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Paul Michael Glaser, the 78-year-old actor known for his role on the ’70s detective series Starsky & Hutch, has just admitted what many of us have known for decades: the show has a hearty dose of the homoerotic.
Speaking with Page Six, Glaser, who played detective David Starsky on the series, admitted to the show’s gay overtones.
“I think it’s very real,” he said. “I think it’s important to understand that yeah, there’s homoerotic elements. … I think the reality is David [Soul, Glaser’s co-star who played Hutch] and I are for the most part — if you have to define oneself — as straight. But you have to be able to recognize there’s a part of all of us that is homoerotic.”
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“We see someone of the same sex that’s attractive, we either deny it or acknowledge that it’s there,” Glaser elaborated. “Does that mean we’re going to have a homosexual relationship with that person? Not necessarily, but it becomes much more freeing to be able to acknowledge something that exists, maybe kid about it, play with it a little bit and move on. One thing David and I had and still have is a very deep friendship.”
The comments follow an Instagram post by Glaser this February, which showed he and Soul in a–shall we say–intimate embrace. The two also wear Starsky & Hutch shirts embossed in pride colors–something they didn’t realize at the time. “Everyone needs a Hutch to their Starsky,” he captioned the photo.
“Little did I know that the colorful rainbow of colors that I used were gay pride colors,” Glaser quipped.
Since starring on Starsky & Hutch, Paul Michael Glaser has gone on to a successful directing career, helming films such as The Running Man and The Cutting Edge. He also has continued to act, appearing in films including Something’s Got to Give and on television in Grace and Frankie, Criminal Minds and Ray Donovan.
Glaser has also worked as an AIDS philanthropist, co-founding the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation in 1988. The organization takes its name from Glaser’s late wife, artist Elizabeth Glaser, who contracted HIV via blood transfusion. She died in 1994.
Matthewnow
He and his late wife are inspirational.
danny
Starsky in the men’s steam room scene kept me very cozy as a teen.
Dymension
Ooh, I need to go back and look at that!
AmberLeMay
The shirts read “Husky and Starch.”
ricdardc1
Let’s not forget. HUGGIE BEAR.. The show was so Gay before I knew what gay was. Only tgat I was in love with them. 70’s version of todays Christopher Meloni. & Patrick Wilson. Who I am in Love with.
SPEEDOSWIMMER
Patrick Wilson makes me soooooooooo THIRSTY.
WashDrySpin
I met both of these men…they are handsome…Patrick is so smooth…I wanted to drop to my knees and drain him dry…while getting plowed by Chris…deep and hard
GayEGO
Who knew! :>)
trojanboy
It fed our childhood sensibilities. Of course it was gay 🙂
cuteguy
What an incredible revelation
Fahd
With that Ford Gran Torino muscle car squealing and racing around San Pedro, they were both very hunky — a 70s classic! Hat’s off to Glaser for making so much of his career and for his Aids work.
ladron
Major news headline – not!
The show always teetered between the homosocial to the homosexual as many buddy films tend to do …
You really don’t need the actor’s understanding of the role in order for it to be seen as homoerotic (see Charlton Heston in Ben Hur) but it does add to the atmosphere if the actor is fully aware (see the dvd extras of LOTR, where all the male cast members note the homoeroticism).
amanwithanedge
you don’t admit, you inform.
paulmodibe
NOT MUCH NEW HERE. HOLLYWOOD AND TELEVISION HAVE LONG BAITED AUDIENCES. WOMEN GET MOIST AND MEN GET HARD. BOTH SEXES APPRECIATED IT.
Maleko50
I’ll always remember Starsky appearing in black speedos. I lost it but I was fulfilled completely!
ScottOnEarth
These two were so sexy on that show. They probably still are but I haven’t seen them in a while. Glad to see Paul is so broad-minded and open to reality.
Darson
Homoerotic? Evidently you never watched RIPTIDE on NBC. That show was outrageous!
radiooutmike
I loved Riptide!
radiooutmike
You want to have another treat ready your TV (cable/sate/internet) guide when Starsky & Hutch comes on; or for that matter: Charlie’s Angels and Hart to Hart.
One episode was described like this:
Starsky & Hutch go undercover at beauty salon, to catch an international jewel thief. Huh? People watched this? So much cocaine in 1970s. I watched it too, but I was only 10.
There was a particularly salacious episode where a cop get murdered because he likes the rough trade. That episode had a drag queen on stage and showed the murderer hooking up with the cop.