! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/104 "2010-02-22T07:24:49Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Janis Ian is a seemingly-crazed self-proclaimed lesbian incest victim who claims the FBI harassed her lefty family back in the day (agenda, anyone?). > > Her story about running into Hoover in “the late '70s” at a bathhouse is only slightly compromised by the fact that Hoover died in May, 1972. > > Oh, wait – it’s completely compromised, and there was no “eyewitness,” just some crazy lesbo. “lesbo”? Haven’t heard that one for ages. Damn. Ian may have been mistaken about the date and/or that it was Hoover, but you’re carrying some mighty heavy homophobic bullshit on your shoulders. Who’s got an agenda? ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/105 "2010-02-22T07:33:31Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I was pretty surprised when I heard a few years ago that the gorgeous \*\*Saffron Burrows \*\*(whom I’ve had a crush on since seeing her in Circle of Friends) was in a relationship with Fiona Shaw (Aunt Petunia from the Harry Potter movies!). I was surprised when I read this, but on further reflection I think I do remember knowing that she is bi-sexual. She was in a relationship with Mike Figgis for awhile, if I recall. I guess my answer (that I haven’t seen mentioned yet) would be Wentworth Miller, but I DID first see him on the show “Popular”, so… ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/106 "2010-02-22T07:40:49Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > **Raymond Burr** surprised me (first heard about it in this thread), but in thinking about him in **Rear Window** , I can see it. [Raymond Burr](http://affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/wp-content/uploads/imagesrear-window-thorwald-02-small.jpg) was actually made up to look like Alfred Hitchcock’s old boss, producer [David O. Selznick](http://i422.photobucket.com/albums/pp308/jlapper/they%20were%20an%20item/JonesandSelznik.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Baldy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Gary\_Baldy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Baldy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/107 "2010-02-22T07:59:03Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Janis Ian is a seemingly-crazed self-proclaimed lesbian incest victim who claims the FBI harassed her lefty family back in the day (agenda, anyone?). > > Her story about running into Hoover in “the late '70s” at a bathhouse is only slightly compromised by the fact that Hoover died in May, 1972. > > Oh, wait – it’s completely compromised, and there was no “eyewitness,” just some crazy lesbo. > > Fact check. Also, according to Mitrokhin’s KGB files, the Soviets tried to smear several anti-communist politicians in the USA with rumors of being gay. The only smear that stuck was Hoover’s crossdressing, but it took decades before it did become popular…and only with the anti-establishment hippies in the late 1960s who hated Hoover anyway. Back on topic, I was surprised to hear that Kelly McGillis was gay, until [I saw a current photo of her](http://leftrightandcentered.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/a-loss-for-the-pink-team/). ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/108 "2010-02-22T08:51:52Z")
> [@](#): > > His co-star Jim Parsons almost outed himself on a TV show Has he ever said he is or is it still up in the air? I actually have a connection with him (he’s a friend of a friend) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/109 "2010-02-22T09:28:23Z")
> [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](#): > > Has he ever said he is or is it still up in the air? I actually have a connection with him (he’s a friend of a friend) Up in the air to my knowledge. Though on that show it seemed he was testing the waters (though that could just be me). “Guys everyone knows are gay but who have never made it official” include Anderson Cooper, Ricky Martin (who has denied it [as Clay Aiken did]), Sean Hayes, Kevin Spacey (who has also denied it) and Richard Simmons. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/110 "2010-02-22T09:31:08Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > [re Travanti & Galecki] To my knowledge neither has. There are rumors about both but you’re nobody until you’re rumored to be gay if you’re not married. Galecki played a male prostitute in a hit play on Broadway- one that required a full nude scene and making out with another guy (pics online if you’re interested) which probably fuels the rumors. This isn’t to say he _isn’t_ gay IRL- I honestly have no idea. You’re right about Galecki, I was too hasty. For quite a while, he would be coy when asked that question, but now he’s being a little less dodgy: [Time Out Chicago | Chicago Events, Activities & Things To Do](http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/tv/74345/interview-with-johnny-galecki-of-the-big-bang-theory) TOC: I read you were out as straight. So you’re not out as anything? Johnny Galecki: No, I happen to love women, so I guess that would make me straight—I don’t know. I don’t mean to be so enigmatic, but I’m trying to keep from offending people. I’ve both read and watched interviews with Daniel J. Travanti where he’s relatively open about it. He’s never made the big announcement, but he’s not really closeted, either. One interview was a long time ago on TV, near the end of the run of Hill St. Blues, with a clueless interviewer (I’ve long ago forgotten who) who kept asking why he wasn’t attached yet, and DJT, embarrassed, tried explaining how he always knew he was different, and finally the interviewer caught on and changed the subject. The second interview was one I read online and was more recent, from a newspaper when DJT was in that city for a play. I honestly don’t remember where it was located. He was pretty upfront about it. But since I can’t locate them, take it or leave it as you wish. I forgot about Darlene, I mean Sara Gilbert, being out. That one surprised me, too. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/111 "2010-02-22T09:38:41Z")
