Alan sues gay
Most people knew Alan Sues best from his years on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In playing, among other roles, the most outrageously male lover characters ever on television. He played non-gay characters too but he's optimal remembered as the outrageously gay sportscaster, the outrageously homosexual kiddie show host, etc. Fewer people know that before and immediately after Laugh-In, he had a pretty decent career as a serious stage performer which included Shakespeare and dramatic serve , including a well-reviewed Broadway debut in the original Tea and Sympathy, directed by Elia Kazan. He also had a stand-up comedy act and a cabaret act…and he worked a lot. Then.
His presence on Laugh-In was probably predestined as he'd appeared in two ventures that laid a foundation for that groundbreaking series — The MAD Show (the 1966 off-Broadway revue based on MAD Magazine) and before that, The Nut House. The Nut House was an unsold TV pilot in 1964 produced by Jay Ward's organization. It came and went with tiny notice but in 1967 when Laugh-In became a smash hit, a lot of folks recalled The Nut House and said, "Same show but ahead of its time." Laugh-In went on in '67 and Alan joined i
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Alan Sues, madcap comic best known for his outrageous, flamboyant and edgy mugging on TV's "Laugh-In" in the late 1960's has died, according to the New York Times.
"Laugh-In," one of the top-rated shows of its time, helped launched the careers of Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, Judy Carne, Henry Gibson and Flip Wilson.
Sued died Thursday at his West Hollywood home while watching TV, according to Michael Michaud, a Sues friend and administrator.
He told the Times Sues died of an apparently heart attack.
Sues was best known for a extensive array of characters, including Massive Al, an effete sportscaster; Uncle Al -- the Kiddie's Pal, an always hung over children's entertainer, and for doing a drag impersonation of fellow "Laugh-In" cast member Jo Anne Worley.
Married briefly, Sues acknowledged that he was gay but not publicly for fear it would retain him from getting work. In later years, Michaud said Sues appreciated his large legion of gay fans, especially because he was a rare role model on TV from 1967-1972 when he was a weekly "Laugh-In" fixture.
He also appeared in many serious dramas on TV including "The Twilight Zone" and "The Wild Wild West."
Sues was b
Openly gay actor Alan Sues, 85, top known for his work on Laugh-In, died on Dec. 1.
Laugh-In was a pre-Stonewall, quick-paced comedy-sketch TV present that also featured another gay musician — Lily Tomlin. But Sues’ characters were all outrageously, unapologetically, screamingly male lover. Among them was Big Al, a gay sportscaster (see clip below).
His campy characters even carried over into commercials. In the early 70s, Sues was featured in Peter Pan Peanut Butter ads as a very over-the-top Peter Pan.
According to the LA Times, Sues was openly gay but not publicly, because he was nervous it would spoil his career. At that time it was OK to be gay as long as you didn’t say you were gay out loud.
However, during a radio interview I did with Sues in the early 90s, he was open and talked freely about being gay.
Sues was in Dallas at the hour to perform in Breck Wall’s Bottoms Up revue — a live sketch show that began at Jack Ruby’s Dallas night club and moved to Las Vegas in 1964 where it ran for years. Wall, who died last year, and Sues appeared on Lambda Weeklyto promote the tour of Bottoms Up.
In person, Sues was as joyously flaming as his La Alan Sues, whose clownish comedic style was a mainstay on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in” in the tardy sixties, has died at his home in West Hollywood at the age of 85.
Sues’ ally and administrator, Michael Michaud, told the New York Times that the generate of death appeared to be a heart attack.
Although Sues appeared in films, on Broadway and on other television programs, he is best remembered for his ground-breaking operate on “Laugh-in” which was one of the top-rated shows during its five and a half year run.
He was part of the ensemble cast that include Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, Ruth Buzzi, Arte Johnson and Jo Anne Worley.
He was actually cast on the show by producer George Schlatter who had seen him in an off-Broadway play opposite Worley, the newspaper reported.
He played over-the-top characters such as Uncle Al the Kiddies’ Pal–a hung-over children’s performer; an effeminate sportscaster called Big Al and a drag queen imitation of Worley’s character on the show.
Sues never disclosed that he was same-sex attracted although he tended to play stereotypically gay characters—according to Michaud who told the newspaper that Sues was afraid if he told the truth about his sexual or