Closeted (gay) actors formerly on the soaps

[Paul Raven]

There were articles way back in the 70's of how independent Ms Flannery knew her way around a toolshed....

 

Of course, there's another Days lady that we might include in this list and a long time GH actor...

Edited December 30, 2018 by Paul Raven

[Vee]

The only one of these I didn't know about was Brent Weber who was obscure. I thought everyone knew about JB, PAS, Ian Buchanan over a decade ago.

[j swift]

We should add Y&R alums, Lachlan Buchanan and Peter Porte.  Lachlan attended Peter's wedding in New Orleans last summer.

Edited December 30, 2018 by j swift

[Paul Raven]

There were articles way back in the 70's of how independent Ms Flannery knew her way around a toolshed....

Peter Barton?

Shemar Moore?

[Soapsuds]

What??????  

[BuckyB12]

I don't know that Susan Flannery has ever said anything publicly, but professional lesbian Rita Mae Brown wrote about Flannery in her 1997 autobiography Rita Will, referring to Susan's long relationship with Fannie Flagg and some of her career trouble over the lesbian issue (Brown apparently didn't consider Susan's B&B tenure to be much of a career).

 

Alec Baldwin writes very fondly of David O'Brien and their friendship in his memoir Nevertheless.

 

Also amused by the surprise here about PAS - Danny Santos was the least-convincing mobster ever portrayed in soaps.

 

Who hasn't been mentioned yet on this thread...

Louis Edmonds and Keith Prentice of DS

Farley Granger (and his partner Robert Calhoun, a producer for P&G)

Robert Drivas (Young Dr. Malone and Our Private World)

Danny Pintauro (though he only played Paul Ryan as a child)

 

Some very short-term soap actors, for the sake of completeness:

Keith Christopher (Wyatt on GL, a dayplayer in their horrible HIV test-switching storyline)

Victor Garber (GL)

Michael Jeter (AW)

Jm. J. Bullock (B&B)

 

Stepping outside the actors we have writers Frank Provo and John Pickard, partners both professionally and personally who worked on radio and TV soaps. Apparently someone is working on a documentary about them, The Bachelors of Broken HIll Farm.

 

Almost certainly dozens more that we may never know because they were closeted (and sometimes married for the sake of their careers). Certainly there are a number of "single gentlemen" in the field. And the rumors, oh lord the rumors that have abounded about soooo many soap actors over the years...

 

 

[Bright Eyes]

Yeah, but many of those rumours are/were probably just desperate wishful thinkers.

[Paul Raven]

Not always.

I'm sure there were many married performers who had an understanding and acccomodating wife or an incredibly naive one.

 

Another two...

James Mitchell

Holland Taylor

Edited December 30, 2018 by Paul Raven

[slick jones]

William LeMassena (Ambrose, 1986-93, ATWT) was in a long term relationship with Montgomery Clift

[Faulkner]

The late Dack Rambo (AMC/AW/Dallas) came out as bisexual after his HIV diagnosis.

[victoria foxton]

This is an excerpt from an interview Elizabeth Hubbard gave were she talks about William LeMassena.                                                                                                                               
      "" I loved working with Billy LeMassena [who played Ambrose Bingham]. Our first day on the set together, he wore a suit once worn by Alfred Lunt, whom he'd worked with. He worked with Noel Coward. He worked with everyone. And who was his lover? [Long pause] Oh, yes, Montgomery Clift! He was quite old when he was on ATWT — I think eighty-something — and I could listen to his fabulous stories forever. ""  

Edited December 30, 2018 by victoria foxton

[All My Shadows]

To be clear, are we talking just LGBT soap stars in general or just ones who were for sure closet while on the soaps? I don't care either way, just want to make sure I'm sticking to the topic at hand.

I'm curious to see more from the UK soaps. I don't think Corrie's Bruno Langley has been mentioned.

Back in the states, Bobby Steggert, who was terribly underused as Sam Grey on AMC in the early/mid 2000s, has been out for years.

[You're Soaking in it]

Paul Anthony Stewart was practically never in. My (straight) best friend was the bartender at Akbar in Silverlake, CA - first met Paul as a patron there shortly after he left Loving. He was sociable, friendly, and comfortable in his own skin.

 

And we can probably add these two AMC kids to the list of never-ins:

 

Daniel Kennedy (Peter Cortlandt)  and  Bobby Steggert (Sam Grey).  

 

Oh, and Richard Roland: He played Kevin Sheffield's older brother, Jason - who shot at gay teacher Michael Delaney on live TV, but missed & killed Michael's sister, Laurel instead... because he blamed Michael for somehow turning Kevin gay.

 

(Edit: All My Shadows, you beat me to it on Bobby!)

Edited December 30, 2018 by YurSoakinginit

[Vee]

Wasn't Bruno Langley (who played gay Todd on Corrie, but to my knowledge isn't gay) fired for assaulting a woman? And had a wife or partner and child.

 

Lachlan Buchanan didn't make much effort to hide after Y&R. He even was the first gay guy on Fuller House.

Edited December 31, 2018 by Vee

[Paul Raven]

Jonathan Frid

Mark LaMura

Lois Kibbee

William Roerick