Earl Holliman Is Dead to Me

Will it finally be revealed that he was gay?

R1 Yes. His partner Curtis announced his death.

Angie must be verklempt.

The news of the 'Forbidden Planet' remake is probably what killed him.

Aww... Why couldn't it have been the orange turd?

Earl and Angie Dickinson in 2019.

Oh, man, this hurts. 96 or no, it hurts.

He was a wonderful actor and I admired him as an animal rights activist. For 25 years, he served as president of Actors and Others for Animals.

I always confused him with Darren McGavin.

So long, handsome.

He looks amazing in that photo at R6. I can hardly believe he was 90???

Such a crush I had on the man watching 'Wide Country'. Co-star Andrew Prine died in 2022 at 86.

Oh no, this awful! What happened?

Wow - at 62 for me now, I remember him in a lot of work.

RIP - and be free

Their commentary on a couple of the Police Woman episodes is hilarious to listen to.

They obviously liked working with each other.

He had a long relationship with Anthony George who died in 2005.

Oh, that handsome face... Big Dick Energy, I'll bet he left a trail of wrecked rectums behind him.

The holy fuck...I was just looking at a clip of youtube of Giant not 2 minutes ago and someone in the comment section mentioned the few people in the cast that were still alive and one was Earl and I was genuinely shocked he was still alive....then I came on here and this pops up. Crazy. Anyway, rip, and here's a salut to Earl from my homies at MST3k

Did his gayness prevent him from a bigger career? Somehow, I don't think that Earl, unlike Rock and Tab, was widely assumed to be in the 50s and 60s.

He was the star of the very first episode of The Twilight Zone - 'Where Is Everybody?'

I only knew him from The $25,000/$100,000 Pyramid with Dick Clark. That was a serious game show. The shit versions with Donnie Osmond and Kelly Ripa's ex partner suck.

I always get him mixed up with Angie Dickinson.

[quote] Oh no, this awful! What happened?

Skydiving accident, R12. Very sad.

For R1.

He was in the first episode of The Twilight Zone!

He was a wonderful actor and a true gentleman.I greatly admired him.

Oh no. I'm really sorry to read this. I loved him in Police Woman. I thought him and Angie were great together. I thought he was handsome, too. R.I.P🙏

I always mixed him up with Lucie Arnaz.

All kidding aside, I used to confuse him with Richard Crenna. When you watch early performances, they both had the high-pitched voice, the lanky frame and the awkward teen persona going on. As they matured, they became more distinguishable from each other.

Susan Dey is preparing for Thanksgiving dinner. She'll get to acknowledging Earl as soon as her pumpkin pie is out of the oven

[quote]Oh no, this awful! What happened?

His heart gave out during his performance as Miss Mazeppa during his performance of "You Gotta Have a Gimmick" at the Opa Locka Playhouse and Dinner Theater's version of Gypsy. He had just gone into his choreography for "bump it with a trumpet" when he slipped on a fallen bugle bead from Tessie Tura's butterfly thong. Broke his hip. At that age, you don't recover.

If you want to see a great Noir, see Earl Holliman in "The Big Combo". 1955. It's on YouTube.

Starring Cornel Wide.

Holliman plays a gay hitman together with his boyfriend. Really.

Many years back after I discovered that he and Raymond Burr were gay I have never been shocked since when finding out someone I never dreamed was gay, but was. It's also when I decided that the percentage of males in the movie and TV industries who are gay but pretending to be straight, is huge.

Was he ever on The Twilight Zone?

[quote] It's also when I decided that the percentage of males in the movie and TV industries who are gay but pretending to be straight, is huge.

It may not be as true as it once was, but it seems that the acting profession over the years tends to attract a disproportionate number of gay men & women.

Didn't he have a role in that TV movie "Alexander the other side of Dawn"? Damn the elder-elder gays are dropping like flies 😭😭😭😭

R37, yep!

OP, thank you! Earl was great with Pepper. Loved him in the Rainmaker.

I do not appreciate IMDB's description of him as "slack jawed".

He was good in Hot Spell, a movie he did with Shirley MacLaine

Also liked him as the crypto gay gangster in The Big Combo

People

R37 yes he did.

He played an NFL quarterback who was in the closet and having a relationship with Alexander......I assumed he was supposed to be Joe Namath.

