Talk:Larry Grayson

Adoptive parents' surname

All the biographies and webpages on the 'net that mention his adoptive parents give their surname as "Hammond" but I've just seen a clip of Larry looking through his old school register and he points to his name on the list and it says "Hammonds" and he clearly says his adoptive parents surname was "Hammonds"

Now I've had a debate on here before about whether Youtube is a reliable source and was told that it isn't but surely clear footage that shows Larry Grayson pointing to his old register and categorically stating that his adoptive parents' surname was "Hammonds" is a more reliable source than, say, an obit in a newspaper.

Here's a link to the footage I'm talking about - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBZYoFVJmOw#t=2m51s

I've made the correct edit on the main page and would ask people to use their common sense and let it be.

Tip

Every sentence of the last two paragraphs needs citation in my view. Sorry.

CO. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.81.33.111 (talk) 22:12, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

Was he actually gay?

This article was in a number of LGBT-related categories, but having read through the article and the sources, I don't see it claimed anywhere that Larry Grayson was actually gay. (His act had a stereotypically gay persona, but that's not the same thing.) This h2g2 article[1] states that he never had any open relationships with men or women, and never discussed his sexuality, wishing to keep his private life private. On that grounds, I've removed the LGBT categories, as there really aren't grounds for assuming anything about his private life. (I'll leave the LGBT WikiProject notice though, as this article may be of interest to them in any case.) Robofish (talk) 17:36, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

- This is an interesting point. What brought me here was reading a quote from him (which I have heard quoted in documentaries) where he said that he was not gay, he only *acted* gay. I would be tempted to see this as a sad indictment of the 1970s when coming out might have been dangerous. Yet he is much beloved by later gay comics such as Julian Clary, Graham Norton and Alan Carr and I think that it would be interesting from a historical point of view to have a section on sexuality, including both this information and also what is written above. However, I can see people objecting on the basis that they don't think that his sexuality is relevant to his career. Me, I think a sensible section could be added to it which doesn't cause objections. DewiMR (talk) 19:15, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

He was certainly perceived as gay, and audiences took him positively; and, when one was casting about for positive images in the early 70s, his easy manner of louche bonhomie and sly bitchiness may have struck just the right note with a slightly-out, socially inoffensive and very English gay audience, who may have recognised themselves in that projection of his.

Nuttyskin (talk) 05:39, 6 November 2018 (UTC)

Adoptive relationships

"… Flo (his adoptive mother, who also happened to be his adoptive older sister) …"

Flo was certainly his older sister by adoption. His adoptive mother was Alice, as per the Biography section. The statement that Grayson "always considered Flo as his mother" is currently flagged with a {{Citation needed}} tag, but even if such a citation is forthcoming it doesn't alter the fact that Flo didn't actually adopt Larry. Vilĉjo (talk) 23:56, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

Controversy

Why is there no mention of the fact that Grayson was hated by gay people for creating a homophobic stereotype? (JakeMcPherson (talk) 19:01, 24 September 2014 (UTC))

That's putting it very strongly. He was criticized by some gay activists for playing to a limp-wristed gay stereotype in a manner analogous to minstrelsy, but he also had many gay fans, both in his heyday and subsequently. In any case, we would need WP:RS to explore this in the article. --Ef80 (talk) 10:28, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

Probably being pedantic here but 'creating a homophobic stereotype' would read incorrectly about him to me, as it implies he portrayed homophobic people. (I have not from what I saw of him on TV heard 'queer bashing' comments or jokes made by him.) A 'stereotype for the homophobic' might be nearer the correct form.Cloptonson (talk) 08:35, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

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