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Richard Chamberlain urges gay actors to hide their sexuality
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1341935/I-wouldnt-advise-coming-Richard-Chamberlain-urges-gay-actors-hide-sexuality.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
It's not exactly harmed John Barrowman's career or Russell Tovey's,
Stupid statements like that make young gay people think that they will never be accepted,
He's not exactly a role model either, he hid in the closet for 60 years and made bad soaps and shitty mini-series. If he'd come out a bit sooner people might have thought he was remotely interesting - Tosser!
It's not exactly harmed John Barrowman's career or Russell Tovey's,
Stupid statements like that make young gay people think that they will never be accepted,
He's not exactly a role model either, he hid in the closet for 60 years and made bad soaps and shitty mini-series. If he'd come out a bit sooner people might have thought he was remotely interesting - Tosser!
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I think Richard is referring to America rather than Britain. Britain is far more accepting of Gay Actors or Singers then America is. John Barrowman and Russell Tovey are not really sucessfull in the States.
Of the American Gay actors Luke Macfarlane & T.R Night are pretty successful, probably much more talented than Richard?
In society in general maybe, but can you name any American film star of note who is openly gay? Is it statistically likely that so few Hollywood actors are gay? No, they are closeted for a reason, so Chamberlain is right.
Neil Patrick Harris is massively successful in America, he even hosted the Oscars. And he plays a womanizing character on his TV series.
Did you even read the article? Because it's not sounding as if you did. He is talking about leading men actors not actors in general and he is speaking directly from his own experience. Time and place, he would never have had the success he had were he openly gay. This is fact and this is still the state of play in H/wood.
She fell from the sky, she fell very far and Kansas, she says, is the name of the star"
Well, I have to confess I had never heard of him and am reasonably film literate. According to Wiki (not always correct) he has never hosted the Oscars - the Emmys and Tonys. But I would venture he's not exactly a household name and if that's the best we can come up with re 'open' gay American actors them it pretty much makes my point.
Yeah it's just America. I'm sure there are no closeted British actors who work exclusively in the UK. Right...ok.
He's in the hugely successful "How I Met Your Mother"...has enjoyed success on Broadway, recently appeared in Glee, was a guest judge on the last series of American Idol and somehow manages to be both a household name and a cult comedian in the US. He's also the main character in a popular, critically lauded internet sitcom written by Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly) which was hyped into oblivion by Time Magazine and received countless awards. This is all true regardless of whether you have heard of him or not.
...and I don't know which Wiki page you read exactly, but...
"He also hosted the 63rd Tony Awards on June 7, 2009,[2] and the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards on September 20, 2009. On March 7, 2010, he made a surprise appearance at the 82nd Academy Awards, delivering the opening musical number, and on August 21, 2010 he won two Emmy Awards at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony. On December 11, 2010, Harris hosted Spike's Video Game Awards. He was named as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2010."
...and Doogie Howser????
Hugely successful but she's not selling an image - ie, she's not an actress nor, more specifically, a leading lady taking on hetero roles. Even in her own comedy shows, she was just herself. Her girlfriend Portia de Rossi is probably a better example since she was a successful TV actress before coming out (Ally McBeal, Arrested Development, Nip/Tuck etc.)... not sure how much work she's getting now?
Maybe they feel that the public won't believe the performance of a gay actor having marital problems with a wife in a movie or tv series if it's a self confessed gay actor that is starring?
Maybe its perceived as something that would stand in the way of people losing themselves in the performance?
I'd say that's more the reason than anything.
I read the same Wiki page as you which clearly says he 'delivered the opening musical number' at the 2010 Oscars - this does not equate the hosting the show, the assertion I disagreed with. The 2010 Oscar show hosts were Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, as a matter of fact.
As for his cv - its all tv and Broadway credits. He is not a Hollywood star which is the topic addressed by this thread. Broadway theatre is far more accommodating of open homosexuality than Hollywood and most of us could name several if not many openly gay actors who have been very successful there. Not the same story in Hollywood.
Interesting interview on BBC3 or 4 over the holiday with Simon Russell Beale - a hugely successful (and brilliant) stage actor who has never made it in film. He has never hidden his (homo)sexuality and played a huge variety of parts but observed that they seldom involved 'getting the girl' - in other words, it's hard to land 'romantic leading man' parts if you are (openly?) gay.