63 replies to this topic

[R. Dittmar]

I

[MkB]

Well, gay or not, I don't see what it has to do with his performance and credibility in the role. Bond is all about acting, whether you're straight or gay

[zencat]

I don't think a gay actor (closeted or otherwise) puts women off. There are no shortage of gay movie stars that women love.

Dalton might be gay. Dalton might be straight. Dalton might have a bizarre fish fetish that must be hidden from the world at all costs! I don't know. I don't care. I think he was great Bond, and he seems like a great guy.

[Righty007]

This is a great question. I've never thought about him being gay but I've noticed that he's the only James Bond actor whose love life I've never heard about. He doesn't have kids does he?

MkB and zencat, one can question his sexuality without being negative toward him as a person and/or actor. Timothy Dalton IS James Bond regardless of his sexual preference.

Sean Connery

Diane Cilento (1962–1973) (1 son)
Micheline Roquebrune (1975–Present)

George Lazenby

Christina Gannett (1971-1995)
Pam Shriver (2002-Present) (1 son)

Roger Moore

Doorn van Steyn
Dorothy Squires
Luisa Mattioli (3 children)
Kristina Tholstrup

Timothy Dalton

?

Pierce Brosnan

Cassandra Harris (1980–Her Death) (3 children)
Keely Shaye Smith (2001–Present) (2 children)

Daniel Craig

Fiona Loudon (1992–1994) (1 daughter)
Satsuki Mitchell

[HH007]

I say who cares? His business is his business.

[zencat]

This is a great question. I've never thought about him being gay but I've noticed that he's the only James Bond actor whose love life I've never heard about.

Dalton had a long relationship with Vanessa Redgrave. I remember their relationship was news when he became Bond. Some interesting stuff about it here:

http://www.geocities...ssa/Vanessa.htm

[Royal Dalton]

[quote name='Righty007' post='833036' date='3 February 2008 - 20:28']This is a great question. I've never thought about him being gay but I've noticed that he's the only James Bond actor whose love life I've never heard about. He doesn't have kids does he?

MkB and zencat, one can question his sexuality without being negative toward him as a person and/or actor. Timothy Dalton IS James Bond regardless of his sexual preference.

Sean Connery

Diane Cilento (1962

[DamnCoffee]

I don't think a gay actor (closeted or otherwise) puts women off.

I agree, just look at John Barrowman. He's a heart throb over here in Britain.

[oatesy]

Timothy Dalton is married to Oksana Chernuha and has a son, Alexander

[MkB]

MkB and zencat, one can question his sexuality without being negative toward him as a person and/or actor. Timothy Dalton IS James Bond regardless of his sexual preference.

Maybe but, just to make one point clear: R. Dittmar mentioned that

Several years ago a lady Bond fan (fanatic even) e-mailed me and told me that when she and her girlfriend first watched Dalton in the theater they immediately felt that he was gay and never could warm to him in the role.

So it seems these ladies linked a negative feeling toward T. Dalton as Bond with the fact that they assumed he was gay. My comment was directed to this kind of reaction, not specially to R. Dittmar's question.

[R. Dittmar]

MkB and zencat, one can question his sexuality without being negative toward him as a person and/or actor. Timothy Dalton IS James Bond regardless of his sexual preference.

Maybe but, just to make one point clear: R. Dittmar mentioned that

Several years ago a lady Bond fan (fanatic even) e-mailed me and told me that when she and her girlfriend first watched Dalton in the theater they immediately felt that he was gay and never could warm to him in the role.

So it seems these ladies linked a negative feeling toward T. Dalton as Bond with the fact that they assumed he was gay. My comment was directed to this kind of reaction, not specially to R. Dittmar's question.

If I can use this as a generic excuse to horn in again, I just want to take another opportunity to stress that next to nothing can diminish my admiration for Timothy Dalton or my conviction that his two films are series

[David Schofield]

[quote name='Righty007' post='833036' date='3 February 2008 - 20:28']This is a great question. I've never thought about him being gay but I've noticed that he's the only James Bond actor whose love life I've never heard about. He doesn't have kids does he?

MkB and zencat, one can question his sexuality without being negative toward him as a person and/or actor. Timothy Dalton IS James Bond regardless of his sexual preference.

Sean Connery

Diane Cilento (1962

[broadshoulder]

Now none of this proves whether Dalton was/is gay or not. But perhaps ist helps reassure some CBNers that he can at least sleep with a woman through to, er, completion, as it were.

Why should that reassure CBners? Whats wrong with being gay? If hes a damn good actor, which he is, then it shouldnt matter.

Most of us Tim watchers remember his affair with Vanessa Redgrave in the early eighties. They were in some play where he appears nude. He also mentioned his son Alexander the other day when promoting Hot Fuzz on GMTV. As an intensely private man he never used to speak about his son.

