Homophobia ?

[Billy Nolan]

I'm currently watching season 9, episode 6. I always look into the actors' backstories. Dack Rambo has spoken several times about his conflicts on the set of Dallas. In particular, interviews reveal that he didn't get along well with Larry Hagman. There have also been persistent rumors that he was bullied because of his sexual orientation. Is there any truth to that? Timothy Patrick Murphy was also quite open about his homosexuality. Was he bullied too? Was that why they wanted to get rid of him and wrote his character out? How did Dack Rambo get along with the other Dallas actors? Steve Kanaly? Linda Gray, etc.? So many questions... Perhaps you Dallas experts could answer a few of them for me?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I've never heard that Murphy or Tom Fucello had any problems. I suspect the problem Larry had with Rambo and his "sprayed on jeans" (apparently sock-stuffed) was that Rambo was introduced to be a de facto replacement for Bobby. And with Larry signaling his disapproval, even the crew began bullying Dack.

Larry also reportedly let Donna Reed know she wasn't really wanted.

 

[Billy Nolan]

I've never heard that Murphy or Tom Fucello had any problems. I suspect the problem Larry had with Rambo and his "sprayed on pants" (apparently sock-stuffed) was that Rambo was introduced to be a de facto replacement for Bobby. And with Larry signaling his disapproval, even the crew began bullying Dack.

Larry also reportedly let Donna Reed know she wasn't really wanted.

Who are Murphy or Tom Fucello? (Sorry, I'm a new Dallas viewer.)

What does "sprayed on pants" mean? And what I actually meant was that I read Larry Hagman had problems with the gay community.

 

[Toni]

Who are Murphy or Tom Fucello? (Sorry, I'm a new Dallas viewer.)

What does "sprayed on pants" mean? And what I actually meant was that I read Larry Hagman had problems with the gay community.

Murphy played Ray´s cousin and Lucy´s love interest, and Fuccello, Donna´s stepson.

Larry, IMHO, didn´t have any problems with gays (Joel Grey was one of his closest friends, and George Chakiris, who is on the Dream Season, only has kind words about his "Dallas" stint). I think everything is exaggerated when it´s about the phobias and other faults of the most revered actors, especially if they are dead. On the other side, Rambo has spoken on camera about the show being his worst TV experience, and that´s how he felt it. So it was true for him.

About the "sock stuff" expression, it´s a myth (or just mere envy...?). Just watch at Dack´s earliest works...

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

About the "sock stuff" expression, it´s a myth (or just mere envy...?). Just watch at Dack´s earliest works...

O ye of wishful thinking and eternal faith.

It's Dack's earliest work that prove the sock story is no myth. He didn't become "the Taj Mahal of crotches" (as someone here phrased it) until later in his career. Or maybe his mood improved.

 

[Garry]

A few years ago Ken Kercheval told me that Dack took a lot of flack from mainly a few crew members on the set, not the main cast. So Dack had a point.

 

[Chris2]

Is it possible that Larry resented Dack because he essentially replaced his close buddy Patrick Duffy during the dream season?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Is it possible that Larry resented Dack because he essentially replaced his close buddy Patrick Duffy during the dream season?

Well, we did just kind of say that.

 

[Billy Nolan]

A few years ago Ken Kercheval told me that Dack took a lot of flack from mainly a few crew members on the set, not the main cast. So Dack had a point.

And what was the reason for the flack he got?

 

[Billy Nolan]

Larry, IMHO, didn´t have any problems with gays (Joel Grey was one of his closest friends, and George Chakiris, who is on the Dream Season, only has kind words about his "Dallas" stint). I think everything is exaggerated when it´s about the phobias and other faults of the most revered actors, especially if they are dead. On the other side, Rambo has spoken on camera about the show being his worst TV experience, and that´s how he felt it. So it was true for him.

On the other hand, I've also heard that Hagman was against the originally planned lesbian storyline between Angelica Nero (Barbara Carrera) and her assistant Grce.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

On the other hand, I've also heard that Hagman was against the originally planned lesbian storyline between Angelica Nero (Barbara Carrera) and her assistant Grce.

