February 15, 2002 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

on the airoff the press

'Sesame Street' producers don't like Bert and Ernie spoof

by John Graves

Ernest and Bertram, Peter Spears' documentary spoof that plays on the old rumor that the Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie are gay, drew a protest and a threat of legal action after it was presented at the Sundance film festival last month, according to Rainbow Network.com.

"We are unhappy with the film's content," said a spokesperson for the Children's Television Workshop, which makes the show. "Ernie and Bert are friends who live together. There's nothing sexual in their relationship. We've consulted lawyers and will decide whether to take this matter further."

Children's Television Workshop said the Urban Legends Reference Pages web site had noted that rumors about the sexual orientation of the popular puppet characters have been circulating for years.

Barbara and David P. Mikkelson, who own the urban legend site at www.snopes.com, said that they do not know where the rumor came from. They quote author Kurt Andersen, who said in his 1980 book The Real Thing, "Bert and Ernie con-

in World War II before turning to acting. He starred in the 1953 3-D classic Robot Monster and won a Golden Globe Award as best male newcomer of 1954.

in the classic Kiss of the Spider Woman were noted in "Love Lines," a related article on "history's most romantic lines."

Nader became a contract actor playing 'Like an old married couple'

"beefcake" roles for Universal Studios and costarred with Paulette Goddard, Esther Williams and Maureen O'Hara in such 1950s movies as Sins of Jezebel and The Female Animal.

Nader was among the beneficiaries of Rock Hudson's estate after the actor died in 1985. His longtime partner, Mark Miller, was Hudson's secretary.

His most serious acting role was in the 1956 war drama Away All Boats. Nader turned to television in the late 1950s and early 1960s, then moved to Europe where he starred as an FBI agent in a series of popular films. He retired in 1974 after suffering a detached retina in an auto accident.

He turned to writing and wrote Chrome, a 1978 science fiction novel noted for its groundbreaking depiction of a gay romance. Nader is survived by three cousins, among them soap opera actor Michael Nader.

duct themselves in the same loving, discreet Top gay romances

way that millions of gay men, women and hand puppets do. They do their jobs well and live a splendidly settled life together in an impeccably decorated cabinet.”

Beefcake actor dies

Eighty-year-old actor George Nader, who had been hospitalized with a bacterial infection since September, passed away February 4 at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills after losing a bout with pneumonia.

Nader, born on Oct. 19, 1921 in Los Angeles, was a college English major and served in Hawaii as a Navy communications officer

Entertainment Weekly picked gay films My Beautiful Launderette and The Crying Game for its list of "Top 25 Romances" published in the magazine's Valentine's Day issue.

The steamy, same-sex kiss between Selma Blair and Sarah Michelle Gellar in Cruel Intentions got an honorable mention for "Best First Kiss."

Jennifer Tilly telling costar Gina Gershon, "Isn't it obvious? I'm trying to seduce you..." in the lesbian romance Bound, and Raul Julia telling his gay cellmate William Hurt, "Whenever I go to sleep I'll probably be thinking of you and your crazy movies,"

In its February 18 issue, Entertainment Weekly says Kissing Jessica Stein, an upcoming film about a journalist who answers a personal ad from another woman after dating "every schmo in New York," is likely to receive some flak for its portrayal of sexual identity as a choice.

The film, starring and written by best friends Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergenson, was originally conceived as a theater piece called Seeking Same.

Westfeldt and Juergenson, who both have boyfriends, said they felt comfortable doing the film's graphic same-sex love scenes. "We've had such an intense writing relationship that it's really not a big leap," Juergenson said.

"It didn't strike me as anything weird," Westfeldt added. "By the time we filmed the movie, we were like an old married couple." Kissing Jessica Stein is scheduled to open in

theaters March 15.

The handsomest man

Ivor Novello, a star played by Jeremy Northam in Robert Altman's new film Gosford Park, was gay in real life, says USA Today columnist Jeannie Williams.

The Welsh-born actor and composer, who died in 1951, achieved worldwide fame for his World War I song Keep the Home Fires Burning and became a matinee idol in the 1920s.

Novello's hometown of Cardiff recently decided to erect a statue of the actor, who was once known as "the handsomest man in England."

His whole life is a musical

A new musical based on the life of Boy George has opened at London's Leicester Square. Taboo follows George's rise to fame with his group Culture Club, his struggle with heroin and his embrace of Eastern spirituality.

Don't move, change jobs or go on TV

Chris Beckman, the 23-year-old Brockton, Massachusetts native who is one of two openly gay cast member, of MTV's Real World: Chicago, talked to PlanetOut.com's Christine Champagne about his experiences on the show.

"I was two months sober when I walked into that house," says Beckman, a recovering alcoholic. "Everyone told me back home that it's recommended in the first year of recovery that you don't move and you don't change jobs. I did the opposite. I went on national television."

Beckman says, at first, he only told very openly lesbian cast member Aneesa about his sexual orientation.

An artist by trade, he found himself drawn to Chicago's art scene and remained in Chicago after Real World wrapped up to work for glassblower Dale Chihuly, who Beckman describes as "a living Picasso."

Beckman, who recently had a show of his work in Boston (his paintings are available on his web site, www.chrisbeckman.com), told Champagne he is also exploring other career avenues. He plans to go on a college speaking tour, saying, "I'm really excited about sharing my experiences and hopefully benefit someone who may need to hear what I've gone through."

John Graves is the producer and host of Gaywaves, a lesbian-gay public affairs show on Cleveland's WRUW 91.1 FM Fridays at 7 pm, and at http://radio.cwru.edu. Dave Haskell, Jim McGrattan and Kim Jones also contributed to this column.

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