Mom Thought He Was Straight? Part 4: Truman Capote

capote.jpg Truman Capote
1924-1984

He started out as a precocious young boy who wrote a novel at the age of nine and inspired the precocious Dill character in friend Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. He became a literary wunderkind and witty New York socialite following the publication of Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948), in which one of the main characters is a tranny. By the 70s he was an alcoholic shadow of himself, trolling Studio 54 and eventually dying in friend Joanne Carson’s guest room in 1984 with a stomach full of gin and pills. How did Middle America not know he was a cock smoker?

The Evidence Mom Ignored

  Occupation: writer, social butterfly, professional gossip and talk show regular. 8 out of 10 gay points (we added an extra point for Breakfast at Tiffany’s and another for the Black and White Ball)

Appearance: a big fan of fedoras, sunglasses and scarves in later life but as a young twink liked to cultivate a more impish, preppy look — exemplified in this author photo in which the Los Angeles Times said looked like he was “dreamily contemplating some outrage against conventional morality.” 9/10

Demeanor: made fey hand gestures, had a lady’s voice and nasal delivery-all famously mimicked by Philip Seymour Hoffman. 10/10
TrumanColorCrop.jpg
Beards: never married a woman, but kept company with a host of New York socialites   including Lee Radziwell and Babe Paley. Spent six months of every year in later life living with Joanne Carson (Johnny’s ex-wife) but maintained longtime companionship with writer Jack Dunphy. 6/10

Minstrelsy: In the words of Gore Vidal, he served as “amusing pet” to a bevy of wealthies; and he performed regular minstrel duty (much like Charles Nelson Reilly) on The Tonight Show. 9/10

Total: 42 – Steady Blaze (see scale)
How was his out-ness not so out?  As one of our own mothers puts it, “He was just a real character… gay wasn’t even in the vocabulary.”  For anyone who was looking, he never much hid his sexuality and was rather bent on raw honesty. In 1980, he wrote: “I’m not a saint yet. I’m an alcoholic. I’m a drug addict. I’m homosexual. I’m a genius. Of course, I could be all four of these dubious things and still be a saint.”

Now, a couple clips from the vault… This first one is a tantalizing bit of backstage footage, allegedly after a Rolling Stones show, including Truman talking about taking everyone to “54” and Andy Warhol making faces for the camera (the YouTuber attributes this to a Rolling Stones tour in ’72, however that is clearly wrong as Studio 54 didn’t open until 1977).

And in this clip, we have a reluctant Truman lisping through his best rendition of “You Are My Sunshine” in answer to the question “What’s your favorite country song?” on The Dean Martin Show.

RELATED:
Mom Thought He Was Straight? Part 1: Charles Nelson Reilly
Mom Thought He Was Straight? Part 2: Anthony Perkins
Mom Thought He Was Straight? Part 3: Elton John

Breakfast at Truman’s (NY Mag)
American Masters: Truman Capote (PBS)

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