Gay/bisexual actors in old tv shows

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By New Years of the last season of the show, it looked like Russell and Peter were getting back together again.

The Kids In the Hall (sketch comedy) CBC 1989-1995

  • BUDDY COLE: Buddy Cole (Scott Thompson)
  • STEPS: Butch (Scott Thompson)
  • STEPS: Riley (David Foley)
  • STEPS: Smitty (Kevin McDonald)
  • HUMANOIDS FOR HUMANISM: Shona (Bruce McCullough)
Among a wide range of comedy sketches on this show was the recurring role of Buddy, who pontificates from his bar stool on the differences or the parallels between gay and straight society, or about the ignorance of straights, or the tribulations of gay life.

There is a female character who is the architypal stereotype for a lesbian. Jess' relationship with Melanie is ended when the church discovers their liason and Melanie repents.

After Henry (sitcom) ITV 1988-1992 (radio 1985-1988)

  • Russell (Benjamin Whitrow 1985-1988, Jonathan Newth 1988-1992)
Russell is friend and employer of the central character, and operates a bookstore.

Beginning as their paths cross in 1950s D.C at the height of the Lavender Scare, their love struggles through Hawkins’ marriage and Timothy’s political activism as we push forward through the Vietnam war era and the growing HIV/AIDS criris of the 1980s. Only three episodes each.

A Very Peculiar Practice (comedy/drama) BBC 1986, 1988

  • Dr.

    Longtime straight gay favorite Julianne Moore and new straight gay favorite Nicholas Galitzine are both so fun to watch and the whole thing is a scrumptious dessert with just enough bite.


    Our Flag Means Death (1710s)

    Set amid the Golden Age of Piracy, Our Flag Means Death is a comedic series following the misadventures of “Gentleman Pirate” Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and his dysfunctional crew as they aim to prove themselves, eventually crossing paths with and falling for infamous pirate captain Blackbeard (Taika Waititi).

    Rudy was one of Hooperman's tennants. Vote on the best queer Netflix shows of all time and let us know which ones moved you, made you laugh, or kept you on the edge of your seat. After Leon and Jerry/Steven broke up, Leon dated TV commercial director Ken (Rick Dees) in one episode. Sometimes a story would revolve around them, but most often it didn't.

    In later seasons, Toy becomes romantically involved with Nellie Davenport, a wealthy widow with a Sonoma vineyard that offers asylum to Chinese migrants including sex workers.


Cable Girls / Las Chicas De Cable (1920s – 1930s)

Stream on Netflix

Netflix’s first big non-U.S. See also EastEnders in the 1990s and EastEnders (2001-present).

Hill Street Blues (police drama) NBC 1981-1987

  • Eddie (Charles Levin)
  • Officer Kate McBride (Lindsay Crouse) police detective
Occasional roles.

Unlikely friendships build across very literal intergenerational divides and romantic tension simmers, particularly between a lesbian parole officer stuck at a moral crossroads and a queer Muslim IT nerd already certain of the proper path forward.


The First Lady (1930s – 1940s)

Stream on PBS

This series was a bit of a bomb but it had its moments β€” including a full and generous portrait of the relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt (Gillian Anderson) and two-decade-long lover and confidant, Lorena “Hick” Hickok (Liby Rabe).


Bomb Girls (1940s)

Stream on Prime Video or Tubi

Set in a munitions factory in World War II Canada and centered on a group of women who work together there, Bomb Girls is devoted to a moment of radical and sudden independence for women β€” with husbands away at war, women entered the workforce, fostered relationships with each other and were actually allowed to wear pants.

He was a minor regular, appearing in virtually every episode.

gay/bisexual actors in old tv shows

coach had been blackmailed using pictures of him kissing his male lover. Dr. Rose Marie ran a men's sexuality counselling service wherein she advised her clients to avoid orgasm no matter what. Ali Liebert played Betty McRae, a closeted lesbian tomboy with a tough exterior who falls for her best friend Kate (queer actor Jodi Balfour).


A League Of Their Own (1940s)

Stream on Prime Video

We have honestly never loved a show more than A League of Their Own, a snapshot of that same Bomb Girls era when the war gave women new opportunities and lesbians a short, if still under-the-radar, ability to briefly be themselves.

There was another plotline of a doctor forming a close friendship with an athelete, who later comes out to the doctor and tells him that he loves him.

Roseanne (sitcom) ABC 1988-1997

  • Leon Carp 1990-1997 (Martin Mull)
  • Jerry Gimble/Steven 1991-1992 (Michael Des Barres)
  • Nancy Bartlett 1992-1997 (Sandra Bernhardt)
  • Marla 1992-1993 (Morgan Fairchild)
  • Scott 1995-1997 (Fred Willard)
  • Bev Harris 1989-1997 (Estelle Parsons)
  • Joyce `the velvet voice' Levine 1997 (Ruta Lee) lounge singer
When Roseanne worked in a shopping mall chain restaurant, Leon was her manager.

Pose was real and sometimes devastating while also being strikingly joyful. The cast is remarkable, including actors like Rosie O’Donnell, Ivory Aquino, Mary Louise Parker, Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Kenneth Williams, Guy Pearce, Rachel Griffiths, David Hyde Pierce, T.R. Knight, and Debra Winger.


Daisy Jones & The Six (1970s)

Stream on Prime Video

Adapted from a best-selling novel of the same name, Daisy Jones is clearly a fictionalized take on the real-life drama of legendary rock band Fleetwood Mac.

Following the titular band from their 1970s rise in the LA music scene to their eventual split at the height of their success, the adaptation adds a Black queer storyline that wasn’t present in the book. Any show about yuppies needs a guppie or two. “It’s as fun and spectacular as ball culture itself.”

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It follows a group of five 18-year-olds who move to London in 1981, get a place together, and embark upon their delightful gay lives in the city β€” only to be confronted, in pieces and then all over, with the growing HIV/AIDS crisis, which drives them apart and pulls them back together in equal measure. Beneath everything that feels fake, is a beating heartbeat of love and Disco that gives nod to a still under-discussed, but very real, core branch of Black queer history.

NBC seemed determined to explain that it wasn't.