Gay Celebrity Lives, Then and Now

Happily, many – though certainly not all – of today’s celebs are more honest about their sexual orientation. A case in point is forty-year-old Scottish singer-actor John Barrowman, who in a previous generation might have become an MGM musical star, dating or even marrying women to act as his “beards” while repressing or covering up his true sexual orientation.

Instead, Barrowman is quite open about his homosexuality, his long-time relationship with his partner, Scott Gill, and even the fact that he has “never gone where no gay man should ever go,” to the dismay of his many female fans.

Though he is not terribly well known in the United States, Barrowman has quite a following in the United Kingdom, where he shined in West End theater productions and as “Captain Jack” in the BBC TV series Doctor Who and Torchwood. And needless to say, the handsome Mr. Barrowman is very popular with gay men everywhere, as evidenced by his # 2 ranking on AfterElton.com’s recent “Hot 100" list. (Jake Gyllenhaal barely beat him for # 1.)

Though he turned 41 in March, Barrowman is at the point in his life where an autobiography seems to be in order, hence the publication of Anything Goes: The Autobiography (Michael O’Mara Books; 256 pages; $29.95), which he wrote with his sister, Carole E. Barrowman.

Though Michael O’Mara Books is a British firm, Anything Goes is readily available to American readers via Amazon.com, Logoonline.com and major GLBT bookstores.  Unlike Burr’s ponderous biography, Barrowman’s memoir is a delight from beginning to end. Though he seems to be a bit too fond of himself, we don’t mind, since we are fond of him as well. So we happily follow our hero from his childhood in Scotland to his youth in Middle America, then on to his artistic triumphs in London and beyond. And check out the photos!

Actor Leslie Jordan may be less than a decade older than John Barrowman, but Jordan’s experiences and perspectives seem almost pre-Stonewall compared with the Scotsman’s. Perhaps this is because Jordan was born and raised in the deep South, where Bible Belt attitudes kept most of its gays deep in their closets.

Fortunately, Jordan was able to transcend much of the limitations of his upbringing, though even his most devoted fans would surely cringe reading passages such as this one: “Like most gay men my age, I have no earthly idea how to love in a healthy and blessed manner. I only know how to obsess.”

How depressing, if blisteringly honest, is that?

And Jordan is one of the lucky ones, since he lived to tell the story in My Trip Down the Pink Carpet (Simon Spotlight Entertainment; 272 pages; $21.95), Jordan’s first but hopefully not his only memoir.

Reading My Trip Down the Pink Carpet, one gets the impression that Jordan went around the block quite a few times while he was still living in Chattanooga, Tennessee. However, Jordan is quite reticent about that part of his life, perhaps so as not to upset his devoutly religious mother who is still alive.

For the most part, Jordan’s narrative begins in 1982 when Jordan sewed $1200 into his underpants and boarded a Greyhound bus for Hollywood. And he never looked back.

Leslie Jordan

Though “vertically challenged” and rather effeminate to boot, Jordan managed to do well in Tinsel Town, winning an Emmy for his role as “Beverley Leslie” in Will & Grace and earning enduring fame in the gay community for his performances as “Brother Boy” in Del Shores’ Sordid Lives – on stage, screen and television.

But Jordan’s hectic life had its up and downs, fueled by his addiction to alcohol, drugs and low-life hustlers. Now clean and sober, Jordan preaches the gay gospel to those who’ll listen, including the readers of this book. To which I say, Amen!