# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/161 "2010-02-23T03:55:33Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Note to others: Could you make an effort to support these claims? Not having remarried when your husband died when you were 51 ain’t evidence. It does if you’re a man. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/162 "2010-02-23T03:57:56Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > What does shock and rather horrify me is that she’d be in a relationship with someone who lists her cat as a co-author. Lovely combination of post and user name… I was a little surprised to discover Graham Chapman was gay…oddly, Eric does peg me a bit as gay, even though I know (or at least am 99% sure) he’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/163 "2010-02-23T04:25:10Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > BTW, and contrary to what someone said upthread, Reid is a good example of how an unmarried guy could fly under radar Reid had been married, and his daughter played bit parts on two episodes of _The Brady Bunch_. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/164 "2010-02-23T05:51:24Z")
A slight nitpick, in case anybody might want to look him up, but his name is spelled “Reed”. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/165 "2010-02-23T06:12:13Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > A slight nitpick, in case anybody might want to look him up, but his name is spelled “Reed”. Just buzzing through the posts I see “Reid” and think “Tara! Holy shit I need to see that sex tape!!!” ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/166 "2010-02-23T07:48:23Z")
> [@](#): > > I forgot about Darlene, I mean Sara Gilbert, being out. That one surprised me, too. You’re kidding me right?:eek: Darlene was SCREAMING gay. I do think that if the show’d been on in the 00’s, they would have made the charector be gay. Total stereotypical tomboy lesbian type if you ask me. So not surprised the actress came out. And it’s funny… I know I’m bi b/c I’d do either Leslie Winkle or Leonard. 😃 Oh, middleman so Jim IS offically out? My sister corresponds with his boyfriend, and is going to meet Jim at the wedding of my friend! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/167 "2010-02-23T13:37:48Z")
> [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](#): > > Oh, middleman so Jim IS offically out? My sister corresponds with his boyfriend, and is going to meet Jim at the wedding of my friend! 🆒 I wouldn’t say so. I’m just saying that in college, before he was famous, it was not a secret. Fame has a way of putting people back in the closet, so I have no idea. I’ve never seen him subject of any rumors intended to make him look straight, so I think he might fall into the David Hyde Pierce category while he was filming Frasier: it went unsaid, but no one was stunned. All of this “armchair analysis” is pure speculation on my part. I didn’t really know him very well, and didn’t realize he was “that guy from that play you saw” until a friend reminded me who he was.\* [sub]\*The first time in the history of the internet that someone downplayed their connections to a celebrity!?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/168 "2010-02-23T13:51:24Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I was surprised by Grandpa Walton Gay _and_ Communist. The Wiki page doesn’t mention the homosexuality though. (Also - did you know Grampa Walton’s first name was “Zebulon”? How cool is that?) ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/169 "2010-02-23T17:27:02Z")
I was surprised to learn that Stephen Fry is gay. I don’t make a point of finding his work, but I have seen him in a few things and he struck me as someone just old enough to have the odd upper crust English mannerisms that spawned the phrase, “Is he gay or is he British?” ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/170 "2010-02-23T19:04:52Z")
Ok really, Have we gotten any conformation on John Mahoney? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/171 "2010-02-23T19:19:59Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Jim J Bullock was JM J Bullock for his years on “Too Close For Comfort,” because someone in the actors union had the name first so he had to change his. Later that actor dropped out so he got to “reclaim” his correct name. > > . > > I always think it was funny to hear about the stars in the 30s and 40s having roommates. Granted I know movie stars in the 30s and 40s didn’t make what movie stars do now, but you’d think they could afford their own flats. Hm, didn’t anybody else notice Jim Bullock was in [gaydar](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0340124/) ? :dubious: 😃 And many of the studio contract talent did not get star wages because they were the B list and lower … and besides, same sex roommates were ok, whereas nonmarried opposite sex roomies were living in sin … and NOT good for studio reputations. ---
