Ey Nsbm article on 1960's TV seri The Odd Couple, starrg Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, foc on whether Randall's Felix Unger character was gay; says seri' fal episo, which will be shown on WPIX, has Unger's wife Gloria takg him back and two remarry; photo (M)
Contents:
- NAKAMOTO: RANDALL GAY, FORMER NFL PLAYER, SPEND OM LAW JOB AFTER ARGUMENT AT CRIME SCENE
- ROCK HUDSON'S 'TE LOVE' SPEAKS: HOW WE KEPT OUR GAY LIFE SECRET
NAKAMOTO: RANDALL GAY, FORMER NFL PLAYER, SPEND OM LAW JOB AFTER ARGUMENT AT CRIME SCENE
Even the early 70's, Felix Unger mt have stck many viewers as dly gay. Although he spent the show's five-year n longg to w back his wife, Gloria, wh whom he had two teenage children (she had divorced him on the groundbreakg legal basis of ''pts''), the character embodied almost every cliché of the urban gay man: he was natty, neat and trim, obssed wh opera and gourmet food, repelled by sports and booze.
As much as he might have stck some viewers as a stealth gay stereotype, Felix uld also be terpreted simply as a snob a boor's world: hyper-sensive to rejectn, yet endlsly tryg to te those around him the fer thgs.
ROCK HUDSON'S 'TE LOVE' SPEAKS: HOW WE KEPT OUR GAY LIFE SECRET
For a moment, cema dienc may have speculated whether Randall uld be referrg to Jews or perhaps gays, due to his typilly effete screen persona.
In a 2012 terview, the edian Will Jordan likened Randall, who was assumed wrongly to be gay by some lleagu, to the TV host Robert Q. Lewis (born Robert Goldberg), who was, fact, gay: “[Lewis was] like Tony Randall; they were two very un-Jewish lookg guys who were both very Jewish real life.