Earl in Alexander:The Other Side of Dawn was the first gay daddy figure I swooned over, cognizant of them tingles in my then-11 year old loins. RIP

Wow, People magazine quotes his spouse Craig Curtis, as confirming Earl's death.

Who topped?

^ Mercedes McCambridge

R43. Earl was in Alexander but the pro footballer was played by Alan Feinstein.

Wow, People magazine quotes his spouse Craig Curtis, as confirming Earl's death.

So does Variety.

I know a gay journalist who tried to get Earl to come out last year and he refused. I suspect this lesser actor-spouse is doing this revelation against Earl's final wishes to get his own name out there. Hey, 85-year-olds gotta work.

[Quote] I always confused him with Darren McGavin.

Oh that sounds fun! Did you say something like, “Darren McGavin just stole your car!!!”

Perhaps Earl wanted it out there after he passed. Maybe he wanted his spouse acknowledged instead of identified as a 'friend.'

...maybe...

A somewhat morbid photo, considering the present circumstances, but Craig had a slammin' bod back in the day.

a previous Earl thread.

Another

Earl on the Pyramid

R48 Right. Earl didn't play the closeted football player. R43 He played the psychologist-social worker type who tried to help and counsel Alexander from going down the hustler route.

Loved him. RIP, Earl.

R50, it's normal for obituaries to name the surviving spouse/partner. Stop attacking this poor guy.

Wow-hadn’t heard. Thx “dead to me” Was just thinking of him yesterday as Angie’s name came up on a post. They were good friends He was so hot on police woman and I never imagined he was gay till reading of course on DL If only the rest of the world operated like DL- WE’D ALL BE DEAD!!!

Atten. “Dead to me”-please keep working on Trump.

Earl was great. He played part of a gay henchman couple in the 1955 film noir ‘The Big Combo’. It’s fairly obvious despite the Hayes Code with a shared bedroom and dialogue about sausages and closets. It’s easy to find on YouTube if you haven’t seen it.

[quote]R35 Was he ever on The Twilight Zone?

Yes. The final one ever filmed.

Or he auditioned for it.

A cool interview with him. (From Tab Hunter Confidential, although he doesn't talk about sexuality (at least in this clip). According to the commentary, he was about 88 when he did the interview, so I'd say he aged better than a lot of men do...

^ Thank you for posting that clip. R66. What an amazing 88!

[quote] it seems that the acting profession over the years tends to attract a disproportionate number of gay men & women.

And that's because we are infinitely more creative, talented, and expressive than the average heterosexual. I shudder at the thought of what a boring world we would live in if there were no homosexuals.

His Wikipedia page is basically an homage to a man who spent his life doing good for others (human and non human). The fact that all his good works were kept so quiet from the public eye says a lot for him. I wasn't aware he was the president of Actors & Others For Animals for 25 years.

It’s one of the best known facts of his life. Didn’t you ever read a TV Guide?! Or a Sunday newspaper magazine? Duh.

Well pardon me R70. There's no need to be petty. I guess you're one of those extra expressive homosexuals we've heard tell about.

Born on 9/11!

R71 projection is not a good lol for you.

I always mixed him up with Florence Henderson.

Florence is the one in the blue sweater R74.

[quote] it seems that the acting profession over the years tends to attract a disproportionate number of gay men & women.

[quote] And that's because we are infinitely more creative, talented, and expressive than the average heterosexual. I shudder at the thought of what a boring world we would live in if there were no homosexuals.

It's also due to the fact that gay men & women of Holliman's vintage didn't face the same societal pressures of their straight contemporaries to marry & start families, freeing them to explore more non-traditional paths.

Earl must have had some stories.

Here's "Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn" on YouTube.

Holliman plays a psychologist who works with the police and who becomes Alexander's guardian. Alexander then finds out Holliman is gay and is basically Holliman's kept boy.

R78 Wait. I got that wrong.

Alexander goes to live with the gay football player and becomes *his* kept boy.

I'm curious about that quirky Truman Capote-like haircut that Earl said brought him to the attention of the Paramount casting directors.

Leigh J. McCloskey was so dreamy.

R81. Leigh is now an artist and a hot grandpa. Married to the same woman since 1978.

Thanks for the info, everyone.

All of these years later I certainly remembered it wrong!

Maybe I just wanted Alexander and Earl to get together.

