Poet Walt Whitman was born on this day in 1819. Often described as the father of free verse, his poetry was controversial in its time for its overt sexuality, and he frequently wrote about love between men.
His most acclaimed work is Leaves of Grass, a collection of poems he continually added to and reworked over his lifetime. The first edition was published in 1855 and contained 12 poems. The final edition, released shortly before his death in 1892, included more than 400 poems. Among the best-known poems in the collection are Song of Myself, Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking and I Sing the Body Electric.
Historians have long debated Whitman’s sexuality and whether he acted on the feelings expressed in his writing. Scholars have pointed to contemporary accounts and later writings by others that suggest he may have been homosexual.
Whitman’s vagabond lifestyle later influenced a new generation of Beat poets in the 1950s, including Jack Kerouac, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg. Bram Stoker also cited Whitman as an influence.
Also born on this day
Actor Denholm Elliott was born in 1922. He is best known for roles taken later in his career, including Indiana Jones’ boss Marcus Brody in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He also had a memorable turn in Trading Places, appeared opposite Nicole Kidman in the miniseries Bangkok Hilton, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in A Room with a View.
Elliott studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but was asked to leave after one term for not being good enough. During World War II he served in the Air Force, was shot down and taken prisoner. While a prisoner of war, he became involved in amateur dramatics at a prison camp in Poland.
He made his film debut in 1949 and went on to enjoy a long and varied screen career. Elliott was bisexual. He had a short marriage to actress Virginia McKenna in 1954, but later found happiness in an open marriage with actress Susan Robinson. The couple had two children. Elliott was diagnosed with HIV in 1987 and died in 1992 aged 70.
Actress Sharon Gless is celebrating her 83rd birthday today. She developed a large lesbian fan base during her run in the 1980s television series Cagney and Lacey. Gless made the role of tough policewoman Christine Cagney her own, despite being the third actress to portray the character.
Loretta Swit played Cagney in the original 1981 television movie, and Meg Foster appeared in the first six episodes of the series. Producers later made it clear that Cagney, like Gless herself, was heterosexual, but fans continued to imagine the character was family for many years.
Gless gained a new generation of queer fans when she portrayed Debbie Novotny across five seasons of the series Queer as Folk.
Influential theatre director and filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder was born on this day in 1945. By the time of his death in 1982, Fassbinder had completed forty feature films, two television series, three short films, four video productions and twenty-four plays.
Many of his works explored LGBTI themes, including The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), Fox and His Friends (1975), Satan’s Brew (1976), and Querelle (1982), an adaptation of Jean Genet’s novel Querelle of Brest. Fassbinder died after an overdose of cocaine and barbiturates.
Disco singer Vicki Sue Robinson was born on this day in 1954. She scored her biggest hit in 1976 with the song Turn the Beat Around. The song returned to the charts in the 1990s when it was covered by Gloria Estefan.
During the 1980s Robinson worked extensively as a backing vocalist and sang advertising jingles. She provided backing vocals on Irene Cara’s Fame and voiced the characters Rapture and Minx on the television series Jem. She scored a second Australian hit in 1984 with a dance version of To Sir, with Love. Robinson died in 2000.
Leaving us on this day
In the 1970s Danny La Rue was one of Britain’s highest paid entertainers and became world famous for his female impressions. Dubbed the Grand Dame of Drag, he performed both in and out of drag and described his act as comic in a frock.
In 1982 he played Dolly Levi in the musical Hello, Dolly!. He also became the only man to take over a woman’s role in the West End when he replaced Avis Bunnage in Oh, What a Lovely War!.
La Rue lived for many years with his manager and life partner, Jack Hanson, until Hanson’s death in 1984. The couple were together for 37 years. Towards the end of his life La Rue was treated for prostate cancer and later developed throat cancer. He also suffered several strokes before dying in 2000 at the age of 81.
Jazz composer Billy Strayhorn died on this day in 1967. He worked alongside Duke Ellington for three decades, and his best-known compositions include Take the A Train, Chelsea Bridge, A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing and Lush Life.
Strayhorn was in a long-term relationship with jazz pianist Aaron Bridgers from 1939 to 1947. He was open about his sexuality and was a close friend of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Strayhorn died after battling oesophageal cancer for many years.
This post was first published in 2020 and was subsequently updated.
