WESLEY EURE

For many gay and bisexual men of a certain age, the first inkling that they weren’t like other boys came on Saturday mornings from 1974 to 1976, in the form of a television show called The Land of the Lost. The show, about a father and his two children who were stranded in a mysterious land of dinosaurs, also featured vicious, but curiously slow-moving reptilian humanoids called Sleestak.  But it wasn’t just the gloriously campy-even-at-the-time nature of the show itself that appealed to gay boys. It was also the fact that it featured the role of Will Marcshall, the handsome teenage son, played by an actor billed only as “Wesley,” but whose full name is Wesley Eure.

Wesley Eure (born August 17, 1951) came to prominence when he appeared in two long running television series in the 1970s, Days Of Our Lives playing the role of Mike Horton for 8 years, and Land Of The Lost in which he played Will Marshall for three seasons. For several years, he appeared in both shows simultaneously. Eure is also a singer, author, producer, director, charity fundraiser, and lecturer. Eure co-produced, wrote and acted in Totally Hidden Video and Payback. He also wrote and directed Spy TV for NBC. He was the host of Nickelodeon game show Finders Keepers. He co-created PBS Kids’s Emmy-nominated animated series for preschoolers called Dragon Tales, now in its sixth year. It is produced by The Children’s Television Workshop and Sony.

(1990's)

The story of Eure’s life – being cast to replace David Cassidy on The Partridge Family right before the show was canceled, for example – has always been interesting. But now that he’s opening up about being gay, his story also includes the stuff of even the richest of memoirs: his 70s love affair with Richard Chamberlain, his behind-the-scenes firing from Days of Our Lives, his relationship with some of the most famous closeted gay men in the Hollywood, and his touching thoughts on being a closeted teen heartthrob.

During an interview posted by Dennis Ayers in AfterElton, Eure said, "It was a horrible time in Hollywood, being gay. It was horrible. I was on the cover of Tiger Beat and all those a lot, and they'd do those "Win A Date With Wesley" and "Who's Wesley Dating?" It was so disingenuous. I had a full life. I've had a lot of friends and some pretty high profile partners, and it was an odd thing. I got fired from Days of Our Lives for being gay.  After nine years, my contract was up, but I was hosting the number one show for Nickelodeon, Finders Keepers. It was on cable, but this was before everybody had Nickelodeon. Mark Summers was doing Double Dare. I was getting bigger ratings than Mark. I became the number one host for kids for two seasons, and then we heard the show was being sold to Fox. Everybody else was celebrating and I went, "Oh, no. I'm out of a job." Sure enough. I waited, I kept calling, 'Am I hosting the show?' They wouldn't answer the question, and then I got the call they went with somebody younger.  I knew Fox and NBC were run by gay men at the time, but what was odd about the industry at the time, it was amazing how the gay men were perpetuating the damage." 

"The Toolbox Murders"

"Chippendale's Calendar Issue: Soap Studs"

Premier of Land Of The Lost (2008)

 

 

 

SEAN CONNERY

Sean Connery began his theatrical career as an extra in the chorus, playing bit parts, and modeling. From those modest beginnings, he has become an international film icon. Many believe that his talent and appeal continue to improve with time.  His humble beginnings, growing up in a working class neighborhood in Edinburgh, gave no indication of the achievements that were destined to come. Sean was born into a working class family in August of 1930. The oldest of two boys, he spent much of his youth working at menial jobs, just to get by. He left school at an early age and went to work fulltime.

At sixteen, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. Like many young men in the Navy, he opted for a tattoo. However, unlike many tattoos, his were not frivolous - his tattoos reflect two of his lifelong commitments: his family and Scotland. After six decades, his tattoos still reflect those two ideas: One tattoo is a tribute to his parents and reads "Mum and Dad," and the other is self explanatory, "Scotland Forever."

