Tuesday 19 August 2008

KAYE GAY? OLIVIER QUEER? SHOME MISTHAKE SHURELY!

Dear Arthur,

Is there any truth to the rumours that Danny Kaye and Lawrence Olivier were lovers? (Mike, Cardiff)




Well Mike, I've only lately picked my jaw off the ground since I first heard this suggestion a few weeks back. In fact, so absurd a suggestion did it seem that it could only be true. I mean talk about chalk and cheese. There was Lawrence Olivier, a man's man and the greatest Shakespearean actor of his day, as contrasted with Danny Kaye, a fast-talking Borscht Belt comedian, the epitome of wholesome American family entertainment. Not to mention their respective marriages. Olivier to Vivien Leigh and Kaye to Sylvia Fine. Hardly the most reliable of litmus tests as all of on this site are all too aware, but still.

So, what truth, if any, is there to the rumour? As it happens a lot. It seems that Larry and Danny may well have been lovers on and off for eleven years and confirmation of that comes from the most unimpeachable of sources, Lady Olivier aka. actress Joan Plowright and Larry's second wife after Vivien Leigh. She seems to have blurted out the secret when she tired of being blamed for ending Olivier's marriage to Leigh. 'No, no,' she avered. 'Not guilty. Danny Kaye was on the scene long before I came along'.

And there you have it. If not exactly from the horse's mouth then certainly the nag's head.

8 comments:

Nicolette said...

**So, what truth, if any, is there to the rumour? As it happens a lot. It seems that Larry and Danny may well have been lovers on and off for eleven years and confirmation of that comes from the most unimpeachable of sources, Lady Olivier aka. actress Joan Plowright and Larry's second wife after Vivien Leigh. **

She was his third wife.

Barbara said...

Your "in-impeachable" sources are wrong. These rumors were disputed in several books. They were only that - rumors - someone heard from someone who heard, and that's all.

Jeffrey Ruzicka said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jeffrey Ruzicka said...

VIVIEN LEIGH DENIED IT.

DannyJ said...

What's your point Jeffrey?

So what if Leigh denied it. Rock Hudson denied he was gay for nearly his entire life, as did many other closeted stars.

Sheesh.

Jeffrey Ruzicka said...

My point is my point. The gay assertion came from one source, period;said once, period; now repeated 150 times. It's like an assertion about George Washington being an adulterer in 50 books. When you trace the allegation down, it was made by one author in the 1930's; one only with not one fact to back it up. He just hated Washington. So you might want to look up original source research used by actual historians.

Unknown said...

I think all fags should have their dicks shot off and then their throats cut

Lisa Brewer said...

Rock Hudson NEVER denied he was gay. John Travolta has.