That $25,000 pyramid posted above was delightful

R80 I was curious too, LOL

It must have been the one below.....this was a very famous pic apparently / on his first novel dustjacket

Pepper, you're going undercover!

He was in Giant with lots of other gays - Rock Hudson, James Dean, Sal Mineo...

R87 Fag Hag Jane Withers must have had a field day with that bunch.

Skippy Lowe interview.

It’s kind of amazing that an up-and-coming, good-looking young actor who was himself gay was willing to play such an obviously gay-coded role as in The Big Combo—in 1955! You always read that gay actors were the first to stay clear of such parts.

Any behind the scenes gossip to report?

Earl's first role was an uncredited bit part in the Tyrone Power film, "Pony Soldier." .. Was Earl one of Tyrone's ponies?

Another early role was as the "Elevator Boy" in the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis comedy "Scared Stiff" (1953, which featured well-known gay Henry Brandon as "Pierre."

r91, watching that little clip at r66 from Tab Hunter Confidential of Earl Holliman talking about his rise to fame, first as just a non-contractual extra to featured roles on the Paramount lot, you can just imagine all he left off about the casting couches and such. Oh, the goings-on!

I assume the Tab Hunter interview was done after the Skippy interview but he starts off telling all the same stories. Damn Skip interrupts when Earl is about to talk about working with Katharine Hepburn.

[quote] Oh no, this awful! What happened?

[quote] Skydiving accident, [R12]. Very sad.

That's how Luise Rainer and Olivia de Havilland went too!

There must be a Russian conspiracy at work.

[quote]I know a gay journalist who tried to get Earl to come out last year and he refused. I suspect this lesser actor-spouse is doing this revelation against Earl's final wishes to get his own name out there. Hey, 85-year-olds gotta work.

[quote]IPerhaps Earl wanted it out there after he passed. Maybe he wanted his spouse acknowledged instead of identified as a 'friend.'

[quote]I[R50], it's normal for obituaries to name the surviving spouse/partner. Stop attacking this poor guy.

I'm with r52 and r61. I found it a little odd that r45 and r49 were surprised that People and Variety mentioned the spouse, but r50 attaching nefarious motives to a surviving partner confirming a death is downright bizarre - or maybe they were joking?

LA Times obit

^ Wow, that obit mentions his husband, I didn't know he was actually married

I've always mixed him up with Mike Tyson. They look so similar.

Earl recalls the days of live television: “At the end of the first act, I was up to my neck in quicksand. As I’m being rescued, I have 90 seconds to have the folks backstage strip me down to a jockstrap, rinse me off, change my clothes, and I have to get on the other side of the stage for the next act, which has me cracking open a coconut. ...

LA Times obit

R99 Oh, to be a stagehand stripping a young, hunky Earl Holliman down to a jockstrap.

On some game show - it may have been The Movie Game hosted by Larry Blyden - Earl told the story that Paramount was sure he was going to get a Best Supporting Actor nomination for THE RAINMAKER.

They set up an interview for him to happen as the nominations were announced......with Miss Louella Parsons.

Earl wasn't nominated and he said the interview turned into a very embarrassing moment for all concerned - not that Louella was capable of being embarrassed.

He was a singer too!

Another song

Shaboo-da!

So young.

He has a doofus haircut in Giant.

R102/R103, thanks so much for posting those! I had no idea he sang--and he had a superb voice!

He's already buried. We're they afraid he'd go off?

Earl's sittin and a gabbin

Who wants to talk about the weather when our lips are close together?

THE BIG COMBO is on TCM OnDemand if anyone wants to watch it.

I wish he had had a more attractive partner than Lee Van Cleef......but Earl sure was Jonesing on him......

R109 that's a really fun song.....thanks to everyone posting those links!

Sing it, Earl!

There's so much kissin' we could do.

Now so few well-known gay actors over 85 and still alive: Dick Chamberlain, George Chakiris, Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, George Takei....any others?

Daniel J, Travanti will be 85 in March.

Has 86-year old Richard Beymer ever found the right woman to settle down with?

Earl's on the Road to Nowhere.

Oh my he's got a hitch in his gitalong when he sings - like Patsy Cline.

Who is Earl Holliman’s Husband Craig Curtis?

R118 Well, that was a useless article.

Years ago, I heard he was into twinks

Now the burros are sad.

