Quote:
Was he openly gay in the late 1950s? I would tend to doubt it!


Me, too. See Basil Dearden's VICTIM (1961), starring Dirk Bogarde, for an idea of what it meant to even be suspected of homosexuality in Britain in the early 1960s. The show business community was more understanding and protective of its gay members than was typical of mainstream British society. It was not uncommon for suspected gay people in that time and place to be beaten, persecuted, driven out of business, and even imprisoned. Dearden's film was quite a cause celebre and instrumental in helping to shine a light on these barbaric practices and begin to turn things around.