RIP: Earl Holliman

Here is all I knew about character actor Earl Holliman. He played Angie Dickinson’s boss in the 1970’s series “Police Woman.” In 1977 he played an earnest, and gay, social worker in “Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn.” That is the B-side to Eve Plumb’s “Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway.” Yes. Eve Plumb from “The Brady Bunch.”

Alexander is a melodramatic bisexual lad, turning tricks. Holliman’s character tries to help him from shaking that ass. If the writers asked me Alexander and Ray, Holliman’s character, would have ended up in a marital bed. Unfortunately the writers didn’t reach out. The movie’s loss.

This was the depth of my information about Holliman. He dies this week and the obituary is packed with details. He’s survived by a husband, Craig Curtis. The 96-year-old was raised in Louisiana. At 15, during World War II, he enlisted in the Navy. Authorities kicked him out when his real age was discovered. However, he was committed to the seas because he re-enlisted after finishing high school. Like all working actors, he jumped from small and big screens, stage, and even had a stint as a singer. According to Variety, Holliman “recorded several songs under contract for Capitol Records.” The Advocate notes “he won a Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actor for ‘The Rainmaker,’ playing [Katherine] Hepburn’s amorous younger brother — a role for which he beat out Elvis Presley.”

All of this while keeping the sodomy part private (relatively). Which makes the choice to play a gay character, in the 1970s, a bold move. Was he throwing folk off the scent or did he want to make sure at least one gay male in that production was three-dimensional? Or was it just a gig?

Don’t have the answers but a raised glass to his memory.