After three years of Naval service, a long bout with a stomach ulcer shortened his "naval career". He returned to Edinburgh and seemed to settle into a life of hard work: bricklayer, lifeguard, and coffin polisher. Sean spent much of his free time bodybuilding, a pastime that eventually started his acting career. His hobby of bodybuilding culminated in a bid for the 1950 Mr. Universe title where he placed third.

From his early acting days until his first superstar role, Sean's stardom was certainly not an over-night success story. From his first work in modeling, bit theatrical parts, and chorus appearances, it was almost eight years before he was cast opposite Lana Turner in Another Time, Another Place (1958). It would be another four years before he first uttered those unforgettable words, "Bond, James Bond."

Connery skyrocketed to international fame as the suave, confident (and many say definitive) Secret Agent 007 in six of Ian Fleming's Bond movies over the next decade: Dr. No (1962), Goldfinger (1964), From Russia, With Love (1964), Thunderball (1965), and You Only Live Twice (1967), and Diamonds are Forever (1971).  He then broadened his career with an Agatha Christie whodunit, Murder on the Orient Express (1974), John Huston's adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's adventure, The Man Who Would Be King (1975), the medieval romance, Robin and Marian (1976), and Peter Hyams' sci-fi film, Outland (1981). He resurfaced as a much wiser and more mature Bond in the 1983 adventure, Never Say Never Again. 

The 90's brought such great films as The Hunt for Red October (1990, as a Russian sub commander); and 1993's Rising Sun (as an expert in all things Japanese); Dragonheart (1996); and the successful contemporary action dramas Just Cause (1995); and The Rock (1996). In 1999, Connery starred in and produced (Fountainbridge Films) Entrapment, a love story-thriller, costarring Catherine Zeta-Jones. The year 2000 brought what many have said to be one of his best films, Finding Forrester. Sean's latest movie "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" was released in 2003.

Many critics and fans alike have said that the quality of his acting has only improved with age. Certainly his personal appeal has. In 1989, at almost 60 years of age he was voted People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive." When advised of the award, Sean seemed to be unaffected as he replied, "Well there aren't many sexy dead men, are there."

Connery dated a woman named Julie Hamilton in the 1950s; given his rugged appearance and rough charm she initially thought he was a most appalling person and was not attracted to him until she saw him in a kilt.  Connery was married to actress Diane Cilento from 1962 to 1973. They had a son, actor Jason Connery. Connery has been married to Moroccan-French painter Micheline Roquebrune (born 1929) since 1975.

Connery was knighted in July 2000. 

 

 

 

 

LUKE HALPIN

Luke Halpin (born April 4, 1947) is an began his career as a child actor at the age of eight.  Halpin is perhaps best known for his role as Sandy Ricks in the feature films Flipper and Flipper's New Adventure, as well as for reprising his role for the television series adaptation, also titled Flipper.  The series ran for 88 episodes (1964–1967), and is still in syndication. The TV series made Halpin a teen idol among younger viewers. He was often featured in teen magazines.  Following the end of the Flipper series, Halpin appeared in feature films, including Island of the Lost (1967), If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969), and Shock Waves (1977). TV guest appearances in the years shortly after Flipper included Judd for the Defense, The Dating Game, Death Valley Days, and Bracken's World. One notable later appearance was in the TV-movie The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd in 1979.  Following an acting career that spanned three decades, Halpin began working as a stuntman, marine coordinator, diver, and speedboat pilot for such feature films as Never Say Never Again, Porky's Revenge!, and Speed 2: Cruise Control as well as for the television series Miami Vice.  He also continued to make cameo appearances, most notably, on the television series Key West, and in the 1996 feature film remake, Flipper, starring a 15-year-old Elijah Wood as Sandy Ricks. Halpin lives on Florida's west coast with his second wife, Deborah.  He has three sons, Kyle Austin Halpin (born in October 1980), Blair Luke Halpin (born in December 1982), and Courtney Luke Halpin (born in April 1990).

 Shock Waves (1977)

Shock Waves (1977)

Luke Halpin (1996).