Why is Angie Dickinson not more widely seen as a gay icon?

One of my favorite things of her was also her refusal to take part in “This is your life.” Watch it. It’s great TV.

No, she's not. I had Burt talk her out of it.

Has she ever had any time for us? Did she do anything or even say anything during the AIDS crisis. I recall her being "sexually liberated" in a very conventional, always het, always appealing to straight men way. She's not interesting, intelligent or funny enough for us. To be a Gay Icon you have to have more going for you than Angie Dickinson and the three hairs she has left on her head.

R3 good question. She was great friends with Rock Hudson, but that doesn't necessarily mean she did much!

r3 I'm sure she's had time for gays? But is that part of the criteria for icon ànd if so how important? Did all of the icons like Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe etc have time for gays?

I don't think they all did, R5, but they had more talent, humor, style, power or vulnerability going for them than Angie fucking Dickinson.

R6 I don't know why your post made me laugh. "Angie fucking Dickinson"

Angie was filming Police Woman when I worked at Warner Bros.

She was a real friendly, happy person in person. Not like a lot of them.

I love Police Woman from the 70s!

It's Pepper Anderson and big gay Earl Holliman!

r8 Yes there doesn't really appear to be any rumours about her being a diva, nasty or not as she appears. No bad words about her.

r6 Thanks but that's why I am trying to pin down a little more the criteria for being a gay icon.

She is going to be at Oscars gay nightclub/restaurant in Palm Springs

Wonderful! r12 Hope some dataloungers manage to go!

I always wanted to eat her pussy.

Her costar in "Police Woman" was Earl Holliman, commonly seen as family. I guess she likely would've known, but still supported him.

Incidentally, "Police Woman" has been renamed "Defunded Child Birthing/cis-Tited Person" on ME-TV, and Earl sometimes wears a dress and earrings.

Her random pick up and subsequent fuck in the back of a taxi cab in Dressed to Kill is probably the fantasy of many a DLer. Not the VD and murder part that happens afterwards, but a pleasant afternoon up to that point.

Funny. Just last night I watched Point Blank and she was fantastic in it! What a bonkers movie but really good!

Look at her go to town on Lee Marvin!!

Miss Anjuh Dickinson.

She turned down a 2 million $ advance for writing a tell-all about her "love life". She was gorgeous at the height of the sexual revolution of the 60's and 70's. She must have had fun but kept her private life private. Good for her for not selling out.

r16 Almost certainly a fantasy of many on here!!

r19 She probably saved many peoples blushes and a few of their relationships in some cases. With regards to discretion she is extremely classy.

She's pretty wonderful and honest in her interviews. But there's quite a bit she's going to keep private about. I'm sure if she told all the juicy stuff she had to tell she wouldn't be able to forgive herself. There's some stuff you don't want to give away.

r22 She has mastered the art of her life appearing to be an open book while its also shrouded in mystique.Its a hard thing to pull off but her style of conversing seems well suited to it.

The concept of Gay Icon is dated and will die out with your generation, OP.

Dickinson was a cool lady. There is zero need for her to be a "gay icon". Why do you need to retroactively apply such a tired concept, anyway.

Damn, girl!

r24 Im not trying to reapply anything but rather query why the label was attached to some but not others in this case Angie.I am asking why not launching a campaign for her to now be made one.

What generation do you think I am by the way?

You want to launch a campaign to make Angie Dickson a gay icon? If so, then yes you are trying to retroactively apply something that has nothing to do with her.

Just who would participate in this campaign? And why? WHY? Your thread title along is IDIOTIC! Nobody wants to make her a gay ICON. And she is NOT a gay icon.

Who is next? Marie Laforêt? Julie Christie?

Always loved her. Total class. And Dressed to Kill is fucking genius.

r27 Sorry you appear to have misunderstood me or I did something wrong with the grammar in my previous post. I said I am NOT launching a campaign for her to now be made one but asking why in the past she wasnt one but others were from her era. What disqualified her criteria wise in other words.

That is not what you typed, dear.

"I am asking why not launching a campaign for her to now be made one."

