The LBGT Web site AfterElton.com decided to delve a little deeper into a statement made by actor David Hyde Pierce in a recent AP interview about his return to Broadway in the musical Curtains.
The article mentions producer/writer Brian Hargrove (Wanda at Large, Titus) as Pierce's partner, but doesn't go into any detail beyond that. AfterElton decided to find out for sure (and they're a site about gay celebrities, so why wouldn't they?) and received confirmation, that yes, David Hyde Pierce is indeed a gay man.
The world responded: "He's gay? Huh. Are you going to finish that muffin?"
Naturally, most of us remember Pierce from his role as Niles Crane on the long-running sitcom Fraiser. Personally, I have fonder memories of his role as Cecil, Sideshow Bob's brother on an episode of The Simpsons (Sideshow Bob is also played by Fraiser star Kelsey Grammer).
As AfterElton points out, this isn't a huge bombshell for two reasons: 1) even those of us with lousy gaydar kind of suspected it all along, and 2) Pierce and Hargrove haven't exactly kept their relationship a secret amongst their actor friends.
Now, some of you may be asking, "who the heck cares if he's gay or not?"
First of all, that's a rhetorical question. Second of all, this is information you can use to help yourself in your everyday life, like getting out of traffic tickets:
Policeman: Do you know why I pulled you over, sir?
Me: Because David Hyde Pierce is gay?
Policeman: What?
Me: I just don't understand why you single out gay people. That's prejudice.
Policeman: Are you gay?
Me: No.
Policeman: Then what the hell are you talk--
Me: So now it matters whether or not I'm gay?
Policeman: You were driving 65 miles per hour through a school yard.
Me: So you're saying you don't want gay people near children? Even if they're ungay?
Policeman: Did you just say "ungay?"
Me: You make me sick. I'm honking out a message to your superior in Morse code right now [I start pounding the horn intermittently].
Policeman: Yeah, I'm just gonna go. I don't feel like dealing with this today.
Me: This was a proud day for everyone, sir.
See? It's easy! Thank you, David Hyde Pierce!
Oh yeah, and thanks to my buddy Wild Bill for the tip.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-31-2007 @ 12:22PM
bgdc said...
Further proof of what a sh!tty actor he is. At least Doogie was believable as a pussy hound in Harold and Kumar.
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5-31-2007 @ 12:23PM
Jim said...
Say it ain't so.
Who's next? Ryan Seacrest?
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5-31-2007 @ 12:24PM
Scruffy said...
Note to self: Just assume any tv actor who goes on broadway and uses 3 names is gay.
Davide Hyde Peirce
Neil Patrick Harris
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5-31-2007 @ 12:28PM
Allison Solow said...
Believable? Have you forgotten that Niles was completely hetero on "Frasier." He was married three times -- lusted after Daphne for years, and bedded Lillith on a ill-conceived one-nighter. Both he and Frasier were straight, even though they had lots of gay attributes.
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5-31-2007 @ 12:40PM
Steve said...
As far as I've been aware, David Hyde Pierce has been out for years. As we approached 2000, I'm certain he made OUT's list of 100 Gay heroes for his work on various public causes.
I'm not saying "Oh, I knew all the time," I think that he's been open about it for at least a decade. Seriously, this sounds like an actor trying for a second bite at the "I'm gay" cover of People magazine.
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5-31-2007 @ 1:00PM
gottacook said...
Responder #3 above is perhaps ignorant of the fact that earlier in his career he was known as David Pierce. I saw him (in the role of the gay pediatrician) in the NY stage production of The Heidi Chronicles, starring Christine Lahti, in 1989-90. He HAD to add his middle name "Hyde" when he became a TV actor a few years later and there was already a "David Pierce" who belonged to AFTRA.
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5-31-2007 @ 1:57PM
MacGuffin said...
I'm shocked--shocked--that he is gay. He seems so heterosexual.
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5-31-2007 @ 2:00PM
Lost_in_finland said...
Few weeks back in interview with Faith Salie in NPR-program "Fair Game with..." DHP used in sentence "...there with my partner..." and I noticed it immediately wondering that it was odd choice of word, so now I got my answer...
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5-31-2007 @ 2:21PM
mike wallace said...
YES - as far as i can remember david hyde pierce did come out YEARS ago..... this is not news at all. i remember seeing it on tv - openly gay actor. this is OLD!!!
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5-31-2007 @ 2:32PM
Kent said...
Maybe that's why he was so convincing as the lead in Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks a few years ago.
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5-31-2007 @ 2:42PM
William Watson said...
Weird coincidence. I saw Spamalot's touring production last night and despite DHP's absence in the cast, he was on my mind.
I actually wondered, just yesterday, if DHP was a confirmed gay man.
Asked and answered!
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5-31-2007 @ 3:21PM
Scruffy said...
To poster number 6: Correction, an actor who goes from tv to broadway that orignally started out with two names, but than had to change to three because there was another person with the same name in AFTRA is gay.
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5-31-2007 @ 4:06PM
Karen said...
It's long been an open secret that he was gay, actually, but he's never felt that he needed to shout it from the rooftops. He made this clear in an interview several years back when, asked point-blank if he was gay, he replied, "My life is an open book; I just don't feel I have to read aloud from it."
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6-11-2007 @ 1:16PM
Stan Lass said...
Hi David-
Just another fan! Irrespective of your sexual orientation, you're still a great actor. If you are looking for another vehicle (sitcom), I wonder (if you will forgive my audacity), you might obtain a copy of "Mr. Peepers," which spawned the late Wally cox and the late Tony Randall. I believe an updated version with you as the lead character would (in your hands) be hilarious.
I look forward to your return to the 'tube.'
Regards,
Stan Lass
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6-22-2007 @ 8:46AM
Sarah said...
I kind of suspected it, and it doesn't matter to me. I still love David Hyde Pierce as an actor. I had a crush on Niles Crane in Frasier, but I'm aware it was only acting. Oh well.
Reply
6-29-2007 @ 10:06PM
Jan L said...
I wish a certain female on Yahoo Answers (who actually goes by 3 different names) could read all of these responses. This delusional female, and all her alter-egos, are under the impression that one of them is married to David Hyde Pierce, and another one thinks she knows him personally, and that he kissed her and wants to be with her.
I respect and admire Mr Pierce's acting, and I don't care if he, or any other actor or person, is gay, bi, or whatever.
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