Tag Archives: obituary

Beloved television sitcom character actress and Tony winner Alice Ghostley died yesterday at 81. Ghostley won the hearts of gay fans with her portayals of Esmerelda, the ditzsy witch of Bewitched (’69-’72), and Bernice Clifton, the stroke-addled senior befriended by the ladies of Designing Women (’87-’93). Ghostley was a pioneer of early television, appearing in a 1957 musical version of …

Brett Somers, whose cigarettes, wigs, and bawdy wit were ever-present on 70’s game show Match Game, turning her into a minor gay icon, died Saturday at 83. Viewers of the show may recall that Somers herself was often the subject of the show’s questions, as in “Brett got so drunk at the party, that she tried wear her _____ as …

Holy cow! This has been a tough couple of weeks for the right-wing. This morning 10-term Ohio Congressman Paul Gillmor (R-OH) was found dead in his Washington, DC apartment. Gillmor had a zero rating from most progressive watchdog groups as he supported a ban on gay adoptions, supported a constitutional amendment against gay marriage, supported school prayer and supported the …

Rev. D. James Kennedy, head of the Fort Lauderdale-based massive evangelical church, Coral Ridge Ministries, died in his sleep this morning at 76. He had retired as head pastor of Coral Ridge Ministries just last week. Kennedy was one of the most notorious rabidly anti-gay fundamentalists in the nation, regularly ranting against gay rights in his weekly tv and radio …

Leona Helmsley, the anti-gay billionaire “queen of mean”, died today at 87. Aside from having gone to prison for tax evasion, you may recall Helmsley losing a discrimination lawsuit after firing the gay manager of her Park Lane hotel. The manager, Charles Bell, won over $11M but the judgment was later reduced to $554,000. Bell told the court that when …

The flags at the Metropolitan Museum of Art are flying at half-mast today. Brooke Astor has died at age 105, taking with her, perhaps, the final bit of New York City’s so-called Gilded Age of elegance and privilege. Known for the last four decades as the “leading lady” of high society, the unofficial First Lady of NYC, Ms. Astor used …

Merv Griffin, the quietly gay legendary talk show host, entrepreneur, and game show creator, died of prostate cancer this weekend. The creator of Jeopardy! and Wheel Of Fortune, Griffin made billions, occasionally landing on Forbes list of the world’s richest men. Married in 1958, divorcing 15 years and one son later, Griffin was well-known to be gay, although he kept …

San Francisco-based gay porn company Hot House revealed today (NSFW/sound) that top star Kent North, 33, died yesterday of an apparent drug overdose. North, a “lifetime exclusive” for Hot House, starred in 13 films for the company since joining in 2004. He recently won several industry awards and this year served as cohost at the Grabby Awards, a gay porn …

David Ritcheson, the Texas youth who at 16 was the victim of a brutal hate crime at the hands of neo-Nazi skinheads, leading to his becoming a passionate and articulate advocate for hate crimes laws, jumped to his death from a cruise ship on Sunday. He was 18. At a party in 2005, Ritcheson was beaten and sodomized with a …

Opera legend Beverly Sills succumbed to lung cancer tonight at age 78. More than any other person, she popularized opera with American audiences with her talent, her gracious charm, and perhaps most of all, with her humor. Below is her 1980 farewell performance, where she performs Tell Me Why, the song she always closed with. The song opens, “Time has …

Sad news. Famed Castro tour guide Trevor Hailey died unexpectedly in San Diego last week. When I lived in San Francisco, Hailey was a familiar sight around the gayborhood as she led enthusiastic visitors on her “Cruisin’ The Castro” tours. More than a couple of times, I happened to be on the sidewalk behind Hailey’s group, eavesdropping as she regaled …

Charles Nelson Reilly, the campiest creature ever to challenge Paul Lynde’s chiffon sash as TV’s first mean queen, died yesterday in Los Angeles at 76. Most probably know Reilly from his trademark evil snigger, which he delivered for many years on game shows such as Hollywood Squares and Match Game. However, Reilly’s fame first came many years earlier, in 1961, …

Jerry Falwell has died after being found unconscious in his office this morning. I will shed no tears. In fact, Tinky Winky and I may just have a big hug. “AIDS is God’s punishment to gays.” – Jerry Falwell. “Instant death is my punishment to Jerry Falwell” – God. UPDATE: I can’t resist adding some classics from Falwell… – “If …

Author Kurt Vonnegut has died at the age of 84. Like most high school and college students in the ’70s, I worshipped Vonnegut, whose Slaughterhouse-Five added fire to the anti-Vietnam War movement. I also rather liked his funky sentence structure and punctuation, something I thought I saw reflected somewhat in the writing of John Rechy, author of my favorite novel …

I guess the word was a little slow getting out, but Walker Edmiston, one of the most familiar cartoon voices of my childhood, died two weeks ago at age 81. Most of you will know Edmiston as the voice of the Keebler Elf, but I also remember him as a Sleestak on Land Of The Lost, Big Daddy Ooze on …

Gary Frisch, 38, the co-founder of Gaydar, the gay hook-up site, died this weekend at age 38, after a fall from his eighth story balcony in London. Suicide is being considered. Frisch was a South African national who emmigrated to the UK in 1997..