Yes, I know she was crazy for Sam theButcher. ( Neil Patrick Harris), the brother on Small Wonder, Tinky Winky ( Teletubbies), Squidward ( SpongeBob SquarePants), and anything played by Don Knotts-and as for the ladies, Jo ( Nancy McKeon) on The Facts of Life, Miss Jane Hathaway ( Nancy Kulp) on The Beverly Hillbillies, and Alice ( Ann B. Bullock) on Too Close for Comfort, Barnabas Collins ( Jonathan Frid) on Dark Shadows, Urkel ( Jaleel White) on Family Matters, Uncle Fester ( Jackie Coogan) in The Addams Family, Doogie Howser, M.D. Honorary Mention: Gomer Pyle ( Jim Nabors), Fred “Rerun” Stubbs ( Fred Berry) on What’s Happening!!, the Martian ( Ray Walston) on My Favorite Martian, Monroe Ficus ( Jim J. Buono was great as Tut, though he seemed more queen than King. Along with Bewitched, this show helped catapult me out of the closet even without the word “gay” ever having been uttered.
He later got busted in a movie theater oral sex incident that was hushed up.) The hit show Batman was famous for its gay-friendly guest stars like Eartha Kitt, Julie Newmar, Ethel Merman, and Tallulah Bankhead. (In Feud, he was seen announcing himself to Bette Davis as a big homosexual. In the tale of grotesque sibling rivalry What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, he wasn’t so much villainous as sort of creepily sleazy, yet the most decent one in the room by default. Victor Buono was the go-to pudgy ‘60s character actor for campy villainy.