There was no committee. No criteria. She was not disqualified. TONS of actresses were sexy and classy and caught the eye of gay guys. Most of us loved Police Woman. And her appearances with men, on shows like Johnny Carson. You don't need to be a "gay icon" to be appreciated by gays. WTF is wrong with you? Do you filter your entire life and experience through a "gay" lens?

r30 Yes Dear I know what I typed . It should maybe have read I am asking why, not launching a campaign for her now to be made one"

Hence why I mentioned grammar. If I was saying what you thought I was saying I would have typed launch not launching.

I'm out. Enjoy your campaign in an empty forest.

r31 Dont be so irate without good cause.Too many poor assumptions in your post.

I explained in my OP that having seen an excellent and popular currently active thread asking the exact same question about Arlene Dahl I thought it an apt and good idea to do the same for Angie.

Nothing to do with lens or attaching undue importance and everything to do with it being a discussion forum aimed at gay men.Stop being so serious.

r33 There is no campaign as I think you now know.

Angie was many people’s fathers “favorite” actress. Angie is a lovely person who has grown old gracefully. She knows a lot of secrets and gave back a book advance years ago. She was always a bit relaxed (passive) to her detriment. Burt Bacharach was dominating and a shit (like David Foster today) and was awful to their daughter (Angie’s only child) Niki who was an extreme preemie when born in 1967 and who had Asbergers and killed herself about 15 years ago (plastic bag over head) at the age of 40. Burt institutionalized Niki for years because she was “too disruptive.” Then he went and took up with Carole Bayer Sager. Angie had a sultry low watt glamour and has kept a low profile for many decades, which is probably why she barely registers to people under 40.

r36 Good post . I have wondered what Angie would have been like in Dynasty opposite Joan Collins if she had of taken on the role of Krystal.I have also felt its a bit of a shame she didnt do any guest roles in any of the glossy soaps of that era such as Falcon Crest or Knots Landing.

R37 I could easily picture that casting! Unfortunately, Dynasty was initially developed as a Linda Evans vehicle, she had had a relationship with ABC since Big Valley, and was attached to Dynasty when it still had the working title “Oil.”

Angie was disappointed there hadn’t been a supporting Oscar campaign for her for Dressed but she still expected the movie scripts to roll in…and they didn’t. Angie should have done guest roles on one of the era’s big nighttime soaps but I suspect 1) she would have asked for too much money and 2) was more comfortable in a project being developed around her (like her many TV movies). Also, Angie was closely associated with NBC (Police Woman) and ABC and CBS had the lock on nighttime soaps. But yes, Angie would have been a great foil to Joan’s Alexis. She probably would have made Joan (the person) very nervous, too, unlike Linda, whom Joan thought was a bit of a dolt. That could have made for some interesting energy.

r38 Arent Angie and Joan friends in real life? I seem to recall when Joan released a book in the late 1990s where she interviewed various celebrity friends for lifestyle, personal philosophy and beauty tips and one of them was Angie Dickinson who she referenced as my great friend Angie Dickinson?

I remember Angie starred in a short lived show called Wild Palms who some people thought might be a successor to Twin Peaks?

But yes Angie seemed perfect for the glossy 1980s tv era but alas it wasnt meant to be.

Angie didn't have an 80s glamour or vibe, in my opinion.

r40 Fair enough but to me she seemed a natural for that eras glamour although perhaps tilting towards not being as camp about it as say Joan Collins.

She was always being menaced by predatory lesbians and murderous transsexuals.

Reminds me of my dad who used to watch Police Woman

Miss Angie Dickinson is very much a gay icon and deserves to be an even bigger one at that. Her Pepper Anderson/Police Woman character was a precursor to the Charlie's Angels, jiggle-tv to come. Her 1966 pantless Esquire magazine cover was a scandalous sensation. Her affairs with JFK and Sinatra are legendary. And those mid to late '70s posters were a lot sexier than Farrah's.

R39 I don’t know that they are great friends as much as women with a shared, rarefied experience: beautiful starlets about the same age who came up in their respective studio systems at the same time (Joan at Rank and then Fox and Angie at Warner). They were single girls about town in the LA of the late 50s through early 60s. Then they both married BIG personalities (Newley and Bacharach) and started families at almost the same time. Divorce followed and both of them kept going, adjusting, survivors. I’m not sure how that friendship would have fared had they been at the same studio or if they were ever in direct competition for a man…or a role! So I would say they are the Hollywood definition of “great friends!”

