It was such a big deal. The cover of People magazine was ‘Rock Hudson Has AIDS.’ There was an AIDS frenzy going on. You didn’t even understand how you got it. If you had a gay waiter, you wondered if he washed his hands. There was a lot of misinformation and hysteria. But I said to Lorne, “I am openly gay and I‘m not going to go in the closet or give interviews about my fiancé who died and I never got over it or ‘I don’t have time to find the right person.’ ” I’d been to so many funerals and I wasn’t going to join in the shame by hiding in the closet. It would have been a disservice to my friends who had died, my friends who were sick. If you were gay, you were always going to memorials or to visit people in hospitals. Straight people were able to go merrily along their way, but this disease was picking off talented gay people one by one. I thought, ‘I’m not gonna do that. I don’t care if this is my big break. At the end of my life, I want to live with myself.’ I didn’t sign the morals clause in my contract. I just said no. I have to give Lorne [Michaels] and [NBC exec] Brandon Tartikoff credit for going along with that.”
— Terry Sweeney, who cracked up audiences during his stint on Saturday Night Live, most notably for his hilariously spot-on take on former First Lady Nancy Reagan (see proof below), discussing his career and new book, Irritable Bowels and The People Who Give You Them in an interview with Michael Musto
QJ201
He broke ground, then they put him on the sidelines and eventually fired him.
Joseph Shenk
He was great! Got Nancy Reagan SPOT ON! 🙂
Cam
And one of the only ones that Lorne never helped with a movie, and he fired him right away, what a shock.
Ummmm Yeah
Blocked in America by uploader which is Saturday Night Live?????
jason smeds
I think the straights who run SNL tend to look at most gay men as a useful bit of amusement to be discarded when no longer required.
Glücklich
@Ummmm Yeah:
I know. Really dumb. Nancy herself probably had it blocked. God, can you believe she’s still alive?
https://screen.yahoo.com/donahue-raisa-gorbachev-nancy-reagan-000000470.html
Jeffrey Rodriguez
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B Ransom Ivey
Mat Musslewhite in drag?
AtticusBennett
he was one of the few bright spots of that season. THANK YOU MR. SWEENEY!
Guy068
I have no memory of him at all. Still, an accomplishment to be proud of and an attitude worth emulating!
Cam
It’s tough to find any of his moments from SNL.
Here are two….
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/nancy-in-one/n9414
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/forreagan/2859777
Kieran
He boldly came OUT………and was never heard from again……. until now……..on Queerty.
ScottOnEarth
Can I just say how much I LOVE Terry Sweeney? Not only did he have my mom and me in hysterics in every sketch he did in SNL, but I loved watching an openly and obviously gay man be himself on a national TV show. The fact that he took the road NOT traveled by refusing to cower in the closet (hello countless actors and Anderson Cooper) and insisting on being himself during an exceptionally gay-unfriendly time in this country. Funny, adorable and a man of integrity. Thank you, Terry! And I’m sure even Nancy Reagan had to crack up at his brilliant impression of her.
mozzer
I’ll always remember that skit where Madonna is dressed like Joan Collins,
And yells at him “Hey wait a minute…YOU’RE GAY!” Me & my brother(who’s gay too)
still lovingly tease each other and our friends with that. Thanks for such a memorable skit!