Yeah, we heard it here!

 

[James from London]

"the Taj Mahal of crotches" (as someone here phrased it)

I nicked it off of Paula Yates who said it about Michael Hutchence.

I've also heard that Hagman was against the originally planned lesbian storyline between Angelica Nero (Barbara Carrera) and her assistant Grce.

The same tabloid story was recycled substituting Larry Hagman's name for Jane Wyman's regarding some other supposedly "originally planned lesbian storyline" on Falcon Crest.

 

[Toni]

Yeah, we heard it here!

I have never heard that, maybe it was on Merete Van Kamp´s interview? She may have hinted that, but I´m sure if that is true, the blame is on CBS. They were like puritans, the basterds...

In her latest interview, she says that Larry explained over a cast dinner that he used to take "snake poison" in order of, you know, "keep it up". She also talks about Barbara Carrera´s "tantrums" (which didn´t stop them from becoming friends for life), and doesn´t mention Dack Rambo at all. When she talked to Garry in his amazing Dallas Fanzine conversation, she did reveal that the lesbian rumor was NOT a rumor.

Watch the other Jim Conlan chats about "Dallas", they are very informative and fun. Especially those with Phyllis and Mr. Valentine (apparently they had another juicy storyline for him in Season 11, but he had already committed to star in another show with a contract, which Katzman didn´t do).

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

the lesbian rumor was NOT a rumor.

Still, though, at the time it seemed impossible to picture it actually happening.

 

[James from London]

Merete Van Kamp´s interview

Oh, she's great -- like a more cheerful Nico.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I've also heard that Hagman was against the originally planned lesbian storyline between Angelica Nero (Barbara Carrera) and her assistant Grce.

What kind or how much of a storyline would that be?
It seems that several (many? all?) Dallas fans here have always interpreted their on-screen relationship as "more than friends" therefore I'm not sure if a confirmation would have elevated the Marinos Shipping plot.
If the guys in Hitchcock's ROPE would have said "and by the way we're totally gay" then we wouldn't talk about that film anymore. Sometimes, the suggestion can be more powerful, imo. It gives the characters and their on-screen interaction a certain je ne sais quoi.

And if gay sex wasn't suitable for American eighties mainstream TV then Angelica and Grace's "officially lesbian" relationship would be just...there, sort of like explaining a joke.
Not that the heterosexual sex scenes were particularly explicit. Only kissing with lips, lingerie underneath a fur coat (ta-daaa!) and that's it.

Not-yet-Fallon Randall giving Miles Colby a massage is probably the hottest thing they've ever shown in 80s American soaps.

 

[Svengali]

don't know if it was sock stuffed but it was so disturbing when he wore jeans that I wasn't able to focus on the acting or the dialogues , I think I have to rewatch every scene , and maybe ones with Peter in speedo maybe I have missed some details about the storyline

 

[Toni]

don't know if it was sock stuffed but it was so disturbing when he wore jeans that I wasn't able to focus on the acting or the dialogues , I think I have to rewatch every scene , and maybe ones with Peter in speedo maybe I have missed some details about the storyline

Now that you say it, I think I´ll rewatch those too!

 

[Toni]

There were A LOT of sex innuendos in their relationship! Mainly, they had breakfast together in their hotel suite, Angie always touching Grace here or there, their emotional reaction in Grace´s death scene and so on. Actually, they should be called "bi" (if that exists) because they slept with men too.

Angie: "Scissors time, Grace darling?"
Grace: "Always"​

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

don't know if it was sock stuffed but it was so disturbing when he wore jeans that I wasn't able to focus on the acting or the dialogues , I think I have to rewatch every scene , and maybe ones with Peter in speedo maybe I have missed some details about the storyline

The aptly-named GUNS OF WILL SONNETT suggest Rambo and his Dack could not yet afford a sock in 1969. Not that I looked, because that would have been weird.

I assume he just didn't find Walter Brennan all that attractive.

Actually, they should be called "bi" (if that exists)

OMG -- it's like you're still stuck in the '70s!