**Author:** ![smaje1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@smaje1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaje1)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/172 "2010-02-23T19:23:58Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Just scanning [Category:Gay\_actors](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Gay_actors) (both pages) I either didn’t recognize anybody or wasn’t surprised. Whoa, just read this. John Glover? Victor Garber? Gawrsh, my gaydar sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/173 "2010-02-23T21:26:54Z")
It doesn’t surprise me that Victor Garber’s gay but I didn’t realize he was openly so. I’ve always thought he was very sexy for a guy who isn’t a conventional stud muffin. David Garrison- best known for playing Steve on _Married- With Children_ (alongside openly gay Amanda “Marcy” Bearse) is either gay or exceptionally gay friendly. He’s never been married that I can find, he makes his living in musical theater, and I’ve seen him on a float in a gay pride parade (though I’ve also seen straight celebs who have gay friends and family on them [Cyndi Lauper being the biggest staple in this category]\*). One who surprises me for not being out is Rip Taylor. He makes Liberace look like Steve Buscemi and he marshals Gay Pride parades but then falls back into the “I don’t discuss my private life” line of refusing to confirm or deny. Gore Vidal also refuses to identify as gay, saying that “a person is not homosexual, an act is homosexual”. I understand his logic, and I know he’s had sex with women in the distant past, but I don’t agree. (You could just as easily say that a person is neither black or white; their skin [which is very rarely actually black or actually white] and hair texture just happen to differ a tiny amount- and if we lived in a world where this made no difference you’d have a point but there’s a bit of distinction made isn’t there?) c’mon old man- give Buckley this much, you’re queer. (There were many rumors about Buckley’s sexuality as well; of course Vidal started some of them.) \*Best moment was when Elizabeth Montgomery co-marshaled a Gay Pride Parade with Dick Sargent. (Hard to believe that there was a time so very recent when Dick Sargent, even then a long-past-his-sell-by-date actor who most people recognized but never thought of as having a private life one way or the other, was big news when he came out- about the same time as Sheila Kuehl who was even further past her celebrity days from playing Zelda on Dobie Gillis and was in fact a lawyer.) Anyway, Montgomery was a very private person. You hardly ever saw her when she wasn’t acting- she rarely did talk shows or interviews of any kind even when she had a new project- so it was a surprise to see her as herself in a controversial public event. When a reporter asked her why she did it she responded, sweet and smiling, “I’m here for the same reason as everybody else… I love Dick.” ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/174 "2010-02-23T22:05:33Z")
Seeing **George Nader** on the Wiki list made me think of **Jeff Chandler** (beefy handsome types), so I looked him up. Married with children but per Wiki, Esther Williams broke off an affair with Chandler because (she says) he was a cross-dresser. I’m also surprised about Raymond Burr and Daniel J. Travanti. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/175 "2010-02-23T23:01:48Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > I was a huge Trekkie for about ten years and read everything I could about every aspect of it, and I do not recall ever encountering any indication that Takei is gay. It seems like revisionism to me. Yeah. I was fairly into Trek growing up and had two die-hard good friends and then later lived with two other die-hards… It wasn’t an open secret to anyone. It was a lot of guessing but not the “Ohhh we all knew!” BS that goes on now. I didn’t know Raymond Burr until this thread. And Neil Patrick Harris was a surrpise. People who go the “well, wasn’t it obvious” route usually only cite “He did theater!” as their evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/176 "2010-02-23T23:03:19Z")
One that surprised me was Marjorie Main (‘Ma Kettle’). Looking back, it seems rather obvious. But when I first saw those movies, I had no idea what coming out or ‘gay’ was at all. ---
**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 23, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/177 "2010-02-23T23:17:52Z")
Robert Raushenberg (once married) and Jasper Johns apparently were once lovers. So two of the giants of American 20th Century art were even more closely connected than the art history books imply. And the two giants of avant garde dance and music , Merce Cunningham and John Cage not only collaborated on many works but were also in a long term relationship together. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/178 "2010-02-23T23:20:29Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > It doesn’t surprise me that Victor Garber’s gay but I didn’t realize he was openly so. I’ve always thought he was very sexy for a guy who isn’t a conventional stud muffin. Victor Garber’s gay? I had no idea. > [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > And Neil Patrick Harris was a surrpise. People who go the “well, wasn’t it obvious” route usually only cite “He did theater!” as their evidence. I never thought it was obvious (especially not in Starship Troopers), but after you hear it, you can’t imagine him being 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 23, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/179 "2010-02-23T23:30:02Z")
> [@Rrose\_Selavy](#): > > Robert Raushenberg (once married) and Jasper Johns apparently were once lovers. > So two of the giants of American 20th Century art were even more closely connected than the art history books imply. > And the two giants of avant garde dance and music , Merce Cunningham and John Cage not only collaborated on many works but were also in a long term relationship together. That should of course be Rauschenberg not Raushenberg(sic) I hate it when the post edit window times out so soon. - ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-famous-person-who-came-out-ever-truly-surprised-you/529867/180 "2010-02-24T01:04:37Z")
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