Eldergays, tell me about Leonard Frey

Was he openly gay? How many of you had him (hopefully in his pre-AIDS days)? Wasn't his oscar nomination for Fiddler on the Roof a little undeserved? Who would be his equivalent today?

Geez, I didn't know he died of the big A.

Wiki says he was "openly gay".

Who is today's "32-year-old pock-marked Jew fairy," OP?

I knew him casually in the months before he died. He and a mutual friend and I went to the Met to see Joan Sutherland's farewell performance (in Puritani). I remember the tears streaming down his face at her curtain call. Shortly after I ran into him at Three Lives Bookstore. He invited me to his nearby apartment just to talk. He seemed very lonely and I vividly recall a photo of Julie Harris (a good friend of his) with Ethel Waters and Carson McCullers. He was a sweet, smart man. I wish I had met him earlier in our lives.

This is Data Lounge, r4! Thanks for this.

From an elderstraight: He was a fine actor. As for the AA nomination, just like hets get nominated if they portray a convincing gay character, ditto for gays portraying a straight person.

Oh wow. When I was about 5 y o my parents took me to NYC theatre district. LF bump into dad. He was very nice. I recall them talking for a while

[quote]Who is today's "32-year-old pock-marked Jew fairy," OP?

James Franco, only the pock marks aren't on his face.

He was SO offing great on the Ted Baxter Broadcasting School episode of MTM. He was the only student.

Liked him in the TV series "Best of the West." LOVED him in "Boys in the Band."

R9, thanks fir reminding me of this episode! It's on YouTube below.

He reprised his Boys in the Band role in The Magic Christian, complete with copious amounts of pot.

"It'll tighten your wig."

His face was not pock-marked. That was a makeup effect in The Boys in the Band as the character of Harold is described thus.

I met him briefly backstage during the Boston tryout of the musical Lolita My Love in which he played Clare Quilty (the Peter Sellers character). He was fantastic in that dreadful show (as was Dorothy Loudon in the Shelley Winters role) and very modestly and sweetly accepted my compliments.

A lovely man and a true loss to the theater world.

Thanks for sharing your memory of him R4.

Did anyone ever meet the other actors from "The Boys in the Band?"

I met Larry Luckinbill a few times.

Best of the West was a hoot. Glad someone else remembers it. Frey was very funny in it as an effete Eastern type villain in the Wild West.

I remember seeing him on the uptown Third Ave bus on my way home from work one evening many years ago. He got off at 88th St and I thought, "He must have never gotten any decent work again if he lives in my neighborhood." Because my neighborhood, which has since been gentrified beyond anyone's wildest imagination, was considered really bad back then.

When I got home, it turned out it was Oscar night and then it made sense. Frey was attending the Oscar night party at Elaine's.

One thing about Elaine's -- it was always low key. She was a fat, nasty, prejudiced bitch who sold horrible food but you never saw paparazzi or blue police barriers or limos at her place. People just took the bus or a cab. In all the years I lived nearby, I never saw a famous person go in or out the door of the place. (And I know what famous authors look like.)

[quote]after I ran into him at Three Lives Bookstore

OMG..I remember that place. I knew the girls who ran it.

[quote]One thing about Elaine's -- it was always low key. She was a fat, nasty, prejudiced bitch who sold horrible food but you never saw paparazzi or blue police barriers or limos at her place. People just took the bus or a cab. In all the years I lived nearby, I never saw a famous person go in or out the door of the place. (And I know what famous authors look like.)

If some famous old bore came in on his own she'd ask if he could join your table.

That's all I remember about Elaine's.

I agree with OP about his oscar nomination which was a total joke. If anyone from that movie deserved a supporting actor nod it was that guy who played the old butcher.

Three Lives is till there, honey. Just run by a different set of girls.

Frey deserved a nomination but for "Boys in the Band" instead. Maybe it was a make-up Oscar nod, even back then.

He was the male celeb when I was on a game show -- but not the week I got on. I hustled the shit out of him as we'd pass in the hall because I was so impressed an Oscar nominee was there (and he'd given one of my all time favorite performances too). Lots of eye contact but nothing else and I guess a good thing in retrospect.

Cool to see a thread devoted to him here.

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