During the 1980s, there wasn't much of gay interest on television. An occasional "old friend comes out as gay or transgender" episode of The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time, Alice.
A "guy accused of being gay tries to commit suicide" episode of WKRP in Cincinnati.
Some "murderous, psychotic" drag queen episodes of cop dramas.
A few gay subtext shows, like The Powers of Matthew Star (with Peter Barton, left)
And Madame's Place (1982-83).
Gay actor and puppeteer Wayland Flowers (1939-1988) began voicing Madame in the 1970s. She was a new twist on the drag queen persona, an elderly former movie star who had a potty mouth and told outrageous stories about her exploits with men.
Wayland Flowers and Madam have not been forgotten. Here they appear on a 2009 Thanksgiving episode of The Cleveland Show.
Madame has been revived by several performers, including Joe Kovacs.
.jpg)
Drag entertainer and Liza-specialist Rick Skye
And Matt W. Cody.
Gay actor and puppeteer Wayland Flowers (1939-1988) began voicing Madame in the 1970s. She was a new twist on the drag queen persona, an elderly former movie star who had a potty mouth and told outrageous stories about her exploits with men.
Wayland was fully visible behind Madame, and openly saying her lines instead of keeping his mouth shut, like a ventriloquist. But you didn't notice him.
Young adults, who thought of the older generation as skittish, easily-scandalized, and sexually repressed found Madame's bawdy humor mesmerizing, and soon she became the most famous puppet since Charlie McCarthy.
Wayland and Madame were everywhere in the 1970s and early 1980s, on Andy Williams, Merv Griffith, The New Laugh-In, The Chuck Barris Rah-Rah Show, Playboy's Roller Disco and Pajama Party, and Solid Gold. They hosted the 1982 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. They were regulars on the Hollywood Squares game show.
A tv series was inevitable, a throwback to the old "celebrity home life" sitcoms of the 1950s, with Madame as a talk show host asking inappropriate questions of real celebrities like William Shatner and Peewee Herman. At home, she interacted with her butler (Johnny Haymer), uptight assistant (Susan Tolsky), dumb-blond niece (Judy Lander), and kid next door (Corey Feldman, left).
There were no references to gay people, but it was easy to imagine Madame as an aging drag queen. In fact, it was expected.
You can see clips on youtube.
Wayland never came out, for fear that a public statement would "cost him a million dollars a year." When asked directly, he said he was "not into labels." It was the 1980s -- who can blame him? He died of AIDS in 1988.
Young adults, who thought of the older generation as skittish, easily-scandalized, and sexually repressed found Madame's bawdy humor mesmerizing, and soon she became the most famous puppet since Charlie McCarthy.
There were no references to gay people, but it was easy to imagine Madame as an aging drag queen. In fact, it was expected.
You can see clips on youtube.
Wayland never came out, for fear that a public statement would "cost him a million dollars a year." When asked directly, he said he was "not into labels." It was the 1980s -- who can blame him? He died of AIDS in 1988.
More after the break
Wayland Flowers and Madam have not been forgotten. Here they appear on a 2009 Thanksgiving episode of The Cleveland Show.
Madame has been revived by several performers, including Joe Kovacs.
.jpg)
Drag entertainer and Liza-specialist Rick Skye
And Matt W. Cody.
A puppet drag queen hosted the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1982? Well it is the gayest parade in NYC besides Pride so it makes sense
ReplyDeleteUsing a puppet as your drag persona was quite an innovation, possible only because you could deny it. "Madam is just one of my characters. Puppeteers create male and female characters all the time."
DeleteArguably any drag persona could be "just a performance". "She's just a character: I don't go around like this in real life." The degree of abstraction allowed by art grants some plausible deniability.
DeleteThis Takes me back. I saw Wayland Flowers open for Paul Lynde in 1972 at the Valley Forge Music (when it was still a tent)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds amazing for a venue three years after Stonewall. I assume neither of them said anything gay-specific?
ReplyDelete