News to me. Maybe I put too much trust in my ex. Okay, okay. I recant it.
According to this site, it’s
I was surprised by Portia de Rossi and Richard Chamberlain.
I was surprised to learn that Emily Dickenson wasn’t the shut-in all the bios make her out to be, but a lesbian carrying on an affair with sister-in-law.
Wait - Rula Lenska is gay?
Yeah, well, I’m 41, I’ve never been married, I’ve done musical theater, and I’m straight. Check your axioms, Nathan!
I was SO depressed when I found out she was gay. All the damn time, if I’m attracted to a woman, odds are she’s a lesbian. Dammit. :smack:
I have always wondered about this myself. I can see not wanting to make assumptions, especially about rock musicians of the 1970s, but how could anyone actually be surprised? The only explanation I can think of is that it was a kind of “purloined letter” situation, where people assumed that no real gay man would dare seem so gay.
I blame it on clueless people. But seriouly, I was moderatly surprissed to realize that Richard Franklin, who plays Captain Mike Yates on Doctor Who, is gay.
http://www.tetrap.com/drwho/guide/unit.html
Anderson Cooper surprised me, but I might have heard that one before.
I don’t think I’d heard about James Dean though.
Tab Hunter was/is gay and is writing an autobio with emphasis on closeted celebrities of the Golden Era.
Literary critic Harold Bloom wrote in 2004,
Heck, I was more surprised to find out that he’s British!
Ohh, but those pretty blue eyes… sigh…
I moseyed on over to the aforementioned Wikipedia site and was surprised by the sheer number of “undebated” gay and bi people in Hollywood (though now that I take a closer look, it seems a little skimpy after all). Heather Matarazzo? Who knew? (well, not many people, apparently, until she mentioned her girlfriend in the NYTimes). But David Geffen? I mean, he’s obviously, painfully gay, but doesn’t getting married to a woman provide some room for debate (or does suing her for battery cancel that out?)?
Funnily enough, aren’t the Village People managers trying to make them seem less gay? I could’ve sworn I heard about it on a late night talk show, where I get all of my news these days, but I can’t recall which one.
I suspect that one of my favorite actors of all time might be gay, but if so, he’s very good at keeping a secret: Kevin Spacey
The man’s a genius.
Another vote for Portia de Rossi. Damn shame for the heterosexual male to lose her.
Except for that cover story in the October 1997 issue of Esquire magazine, titled Kevin Spacey Has a Secret. 
RE Daryl Hall- I vaguely remember him on TV discussing going through a time of active bi-ness, but not actually being involved with John Oates.
The Emily Dickinson mention reminds me- later in her life, Elizabeth Borden apparently kept house with a woman friend.
Oh, I’m sorry- you know her better as ‘Lizzie’.
And now you know- the rest of the story. 
Actually, her full name at birth was Lizzie Andrew Borden, not Elizabeth.
I’ve been a huge Kevin Spacey fan since Usual Suspects, but dude can’t sing.
He’s a great actor, no doubt. His friends tell him “Of course your singing is divine”, and so do the people that also make money from him. But, it’s not quite true.
His Bobby Darin Movie featured him “singing” a few tunes that weren’t that hard for any actor to cover.
I love him as an actor, but as a singer, he’s not fit to carry the jock of Frank, Dean, Bing, or Mel.
Number of actors with succesfull music side projects: 0.
He needs to stop.