On Perry Mason...

The opening for Police Woman is one of my earliest memories of watching TV. It's a very distinctive intro.

Pepper was so versatile. Undercover she could go from stewardess to go-go dancer!

She looked great against he-men like Earl.

Esquire

'80s ladies who lunch

She did her part for avocado farmers...

We love Dick-in-son.

One of the earliest comedy sketches I remember (think it was on Sonny and Cher?) was Angie Dickinson interrogating someone and acting like she was eating a Ding Dong. I remember as a kid thinking "she's not even really eating it"

Is Police Woman showing on Tubi? I’ve never seen it but have wanted to ever since I first saw Angie in Dressed To Kill, on TV circa 1990 when I was 11. I got obsessed with that film, and did some reading about Angie and checked out what I could (very limited options in the pre-Internet era). I remember watching her interview with John Tesh on Entertainment Tonight when she was promoting a cable TV movie she was in, Treacherous Crossing (not a great one).

Anyway, I’ve always liked her a lot and have only ever heard very good things about her. Her refusal to tape the episode of This Is Your Life is the stuff of legend, and people often claim she was a bitch for not playing along. But that’s plainly not true, because the audio (is there video as well? Been a while since I watched it on YouTube) proves she was nice as pie while peace-ing out; she just had personal convictions and stuck to them in the most polite way possible.

Hard to believe she’s going to be 90!

Shake it, Angie!

"I seem to recall when Joan released a book in the late 1990s where she interviewed various celebrity friends for lifestyle, personal philosophy and beauty tips and one of them was Angie Dickinson who she referenced as my great friend Angie Dickinson?"

Close. She called her, "My great friend, Miss Angie Fucking Dickinson".

Wasn't she a republican at some point of her life?

It seemed like she was a big Reagan fan in the 80s.

That alone would kill her gay icon status.

r58 Joan Collins seemed to like the Reagans too and she is definitely a gay icon.

r44 What great legs she has! Fantastic photo!

r51 Love that picture.Great ladies in a group photo.

r45 Thanks .I suppose there is a part of me that likes to think of them as good friends because I like both ladies very much but your more cynical take might be closer to the truth!!

R59 Joan Collins isn't MY gay icon (no Reagan lover star is & that includes the horrible Joan Rivers).

[quote]Why is Angie Dickinson not more widely seen as a gay icon?

Because all you motherfuckers do is talk about the Golden Girls when Designing Women is clearly better.

She may have had a few gay friends, but she's never openly supported any gay equality efforts.

wasn't Burt Bacharach gay?

R55, JustWatch indicates that Police Woman is streaming on Tubi:

She wasn't slutty, drunk or outrageous enough to be a traditional gay icon.

Or tragic enough^^

R38, Linda Evans has said repeatedly in interviews over the years that Angie was offered the role of Krystle first and turned it down.

Angie kept a diary for years, but burned it when she and Burt first hired live in help after Nikki was born.

I have always wondered if she seduced the gorgeous Ricky Nelson on the set of Rio Bravo.

Angie probably rivals Shelley Winters in number of conquests; however, Angie has always been discreet about those trysts. Miss Winters not so much.

R69, Nah, Angie was never into younger guys. If any "Rio Bravo" cast member was mounting her, my money would be on Duke or Dean.

You just know she got some high quality dick back in the day. That alone should make her a DL icon. Somehow, she always read as both slutty and wholesome/down to earth. Not an easy thing to do. Most sluts always appear to be trying too hard.

She still won't confirm that she fucked JFK, which is silly at this point.

She does admit to being Sinatra's on again/off again fuck buddy over a couple of decades.

Yet, wasn’t Shelley known to embellish things a bit?

Big-dicked Mo Rocca did a great interview with her in 2019. It's worth watching.

R74, Pity when one has to embellish.

R75, "An open robe is not a rape."

