Maybe you knew him from TV sitcoms or the movies: The flamboyant uncle, the prissy landlord, the anally retentive school principal (Not to be confused with Anal School Principal vol.1-8). Perhaps you knew him from his legendary gameshow work on MatchGame where his sardonically wry panel personna made him a staple.
His death puts another nail in the coffin of an age of innocence to which we may never return. A time when glasses were huge, neckties wide , and men such as Reilly , Paul Lynde, Liberace, Rip Taylor etc, were allowed to act as "gay" as they wanted in public as long as they never said anything about their preferred lifestyle. We were more than glad to go along with the ruse too. The press by and large kept their mouths shut and any gay activists had more pressing concerns even in the pre-AIDS era. And so we remained...tacitly complicit, blithely blinded, as long as these men kept making us laugh with their outrageous antics or swoon to their schmaltzy music. It was a deal that was too good to last and even though these men had to lead double lives of deceit and fakery they were well payed for their troubles.
On a more personal note my GF Phyllis will probably read this post and again start wondering about my own sexual tastes. Fear not fair Phyllis, I just report this stuff and I'll keep serving up the facts just the way I like'em....straight.
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