So anyway, does he have any new tv or movie projects lined up?

I hear he is counting on an In Memoriam nod, r122.

No, Larry, he doesn't.

That article at R118 reads like it was written by a bot and, as those things typically go, doesn't really say anything at all.

R121 he protected animals?! Well, I never heard of such a thing!

R71

New York Times obit

R120 I've told this story on DL before ...

One time my boyfriend and I stood in line at the movie theatre inside the Sherman Oaks Galleria, and we were right behind Earl and his two companions. This was ca. 1980. The Galleria was brand new, and the line was quite long, so it took awhile, letting us get a really good look at the trio. .. I think it would have been pretty obvious to any gay guy what was going on here. .. Age-wise the two young men were twinks (about 22), but they were both very athletic-looking, like college jocks, very fit and defined. I guess I'd say they had very nice diver builds and were sporting that then-trendy All-American Boy fashion look of the day. . .. Later, my boyfriend says to me, "Gee, if you were five years younger, he'd probably go for you." ..lol.

That was dull.

Not so dull later on when Earl got DPed.

Earl does a good DVD audio commentary on the Twilight Zone episode he did. At one point the older Earl is critical of his younger self, saying Can't you do better than that?!

The obit at Deadline appears to, uhh ... out of the loop.

It's final paragraph reads: "Holliman never married, and information on survivors wasn’t immediately available."

When I googled Earl I discovered he ran a theatre where he often performed and played Zach in A Chorus Line! I would love to have seen that.

r132, weird, because the Times obit mentions his husband

I hope Craig plays Road to Nowhere at the funeral. It seems apt.

Here's a screencap of Craig when he had a role on Adam-12 in 1968. He would have been 29.

I wonder if he hooked up with Kent McCord?

Is there something we should know about Kent McCord?

Come sit next to me.

R136, he was pretty cute!

R137 Rumored closet case in a lavender marriage.

An actual rumor or a DL rumor, R140?

R141 It was a pretty specific Reader Blind Item (hosted by Entertainment Lawyer) from an eyewitness account of an alleged incident that happened on the set when the "Emergency" and "Adam-12" crossover was in production. The story is that the two actors playing the paramedics on Emergency found out and began bullying him over it, to such a degree, that producer Jack Webb had to step in and order them to can it.

Plus, he and Ricky Nelson made a lovely couple.

Oh now wait a minute-are you saying what I think you’re saying? “IS EVERYBODY GAY’’

Craig Curtis

^^^ Craig's voice-over reel is very nice. I can see where he got such work. I wonder if he ever did the audio version of any books.

we're at reply 145 and no first hand reports of any action at Earl's Fiesta Dinner Playhouse in San Antonio, Texas from 1977 to 1983?

work your sources, DL!

R144 Curtis was a hot little dead body in that picture of him on IMDB.

CBS Sunday Morning neglected to include Earl and Helen Gallagher in their weekly obits. WTF??

We have specific standards, kids.

Earl Holliman, Mark Herron, and Hayden Rorke in "Mr. Roberts" at the Fiesta Playhouse (Earl's Dinner Theatre in Texas) // September 1981 // via the UTSA Libraries Special Collections

Sissy Daddy!

R150, wasn't Mark Herron one of Judy Garland's gay husbands?

R148, Earl Holliman was included in their obits this past Sunday. Helen Gallagher maybe, also.

Mark Herron = Mrs Silas Barnaby

[quote]Earl Holliman, Mark Herron, and Hayden Rorke in "Mr. Roberts" at the Fiesta Playhouse (Earl's Dinner Theatre in Texas) // September 1981 // via the UTSA Libraries Special Collections

Hayden Rorke, of "I Dream of Jeannie," was also a big ol' homosexualist.

[quote] CBS Sunday Morning neglected to include Earl and Helen Gallagher in their weekly obits. WTF??

Here ya go.

Fags.

[quote]we're at reply 145 and no first hand reports of any action at Earl's Fiesta Dinner Playhouse in San Antonio, Texas from 1977 to 1983?

I'll always cherish the memory of Mr. Jamie Farr in "Death of a Salesman."

Mark Herron had a long-lasting relationship with fellow actor Henry Brandon, which was only briefly interrupted by his marriage to Garland.[2] The two men remained together until Brandon's death in 1990.

Mama loved her gay husbands

Lucky him.