Jodie Foster is in a bit of a nether region- she’s never said “I’m gay” but she has referred to her “beloved Chelsea” and their children, which is a great way of handling it I think considering she’s a very private person. Has John Mahoney (Frasier’s dad Martin Crane) come out? There was a picture of him and a guy who was fairly obviously his companion on a show that mentioned David Hyde Pierce’s (very low key) gay wedding. I have several friends who know the actor Glenn Howerton from _It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia_ and who is NOT gay (I’ve never seen the show so I’ve no idea what his character is like). By all accounts he is a straight drama queen (they’re the worst kind) but one of my favorite stories is of how he didn’t think his publicist was earning her pay because (this was before the success of Sunny/Philadelphia) “I’ve had two series and I’m not married but I don’t even have an ‘Is he Gay?’ thread on imdb!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/112 "2010-02-22T09:51:58Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I’ve both read and watched interviews with Daniel J. Travanti where he’s relatively open about it. He’s never made the big announcement, but he’s not really closeted, either. One interview was a long time ago on TV, near the end of the run of Hill St. Blues, with a clueless interviewer (I’ve long ago forgotten who) who kept asking why he wasn’t attached yet, and DJT, embarrassed, tried explaining how he always knew he was different, and finally the interviewer caught on and changed the subject. The second interview was one I read online and was more recent, from a newspaper when DJT was in that city for a play. I honestly don’t remember where it was located. He was pretty upfront about it. But since I can’t locate them, take it or leave it as you wish. According to the tabloids a few years ago (for whatever that’s worth), when Travanti was a struggling actor he began living with a significantly older (15-20 years or so) stage director of moderate success. After _Hill Street Blues_ and other vehicles made him rich and famous they continued living together- were together for many years- and Travanti was still devoted to him even though the man was old and in ill health. No idea if it was an open relationship or romantic towards the end, but if true then imo it speaks well of him. Robert Clary from _Hogan’s Heroes_- IRL a French Holocaust survivor and a son-in-law of Eddie Cantor, was arrested for soliciting a few years ago in the same men’s room where George Michael was later arrested. (Clary was a widower by the time.) While I’d never given much thought to his love life if I’d had to pick which cast member was gay I’d have gone with Werner “Klink” Klemperer, though he in fact was straight. The “Is he German or gay?” query could almost be a game show. (Trivia: Klemperer’s last wife was the sister of the actress who played Donna on SANFORD & SON.) Crane and Dawsons were of course freaky deaky hetero horndogs. Louie Anderson is gay. He outed himself when a former lover was blackmailing him. I think I joined everybody in thinking “I really didn’t need to think of him having sex.” There was a rumor for years that Karl Malden was a frequent user of rent boys. It turned out that it wasn’t true, it was an old man who looked like him. (It’s a long story how I know that and not particularly interesting so I’ll spare you, but I mention it here in case you ever read Malden was gay, which is in a few rumor sites.) For some reason I always assumed William “Fred Mertz” Frawley was, no idea why. I was surprised when I learned that not only was he straight but he lived with ridiculously young women for much of his life. When he died he was almost 80 and his live-in girlfriend- of several years- was a dancer in her late 20s/early 30s. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/113 "2010-02-22T10:27:08Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Up in the air to my knowledge. Though on that show it seemed he was testing the waters (though that could just be me). > > “Guys everyone knows are gay but who have never made it official” include Anderson Cooper, Ricky Martin (who has denied it [as Clay Aiken did]), Sean Hayes, Kevin Spacey (who has also denied it) and Richard Simmons. Richard Simmons hasn’t come out yet? That’s awesome 😃 For some reason I find that extremely amusing. You go girl! ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/114 "2010-02-22T10:33:30Z")
I dunno, I sometimes wonder… By asserting/thinking that X is _obviously_ gay because, well, _look_ at how he dresses and acts, are we advancing harmful stereotypes and reinforcing strict gender norms/roles? I mean, I get where the reactions come from, I really do. But I feel vaguely bad/guilty about “passing judgment” on someone’s sexuality for a reason short of him/her actually saying so (especially when it _goes against_ a denial). Too PC? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/115 "2010-02-22T10:40:17Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I dunno, I sometimes wonder… By asserting/thinking that X is _obviously_ gay because, well, _look_ at how he dresses and acts, are we advancing harmful stereotypes and reinforcing strict gender norms/roles? Nah, because while most gay men are not effeminate or “flamboyant”, most effeminate or flamboyant men _are_ gay. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/116 "2010-02-22T10:44:53Z")
