March 21, 1930– Jam Co Don't nfe him wh Co Chanel, the fashn in. This Co was a gay, pudgy, bald character actor whom I admired a great al, for reasons you n easily grasp. He worked steadily for over three s mercials, televisn, film and stage. He was born and grew up The Bronx.
Contents:
- CO: THE GROUNDBREAKG GAY CHARACTER ‘THE GOLN GIRLS’ LEFT BEHD
- SWV'S COKO SAYS SHE HAD NO PROBLEM ACCEPTG THAT HER YOUNGT SON IS GAY
- LEA CO WIKI, WIFE, GAY, NET WORTH, FAY, NOW
- CO VANWEGHE MARRIED, HBAND, GAY (PARTNER), FATHER, FAY, WEIGHT
CO: THE GROUNDBREAKG GAY CHARACTER ‘THE GOLN GIRLS’ LEFT BEHD
Before T, Capta Holt, Mchell, Cam, Will, Jack, and Ellen, there was Co — the gay hoeboy that served scy one-lers and cheeke seven seasons of The Goln Girls. Charl Lev‘s drag performer-turned-hoekeeper nonted drama and nnected wh his found fay Miami, and provid primetime dienc wh a proment and posive gay character durg the height of the AIDS crisis.
The chance to wre about an unrreprented age group spoke to her, as did Ltlefield’s sistence that the show have a gay character the ma st. At the time, gay characters were mostly relegated to appearg on very special episos where the straight leadg st had to al wh a gay gut star. Harris was on board wh the ia, as she’d already phed primetime boundari wh Soap, a show that featured one of the first recurrg gay characters Billy Crystal’s Jodie Dallas.
Sensg that “Co the tty drag queen/hoeboy” probably didn’t sound as progrsive as tend, the pilot’s director Jay Sandrich advised Charl Lev to dn for the gay character whout any stereotypil affectatns. Lev bombed and the producers told him to jt play the same kd of gay character he’d prevly played a few episos of the drama Hill Street Blu. The dience was also pleasantly surprised by Lev’s Co, as an out-and-proud gay man was still a very rare sight on TV 1985.
SWV'S COKO SAYS SHE HAD NO PROBLEM ACCEPTG THAT HER YOUNGT SON IS GAY
When Rose worri about how they’ll be able to afford a hoe if Blanche do get married, she says, “What do we have for llateral, a gay ok? It is a shame that h ss went whout a gay regular the years between Soap and Ellen, but there wasn’t room for Co Goln Girls. Fortunately the show’s ial, gay-clive tentn manifted other ways after Co was cut.
LEA CO WIKI, WIFE, GAY, NET WORTH, FAY, NOW
The wrg staff, which clud a number of gay wrers, also tackled gay issu g the four leads as stand-s. In the episo, Blanche tells Rose that AIDS is “not a bad person’s disease, ” a massively important statement nsirg the silence about AIDS as ravaged the gay muny the ’80s.
The show may not have had a gay character, but alt wh gay issu a more hont and upont fashn than any other show up until that pot. The LGBT muny, particularly gay men, have latched onto the show bee of this. There may not be a gay man proudly llg himself a Co, but there are legns of Blanch, Ros, Dorothi, and Sophias.
CO VANWEGHE MARRIED, HBAND, GAY (PARTNER), FATHER, FAY, WEIGHT
Durg a Q&A ssn wh fans on YouTube recently, Coko of SWV opened up about her youngt son, Jaylon (aka, Jayye), beg gay and embracg him no matter what.