R67 I have yet to hear that from anyone with first hand knowledge. Linda Evans may believe it. Angie Dickinson may believe it. But there is so much bs that gets passed around from agents and managers and production team publicists and network team publicists. The rumors keep everyone on their toes, make actresses think their teams are working for them, generate buzz, and help feed into most actresses’s insecurities that they were not first choice….or that they could be replaced.

Aaron Spelling was also notorious for dropping rumors about casting that had no basis in reality. It’s just part of deal making. I do know that once the Shapiros teamed up with ABC, they were all very keen on Evans because ABC liked her from Big Valley, she had a good reputation, and she was affordable. Dickinson was still very close to NBC at the time—Police Woman was still shooting in 1978 and Dynasty began shooting in 1980–and would likely not have alienated them…unless it was a massive offer, and Dynasty had a small freshman budget.

r78 Aaron Spelling sounds like a right character!

Correct me if I’m wrong but I thought Angie Dickinson was more of a woman’s female star than a gay man’s female star.

It’s like asking why isn’t Jennifer Aniston a gay icon.

They didn’t do anything to warrant such a status.

Kennedy even fucked Adele Astaire. Who didn't he fuck?

r80 I have genuinely never thought that.I would personally not say that her appeal lies more with women than gay men.I would say her appeal is strongest with straight men ,then gay men and straight women last in whatever order. w

R78, You're talking out of your shit crusted ass. Both Linda and Angie have stated numerous times over the years that Krystle was first offered to Dickinson and that has never been disputed or challenged, except by you.

R83 Relax, Melissa Ann. You’re so much more bearable when you’re not spasming in the gutter.

Angie has an absolutely beautiful smile in this picture that is enhancing the gorgeous nature of her face.

She’s not a gay icon because she’s boringly normal; there’s nothing ex she rated about her public persona it her performances onscreen.

Angie Dickinson was offered multiple roles on Dynasty. Not just Krystal. The role of Lady Ashton was created for her. She declined and Ali McGraw was cast. She was approached a THIRD time for the part of Sable Colby...

R83 Because they understand the difference between a real, legal offer and agent/industry talk. An offer isn’t an offer until it’s in writing, reviewed by your agent and attorney, and awaiting your signature. Your agent telling you “Aaron Spelling would love you for a series he’s developing for ABC” means shit. Reading a script your agent sends you means nothing. There’s a difference between being considered for something and having a hard offer for something. But putting the former out there does not hurt anyone, it only enhances reputations. Why would anyone dispute it? I don’t think you understand anything about the entertainment industry. You’re a layman who goes by Wikipedia and blogs. But that’s OK. I’m happy to educate you.

R88, Mommy needs a diaper change. Why don't you haul your ass upstairs to the first floor and be a dutiful son, you pathetic old queen.

R89 Offer still stands: I’m happy to educate you. I can be the Annie to your Helen. #sisterhood

"Pretty Maids all in a Row" = Angie seduces a teenage boy (John David Carson). This was the movie with Rock Hudson. I wonder if Rock had him? Rock played his school "counselor" who takes him under his wing.

R91 Rock generally liked blond guys, but who knows?

r91 Ooohh saucey!

I was her body double in Dressed to Kill.

You don’t look like Angie Dickinson r94

r95 Oh Blanche!

[Quote]You don’t look like Angie Dickinson [R94]

Love Angie in the Martini advert!

Photo of Angie Dickinson with Dean Martin while filming Rio Bravo.

Bump!!

[quote]Why is Angie Dickinson not more widely seen as a gay icon?

She's too sane and normal and not camp

[quote] Why is Angie Dickinson not more widely seen as a gay icon?

1. Because she's a Swede (isn't she?)

2. Because she has a problematic head (and her hairdressers don't know what to do with it)

r101 Does her super glamourousness not make her a bit camp like other Hollywood goddesses of old who are classed as gay icons?

r102 Swedish? I thought she was born in North Dakota?

[quote]1. Because she's a Swede (isn't she?)

No.

Isn't Ann-Marget a Swede?

Ann-Magnet is definitely a Swede.

[quote] The concept of Gay Icon is dated and will die out with your generation, OP.

I think you're right, R24. Gay bars have disappeared in the last 20 years.