The reason that we dont know about his private life is that he is an intensely private person. Abit of a loner in many ways - one of his hobbies is fishing. But he doesnt play the tabloid game and keeps himself to himself. Hes been in showbusiness since the sixties and the tabloids havent found anything on him.

Of all the Bond actors hes the one I have the most respect for..

[Loomis]

For those who crave/would be reassured by news that Dalton had loadsa laydeez, here's a post I made here on CBn last year:

Well, former CBner Jaelle - who really knew her stuff about Dalton - claimed that (Barbara) Broccoli and Dalton did indeed date. Still, even if this is true (and I don't see why it shouldn't be - two good-looking people with plenty in common, and so on), there's dating and then there's dating. Who knows where it did or didn't lead? And, really, who cares?

As HildebrandRarity points out, Dalton dated a number of beautiful women (including, so they say, Sophie Marceau). He was the Daniel Craig of his day in more ways than one!

So there ya go. Barbara Broccoli and Sophie Marceau - what more do you people want? Not enough? Very well. I also seem to remember his being linked to another very beautiful woman - his FLASH GORDON co-star Ornella Muti, it may have been. No idea how true that was, but, heck, let's add it to the pile. With no offence intended towards R. Dittmar or to anyone else who has posted on this thread, hopefully any Bond fans who were worried about Dalton's sexual orientation will now be able to sleep soundly.

Dalton might have a bizarre fish fetish that must be hidden from the world at all costs!

Indeed. That shot of the winking stone fish in LICENCE TO KILL carries a lot of significance in certain circles. Or so I'm told. *Ahem*

[jaguar007]

As a few posters mentioned, Dalton was involved with Vanessa Redgrave for MANY years. He had a son a few years ago and I believe he is still with the mother (can't remember if they are married or not). I also remember some tabloid stories that came out around the time he was announced as Bond dealing with some short romantic involvment with a few young women.

As far as your friend seeing him in a play and thinking he was gay, it was probably just the way he was playing the part. Timothy Dalton is probalby the only movie star out there that has never had any gay rumors circulating about him (until now).

[MarcAngeDraco]

[quote name='Righty007' post='833036' date='3 February 2008 - 15:28']Timothy Dalton

?

Pierce Brosnan

Cassandra Harris (1980

[MkB]

Also, Cassandra's two children were from a previous relationship and were not Pierce's although it appears that they are very much still part of his life.

For the interest of complete completeness, apart from Cassandra's two children whom Pierce finally adopted, they had a third child together.

Quoting from Wikipedia:

Brosnan married Australian actress Cassandra Harris in 1980 and adopted her two children, Charlotte (birth 27 November 1971) and Christopher (birth October 6, 1972) after their father died in 1986. Brosnan and Harris had one son together, Sean (birth 13 September 1983)

http://en.wikipedia..../Pierce_Brosnan

[Righty007]

I forgot about Sean Brosnan.

[R. Dittmar]

No idea how true that was, but, heck, let's add it to the pile. With no offence intended towards R. Dittmar or to anyone else who has posted on this thread, hopefully any Bond fans who were worried about Dalton's sexual orientation will now be able to sleep soundly.

Loomis,

Not only is no offence taken, but again I truly pray that no one has taken offence from my original post. My ability to sleep soundly is absolutely independent of Dalton

Edited by R. Dittmar, 04 February 2008 - 01:26 AM.

[MarcAngeDraco]

I forgot about Sean Brosnan.

As did I (obviously)...

[Milovy]

Folks, quite aside from the stupidity of speculating on this question...

Dalton has been connected to beautiful women for years, and was in long-term relationships with some (most notably with Vanessa Redgrave for 14 years). He was in a long-term relationship with another woman, with whom he had a son. Although I believe he and his most current girlfriend (the aforementioned Oksana) have broken up (if tabloid talk is to be believed), he's now 62 years old. Well past the age when closeted gay men still feel the need to hide. Especially in this day and age.

Also noteworthy is the fact he had a child, apparently accidentally (by his own admission - it was "Oops but I'm glad it happened,") at age 50. Closeted gay men who are no longer big stars do not tend to keep sleeping with women when they are past their career prime. Closeted gay men at that age usually stop with the "beard" stuff or the closeting, and just quietly live with their boyfriends or keep cruising. They're not shacking up with a girlfriend raising a child, at that age. Which is what Dalton has been apparently doing for the last decade.

In short, we never know what's going on in someone's private life... but all signs seem to indicate that he prefers women, even if he's not the marrying sort.

A closeted gay actor just wouldn't be accidentally getting a woman preggers at age 50, I don't think. It does not compute.

That said, this is a stupid thread.

