Closeted (gay) actors formerly on the soaps

[Contessa Donatella]

Oh, no! Don't encourage him!!! 

[Soapsuds]

Your pic belongs in the daily hotness thread. Just sayin...

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[GymnastGuy]

[Contessa Donatella]

Recently in a TwiX conversation about GL under John Conboy I was asked which actress he had an affair with. So I made a sarcastic reply about what he would DO with a woman-just talk or read poetry. However, was this actually a thing? 

[Paul Raven]

Mention of John Conboy makes me think of BTS people 

Doug Marland

Jackie Babbin

Frank Valentini

Ron Carvilati

Robert Calhoun

 

[Mona Kane Croft]

John Conboy had an affair with a woman? While he was at GL?  That's a new one, Mama...

 

[Contessa Donatella]

I feel sure it is specious but I thought I'd check. 

[Contessa Donatella]

William Roerick (GL Henry Chamberlain) & longtime partner actor & screenwriter Thomas Coley

 

[Avatar610]

Thomas Coley was in the sci-fi classic "Doctor Cyclops" as a young man- one can see what "Henry" saw   in him!

ATWT producer Robert Calhoun was the longtime partner of Farley Granger - is that he got to play Earl Mitchell?

DS had a lot of  LGTBQ people in front of and behind the camera.  BTS it was makeup artist Vincent Loscalzo, and writers Ron Sproat (who knew Jonathan Frid at Yale while the actor was studying for his MFA and put in a good word for him to Dan Curtis and Robert Costello as 'Barnabas' was being cast) and Joseph Caldwell.

 

 

 

 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

Robert Calhoun, longtime partner of Farley Granger, was also noted as EP at GL, too. They also wrote a book together. 

In 1963 in NYC Farley Granger was appearing in Arthur Miller's classic American tragedy, "The Crucible" on Broadway. Robert Calhoun was the Production Superviser. That is when they met but they were friends only for a time until they realized, basically, they were each other's destiny. 

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[Contessa Donatella]

Well, I now have confirmation from someone who worked at GL at the time & who was himself propositioned by Conboy, we were correct, John Conboy had NO affair with an actress on GL. But, he did have a fling with a soap journo. Yes, of course, a man. Actually quite a nice guy, liked him a lot. He was at Weekly. 

[dc11786]

Thomas Coley appeared on "A Time for Us" as Craig Reynolds. 

[Soapsuds]

Frank Valentini is gay!!?

I'm shocked!!

Especially after his reaction of seeing Mikey shirtless on So you want to be a soap star.

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. Poor Frank almost passed out at the sight.

[Contessa Donatella]

Maureen Garrett came out & she was either still at GL or in between times & back after. She thought about it & came out after Joanna Johnson came out.

Edit to Add: I found this article & it plainly says "former Guiding Light actress" so you were totally correct in the way you characterized it. 

Former 'Guiding Light' actress Maureen Garrett sheds light on her personal life | Sputterpop

And, that was a derived article & the original article doesn't say former it says Guiding Light actress.

'Guiding Light' Actress Maureen Garrett Comes Out Publicly

Joanna was on B&B again after she came out. But, it is true that both of them came out after their heyday was behind them, when they were at the height of popularity they were in the closet as far as fans were concerned, although everyone at the shows, knew, and in Maureen Garrett's case, it was widely known among some fans because her partner would pick her up at the train every day & it was obvious that they were a loving couple.  

Now, this is an anecdote I just posted elsewhere because it is PRIDE. It fits here okay because he was in the closet, forever, as far as fans were concerned, even though he was out to everyone at the show & he & his partner were well known in various parts of the city. James Mitchell played Palmer Courtland on AMC. When he was much younger, he was a gypsy, a chorus boy, a dancer as well as an actor & singer. So at AMC they were going to tell a gay story about a gay teen, Kevin Sheffield, and a gay teacher & it all coming out & the town's reaction. As it happened, Palmer was in the side of the bigots. Well, James Mitchell who always did what he was told - before now - went to the head office & said, "No, just no, I am not going to say those words." Since he felt so strongly about it, they rewrote it that Palmer was an ally & advocate & Opal got stuck with the homophobic bigotry part. 

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Edited June 2, 2024 by Contessa Donatella
combining posts

[wonderwoman1951]

not surprised that james mitchell would refuse to play a homophobic bigot. i wasn’t a regular viewer at the time, but, according to soap central, it was palmer and opal who took kevin sheffield in and helped him deal with his parents, who were not taking the news well.

what i do remember is a powerful scene in which palmer confronted kevin’s mother, judith, in public place — country club, restaurant. 

always thought how satisfying it must have been for james mitchell play that scene.

while mitchell may have been in the closet, according to both arthur laurents’s and farley granger’s memoirs, he was extremely popular back in the day.