Swedes are known to be principled and don't conform to the lowbrow ideals of LaLa Land.

Greta and Ingrid left. Another of Hitchcock's Swedes fornicated in adultery.

But the subject of this thread is of German heritage and willing to bend to those lowbrow ideals TV LaLa Land.

Gay Icons will never die out as long as gay men find vicarious "self" expression through female performers.

r108 Disappeared is an overstatement.There are definitely less of them but I can think of several in the city that I live in.

She’s a great gal, but a very private person.

[quote] she has a problematic head (and her hairdressers don't know what to do with it)

This woman has the same asymmetrical problem.

She's pretty darn cute.

^ That man reeks of vanity.

He's pushing her out of the picture.

Was he born with that nose?

MSNBC’s Katy Tur looks a lot like Angie did in that picture with Kirk Douglas.

R114, Balls deep for over an hour.

r114 do we think they .. erm...?

r112 I can believe she is very nice. No diva rumours at all or enemies in hollywood.

I think she even became good friends with Frank Sinatras last wife Barbara and remained good friends after he died until Barbaras death in 2017. She didnt seem to get involved with or fall out with Barbara or the Sinatra kids during their feud with each other after he died. At bare minium she must be very diplomatic, sensitive and tactful.

She was never a hag or diva, nor needy for publicity, so not an icon. Women respected and admired her while men of her generation or older wanted to have her. She was not a great actress, but not a bad one. She knew how to use her glamor and wore her vanity well. She probably had a lot of fun with a lot of men, partly because she was so discreet.

r121 Didnt she briefly beard for scottish american actor John Barrowman?

Angie was dating David Janssen at the time of his sudden death in 1980, which left her distraught.

Here she is attending his funeral.

Angie went on a talk show in the mid 1980s and said that she felt like she didn't matter. She was an actress. Of course was needy. But she's handled it better than most.

r123 Dating? Wikipedia say s he was married at the time of his death and Angie was his costar?

Separated.

r126 Thanks

David Janssen was also with DL fave Suzanne Pleshette in the 1960s. Even after they had both married other people, she said that their spouses were understanding of their bond. It wouldn't surprise me if that involved fucking. Would you want Tom Poston huffing and puffing away on top of you?

R128, No to Tom, but yes to Troy Donahue.

R125, Angie and Janssen were often seen together publicly for a couple of years before his death. At one of the AFI Life Achievement Award tributes in the late1970s, a cutaway shot showed them practically fondling each other.

Her kind of thin German hair requires LOTS of work to give it body and shape.

Every public appearance requires a day's worth of grooming.

Did you know when Miss Angie Dickinson went to her first Dionne Warwick concert, escorted of course by Burt Bacharach, Dionne arrived on stage in a blonde wig!?

Do you think Miss Angie Dickinson wears blonde wigs?

I would if was expected to be glamorous and had such thin German hair.

This is a wig, no?

Not sure r134 She still looks young enough there for it to be natural.

R134, Definitely a wig.

Her head is too big for her body

Angie hosted SNL?

Happy 90th to one fabulous babe!

Don't stars always have heads too big for their bodies?

Maybe, R140, but nonagenarian Angie has a head shaped like a large, square box. And her hairdressers were flummoxed trying to make her look feminine.

She was a bombshell. Very nice proportions.

Thin German hair, what a load of complete bollocks.

Uhh….. I have thin German hair. Why couldn’t my Italian genes show up? When I see a couple, and they both have thick, beautiful hair, I always think the same thing. “Couldn’t you two leave a little for the rest of us?!? Christ!!”

Did Angie's pussy stink?

"In his upcoming book “Gatecrasher,” longtime gossip columnist Ben Widdicombe writes that a veteran Daily News editor once told him, “That sofa you’re sitting on right now … Mickey Mantle sat on that very sofa and told me how he once went on a date with Angie Dickinson, took her home, and was so drunk that he threw up while he was [performing a sex act on her].”

Marlene also had thin German hair.

She also needed a lot of setting and grooming before each appearance. But she was allowed to wear hats in her day.

[quote] Why is Angie Dickinson not more widely seen as a gay icon?