[puck]

That said, this is a stupid thread.

It is, especially considering ALL of this, including the fact that he's not married -- which one poster here reported wrong (you see how rumors start) -- is easily accessed online with just a cursory search. Plus you wouldn't expect a British actor over 50, known largely for stage work no less, to be in tabloids in the U.S. now.

Good points all Milovy.

[Trident]

Apart from all of the above:

An actor may be secretive about his or her private life for any number of reasons. If anything, being tight-lipped and monosyllabic when family and/or friends and/or personal preferences are concerned, proves a healthy sense of security-awareness in a world where any 'celebrity' (in the broadest sense that could mean when your name has been in the press just once) can at any given time become the target of blackmail, B&E, stalking, abduction and even worse crimes. Not giving away too much just serves to cut the chances of becoming a victim of such and other crimes to a minimum and should be respected and regarded as nothing else but the whish to live a life as close to normality as possible under the given circumstances.

Edited by Trident, 04 February 2008 - 05:31 PM.

[R. Dittmar]

That said, this is a stupid thread.

I don

[MkB]

Maybe it's a bit redundant with my first post in this thread, but I'd like to stress one point: I have no idea and really don't care if your correspondent was mistaken or not as to Dalton's private life.
BUT my point is that she was really mistaken if she thought that an actor's private life (be it Dalton or any other) can impediment his acting skills. Straight men/women can play the role of gay characters, and vice versa. It's not a matter of private life, it's a matter of acting.

Let me close my participation with a last example (working in the other way): I haven't seen the recent and appraised Infamous, but Daniel Craig (classified as very straight by the female audience, it seems) plays a character who shares a gay relationship with Truman Capote. And I've never heard anybody saying that they immediately felt that he was straight and never could warm to him in the role...

[Skudor]

I think he had a relationship with Whoopy Goldberg at some point, and was romantically linked with Barbara Broccoli.

Maybe that means he likes eating carrots for breakfast and prefers taking buses rather than the underground. Who knows. I certainly don't care.

[Hitmonk]

Maybe a few words from the Mother In Law will help to put this one to rest:

http://english.pravd..._Jamesbond.html

There are also claims that he's been linked also with Brooke Shields and Liz Taylor.

[doublenoughtspy]

R. Dittmar,

I'm surprised you would put so much weight into what these two people "thought" about Dalton's sexuality.

Let's see - he had a 17 year relationship with Vanessa Redgrave, married to Ukranian beauty Oksana Grigorieva (26 years his junior - his mother in law is 2 years younger than him even!) 1 son, and has been romantically linked to Whoppi Goldberg, Yvonne Paul, and even Barbara Broccoli.

Now - your point about "some" people thinking Dalton's sexuality might be suspect and therefore not turning out in droves is interesting - but it's the first time I've ever heard it questioned.

Ian Fleming's sexuality seems to be questioned every once in a while here - and he too is a man known to have had multiple attractive female sexual partners and fathered a son with his wife.

Dalton's "private" demeanor has nothing to do with his sexuality. He doesn't crave the limelight, and doesn't understand or want to be a part of the celebrity worship culture. Even after Bond he was still driving a Toyota and going on fishing trips - not exactly the height of Hollywood glamor.

Can I state for a fact that Timothy Dalton, Ian Fleming or any other male Bond personality has had or not had sex with men?

Of course not.

But as big as the Bond phenomenon is - surely at some point someone would have come forward with proof of an encounter or relationship or even innuendo and sold it to the tabloids - or god forbid some incident like the Lee Tamohori arrest
might have happened.

Eon has a vested interest in marketing Bond as the ultimate heterosexual male - had there even been a hint, a milimeter of doubt they would not have hired Dalton.

And in closing, while these two women might have thought Dalton might be gay - I'm reminded of what John Rys-Davies said.

He said it was hard being in a play with Dalton because all the women in the audience were panting during the performance, and practically shouting "F--- me!" when they would mob him at the stage door.

[puck]

R. Dittmar my main isuue was you could have found all this out by yourself by googling. btw the moth=in-law article may or may not be reliable. I wouldn't pay attention to details. It is known he's not married and it's unclear what the satis of that relationship is.

Basically you always know about sexual orientation. There's always some tabloid chatter, you can never keep that stuff quiet.

Even the richest of 'em can't.

(not metioning any names)

[R. Dittmar]

Maybe it's a bit redundant with my first post in this thread, but I'd like to stress one point: I have no idea and really don't care if your correspondent was mistaken or not as to Dalton's private life. BUT my point is that she was really mistaken if she thought that an actor's private life (be it Dalton or any other) can impediment his acting skills. Straight men/women can play the role of gay characters, and vice versa. It's not a matter of private life, it's a matter of acting.

MkB,

I