So stereotyping is okay when it’s true? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/117 "2010-02-22T10:48:15Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I dunno, I sometimes wonder… By asserting/thinking that X is _obviously_ gay because, well, _look_ at how he dresses and acts, are we advancing harmful stereotypes and reinforcing strict gender norms/roles? I mean, I get where the reactions come from, I really do. But I feel vaguely bad/guilty about “passing judgment” on someone’s sexuality for a reason short of him/her actually saying so (especially when it _goes against_ a denial). > > Too PC? I get where you’re coming from too, and perhaps you are correct to some extent. I don’t think we should be assuming anything about the sex lives of Anderson Cooper or Kevin Spacey, for example (although I’m so far removed from that circle that maybe I’m the one being naive). However, you are right to put the term passing judgment in quotations - I just don’t see it as “passing judgement” because I really don’t see sexual preference as a moral failing or any sort of character flaw. It’s just sex. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/118 "2010-02-22T11:02:50Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > He didn’t surprise or not surprise you, because there’s no proof it’s true. > > [Was J. Edgar Hoover a cross-dresser? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2423/was-j-edgar-hoover-a-cross-dresser) > > Listening to say Woodrow Wilson, or looking at FDR with his spats and dandyish cigarette holder, you could equally call their patrician/less-diverged-from-British (British~gaylord) affect and accents “effeminate.” Thanks for the link. Not surprisingly, I read the book that seems to be refuted in that link… however, there are pictures in that book of Tolson and Hoover that seems to indicate they were very close. Maybe they were just good friends. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/119 "2010-02-22T11:06:08Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > [Raymond Burr](http://affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/wp-content/uploads/imagesrear-window-thorwald-02-small.jpg) was actually made up to look like Alfred Hitchcock’s old boss, producer [David O. Selznick](http://i422.photobucket.com/albums/pp308/jlapper/they%20were%20an%20item/JonesandSelznik.jpg). Well, they did a damn fine job! The other thing that could tip Burr’s hand is the fact that he chopped up his “wife” in that movie. Hmmm… Just curious, was Selznick straight? ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/120 "2010-02-22T11:12:00Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Hey, it was the 50s. Men had to repress so much of their personalities that were not Cold-War or Organization-Man approved that women had no choice but to seek vicarious romance through the drippy emotional campiness of an over-the-top candelabrum-brandishing gigolo of the keyboard. > > Damn, that was a long sentence. But seriously, this was an era where you could be thought of as a homo for wearing a striped shirt. Liberace sued and won a lawsuit against a British Newspaper in the 1950s. He was in denial til the very end. > [@](#): > > Liberace’s fame in the United States was matched for a time in the United Kingdom. In 1956, an article in The Daily Mirror by veteran columnist Cassandra (William Connor) mentioned that Liberace was “…the summit of sex—the pinnacle of masculine, feminine, and neuter. Everything that he, she, and it can ever want… a deadly, winking, sniggering, snuggling, chromium-plated, scent-impregnated, luminous, quivering, giggling, fruit-flavoured, mincing, ice-covered heap of mother love,” a description which did everything it could to imply he was homosexual without actually saying so.[44] Liberace sued[45] the newspaper for libel, testifying in a London court that he was not a homosexual, and had never taken part in homosexual acts. He won the suit, partly on the basis of the term fruit-flavoured, which was held to impute homosexuality. The $22,400 (£8,000) damages he received from The Daily Mirror led Liberace to repeat his catchphrase. “I cried all the way to the bank!”[46] The catchphrase inspired the title of Crying All The Way To The Bank, a detailed report of the trial based on transcripts, court reports and interviews, by the former Daily Mirror journalist Revel Barker. > > He fought and settled a similar case in the United States against Confidential. Rumors and gossip magazines frequently alleged behavior that strongly implied that he was a homosexual. A typical issue of Confidential in 1957 shouted, “Why Liberace’s Theme Song Should Be ‘Mad About the Boy!’”[47] > > In 1982, Scott Thorson, Liberace’s 24-year old bodyguard, limo driver, and alleged live-in boyfriend of five years, sued the pianist for $113 million in palimony after an acrimonious split-up. Liberace continued to publicly deny that he was homosexual and insisted that Thorson was never his lover. In 1984, most of Thorson’s claim was dismissed, although he received a $95,000 settlement.[48] > **[Liberace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberace#Lawsuits_and_alleged_homosexuality)** > > Władziu Valentino Liberace\[nb 1\] (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer and actor. He was born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin and enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordings, television, motion pictures and endorsements. At the height of his fame from the 1950s to 1970s, he was the highest-paid entertainer in the world with established concert residencies in Las Vegas and an international touring schedule. > He became popular w... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867.md?page=7)