Because all of her fans have cataracts or glaucoma.

R145 A model slash actress I palled around with in the 80s was a hostess at Mickey's eponymous bar/restaurant on Central Park South and said he was hitting on all the girls until the end. He always looked very solid and sexy. Here is the naked locker room / post game press pic from the early 60s that may or may not be real.

[quote]Miss Anjuh Dickinson

Thank you, Blanche. On Datalounge, one ALWAYS uses the honorific.

Joan looks ravenous. She's going to devour sweet Angie.

r150 I wonder if she did?!

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

I think the outfit is fine. Functional.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Good to see she appears well and still independent!

R152, honey, what would you suggest she wear for a walk down the driveway to fetch the mail?

Caftan. Earrings.

R156, A Bob Mackie original.

I just received my brand new Miss Angie Dickinson christmas ornament today!

For our Palm Springs Kweens.

The men in Police Woman were hideous and that guy with the denim cap! I never watched a whole show.

r108 Not entirely.Far from it although their long term future seems to suggest there will be fewer of them.Alas they could experience a renaissance .

This person turned 91 today!

[...]

I have never seen "Police Woman." I have seen reruns of "Charlie's Angels," "The Bionic Woman," "Wonder Woman," "The Avengers" etc. But never "Police Woman." Icons don't just have to be established, they have to be maintained.

Also, it seems to me that much of Dickinson's work was in output that appealed most to str8 men. Gay men enjoy exploitation product if it has camp appeal to go along with the titties.

She is, we love her but how many icons do we actually need!?

This woman was born Angela Brown.

Claims to have had affairs with Frank Sinatra and reportedly John F. Kennedy. Married Burt Bacharach and had sexual relationships with Glenn Ford and Larry King.

"Claims to have had affairs with Frank Sinatra"

Hopefully pre-Mafia

" and reportedly John F. Kennedy. "

I think that was the equivalent of the Vietnam War for Hollywood starlets at that time.

"Married Burt Bacharach"

Not too bad

" and had sexual relationships with Glenn Ford"

that sounds like a Glenn Ford p.r. thing

" and Larry King."

Poor dear lost her mind.

I don't know that she's extremely secretivr. On Larry King Live she said Frank Sinatra was the love of her life. WTF?

I noticed her name was on the huge list of homo/bi stars the Hollywood columnist William Dakota compiled. She must have plowed 3/4 of Old Hollywood.

r167 Glenn Ford really? I never knew that was a strong rumor.

Tomorrow is Angie's birthday. September 30!

r169 Did William Dakota name any women Angie is supposed to have slept with?

r164 Are you sure you aren't misunderstanding what gay icon means or has meant in the past?

R167- Who would want to have a sexual relationship with Larry King?

Eww

She dated Larry. Are we really meant to believe she bedded him?

Here with Stefanie Powers, Linda Evans and Nichelle Nichols. Four old broads.

r176 Great interview.

Because Police Woman has been mentioned here I watched an episode on youtube. What a terrible show. Was it really so popular in its time? If so it hasn't held up.

I love Angie ! She’s a great lady

She's against METOO.

This is a heartbreaking account of Angie’s daughter written by Angie . So sad

Bunp

I just started watching Police Woman.

Angie really intrigued me.

She seems like a cool lady who did things her own way.

OP just a heads up that Dressed to Kill was recently released in 4k. YAY!

r184 Thank you!!

She’s a class act and will never deliver a kiss n tell. She devoted most of her later years to her troubled daughter.

I always feel compelled to offer this Burt Bacarach song for his daughter to this discussion.

And Ed Ames with his gentle lyrics.

She was primarily a straight man's movie star. Women liked her, too, especially after "Police Woman." I wrote a fan letter to her, and sent a photo for an autograph. She graciously signed it, and sent another photo, and wrote "with love and kisses". I was so touched. I loved her in "Police Woman" and "Dressed to Kill."

She hung out with the Rat Pack..Sinatra, Martin, Davis and all....had to be cool enough to do that. On that alone, she has my respect. Also, gorgeous...great body.

Her commentary on 1st season dvds of The Policewoman seems really honest and revealing — has made a fan (she was never on my radar before).