Friday, October 24, 2008

Raymond Burr aka Perry Mason aka Ironside Was Gay! robert benevides perry mason who s nailin pailin

Raymond Burr aka Perry Mason aka Ironside Was Gay! robert benevides perry mason who s nailin pailin

Biographies of movie and TV stars often make fascinating reading, but too often the lives of gay and bisexual celebrities are left unexamined. At least they are until the celebrity in question is safely dead (and unable to sue). Such was the case with Montgomery Clift, Cary Grant, Tyrone Power and others.
Raymond Burr (1917-1993) is another case in point.
Though Burr's sexual orientation has been the subject of decades of gay gossip, as far as the world at large was concerned, the star of Perry Mason and Ironside was straight through and through.
Burr himself was to blame for the public's ignorance. Throughout his life, the deeply closeted actor wove a web of heterosexual fantasy around him. He added a fake military record to his resume, and spun stories about two dead wives who "died" tragic deaths.Raymond Burr was briefly married to an actress named Isabella Ward.  But a brief marriage was not enough to maintain the actor's image of rugged masculinity.  So Burr or his press agents invented for Burr a fictional military career, two fictional wives (both safely dead) and even a fictional son (also dead).  Burr even claimed to have enjoyed a brief, star-crossed affair with the much-younger actress Natalie Wood.In the midst of all this make-believe, Burr was enjoying a long-term personal and business partnership with actor Robert Benevides, who is 13 years younger than Burr. The two men met in 1957 (I can confirm mid-1950s only) and lived together till Burr's death more than 35 years later. The two men shared a passion for food, flowers, travel, and fine wines – the Raymond Burr Vineyards, one of their common enterprises, is still owned and operated by Benevides.

All Interracial
All Interracial
All Interracial
All Interracial



No comments: