The US comic and actor Rip Taylor had died, aged 84. He died yesterday in Beverley Hills, West Hollywood, according to his publicist, Harlan Boll.
Taylor was a US TV and comedy club regular for more than six decades. Born in Washington DC, he served in the Korean War. It was during his time in the army that he began his stand-up career, playing in clubs abroad.
He got his big break after being invited to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show. One of Taylor’s trademarks was pretending to cry whilst pleading with the audience to laugh, and Sullivan named him the “crying comedian.”
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Countless further appearances followed on TV, including The Jackie Gleason Show, movies such as Wayne’s World 2, and on Jackass in the mid-90s. He toured with Judy Garland in the 1960s and frequently appeared with Debbie Reynolds during her Las Vegas shows.
He was popular as a voice actor, and also occasionally took more serious roles: he played Demi Moore’s boss in the 1993 movie, Indecent Proposal.
Taylor was known for his flamboyant style, large mustache, toupees and showering his audiences with confetti. Like his friend, Liberace, he maintained a silence around his private life. Early in his career, he married a showgirl named Rusty Rowe, but they divorced a short time later.
In later life, many assumed he was gay, even if he never said so. In 2005, Taylor was one of the Grand Marshals of the Washington DC Pride Parade.
However, in 2008, when described as “openly gay” by the author Brent Hartinger, he reacted with annoyance. Hartinger recalls receiving a message from Taylor saying, “You don’t know me to summarize I am openly gay. I don’t know you’re not an open heroin user. You see how that works? Think before you write.”
Reporting his death, Boll says Taylor is survived by his longtime partner, Robert Fortney.
Among those to pay tribute to Taylor was Billy Eichner.
“RIP, Rip,” tweeted Eichner. “I can’t imagine how much bullshit you had to deal with in an industry that decided it was finally cool to be a gay man in comedy, like, a year ago. Nevertheless you ignored all that and delighted people for decades. RIP.”
RIP, Rip. I can’t imagine how much bullshit you had to deal with in an industry that decided it was finally cool to be a gay man in comedy, like, a year ago. Nevertheless you ignored all that and delighted people for decades. RIP. https://t.co/uhtoxnNLGa
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) October 7, 2019
jkb
RIP, Mr. Taylor. Thanks for the laughs
Vince
I vaguely remember him from my youth. Seems like the end of an era.
Cam
The order of the wording in the write up was clever.
“However, in 2008, when described as “openly gay” by the author Brent Hartinger, he reacted with annoyance. Hartinger recalls receiving a message from Taylor saying, “You don’t know me to summarize I am openly gay. I don’t know you’re not an open heroin user. You see how that works? Think before you write.”
Reporting his death, Boll says Taylor is survived by his longtime partner, Robert Fortney.”
Amazing but not surprising that even in 2008 folks like Taylor were still terrified to come out.
Vince
Yeah, it is weird because in 2008 no one cared anymore and it’s not like he had a closet door to knock down. Most assumed he was gay anyways. His coming out would have the same eye roll of say Richard Simmons.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
He was soooo Gay, but hysterically campy but came from a time when celebrities just couldn’t come out….
Thankfully now we have young celebrities like Lil Nas X and Troye Sivan who can be out and be proud at the height of their popularity, rather then when their star has crashed and burned..
RIGay
He was my favorite comedic idol growing up. Loved him!
hayesj
RIP, Rip Hooray! You always made me laugh!
Doug
A lot of older celebrities still had some of their own homophobia to work through. Taylor’s reluctance to come out reminded me a lot of Liberace.
Esscourt
Go on YouTube and look up Rip Taylor/Super Password. He appeared on that show with Patty Duke. The host at that time was Bert Convy. Rip was hysterical! Watch and see!
winemaker
Sorry to hear of Rip Taylor’s passing. Who recalls him on Hollywood Squares? For those who don’t recall or are too young to remember, this was an evening game show in the early 1970’s using the tic tac toe forma and featured celebrities. The original host was Peter Marshall and later was hosted by Tom Bergeron. Wow, such memories.
nofigleaf
My favorite joke of his:
Did you hear about the man with two wooden legs?
They caught fire and he burned to the ground!