Remembering Gay Trailblazer Michael Greer

Actor Michael Greer was known for his stand-up comedy, especially his famous "Mona Lisa" routine, where he would play the famous subject while holding a frame around himself. Comedy gold.

But he was even more famous for playing two flamboyantly gay characters — Malcolm in The Gay Deceivers (1969) and Queenie in Fortune and Men's Eyes (1971; also in at least 400 stage performances), roles that led him to become one of the silver screen's earliest out gay actors, but that also earned him contempt from some in the gay community for their stereotypical qualities.

Context is everything, and considering when the films came out, it's hard to hold it against Greer that he was camping it up.

Interview with the Director of The Gay Deceivers HERE

In fact, he was proud of The Gay Deceivers because Malcolm didn't meet an happy ending or untimely demise, as most gay characters did back then.

View this post on Instagram

Actor and comic Michael Greer was born April 20, 1938 (some sources state 1943). . Along with his stand-up act, famous for his routine as the "Mona Lisa" (performed while he held a frame around himself) and for supplying comedy gold to entertainers like Debbie Reynolds (1932-2016), he became typecast in films and on TV as a flamboyant queen. . His swish as Malcolm in "‪The Gay Deceivers‬" (1969) and as Queenie in stage adaptations (and the 1971 film version) of "Fortune and Men's Eyes" is seen as stale and stereotypical now, but he was one of the first out gay actors in major films, and he was proud of what he brought to the roles, which were groundbreaking for the era. . Greer died of lung cancer in 2002. . . . #michaelgreer #gay #lgbt #lgbtq #bettedavis #monalisa #standupcomedy #fortuneandmenseyes #theater #gaydeceivers #lgbthistory #movies #tv #celebritybirthdays #gr8erdays

A post shared by Gr8erDays (@gr8erdays) on Apr 20, 2019 at 3:18pm PDT

Today, April 20, on the occasion of what would have been his 81st birthday (he died of lung cancer in 2002), check out this rare interview with Greer from 1973, in which he speaks evasively of his sexuality, but is straightforward (so to speak) about every other topic!