Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, known as Michelangelo, was BOTD in 1475 & died in 1564 at 88 in an era when life expectancy was age 40. The ambiguously gay Italian sculptor, painter, architect, & poet of the High Renaissance was born in the v. gay Republic of Florence
HBD USA rapper, singer, songwriter, producer, fashion designer & actor Tyler the Creator, BOTD in 1991, turning 35 today. He's never explicitly labeled his sexuality publicly but has since 2015 often referenced attraction to men & experiences w/ women in his lyrics & interviews
Dean Stockwell, one of the greatest Hollywood child stars ever, was BOTD in 1936 & died in 2021 at 85. He transitioned successfully to adult roles. He's at his most handsome & compelling in Richard Fleischer's "Compulsion" (1959) & most cray in David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" (1986)
Saint Pasolini was BOTD in 1922 & died in 1975 at 53. The genius poet, philosopher, film director, writer & intellectual is one of the great martyrs of the 20th century whose death, a probable political assassination disguised as a fatal run in with rough trade, remains unsolved
Saint Pasolini was BOTD in 1922 & died in 1975 at 53. The genius queer poet, philosopher, film director, writer & intellectual is one of the great martyrs of the 20th century. My movie "The Visitor" (2025) is my re-imagining of Pasolini's "Teorema" (1968)
a-political.org/projects/the...
Rosa Luxemburg, a Polish Jewish naturalised-German revolutionary socialist, Marxist philosopher and anti-war activist, was BOTD in 1871 & assassinated in 1919 at 47. Get your Celebrity Mugshot Series BLAB Merch - including Rosa Luxemburg - at @threadless.bsky.social www.brucelabruce.threadless.com
Rosa Luxemburg, a Polish Jewish naturalised-German revolutionary socialist, Marxist philosopher and anti-war activist, was BOTD in 1871 & assassinated in 1919 at 47. Get your Celebrity Mugshot Series BLAB Merch - including Rosa Luxemburg - at @threadless.bsky.social www.brucelabruce.threadless.com
Jean Harlow was BOTD in 1911 & died in 1937 at 26, an unfortunate member of the "26 Club." (Sharon Tate, Otis Redding, Supermodel Gia, Jon-Erik Hexum...) Harlow was plagued by life-long health issues but acute alcoholism contributed 2 her premature death from acute kidney failure
Genius vocalist Karen Carpenter was BOTD in 1950 & died tragically young of complications from anorexia nervosa in 1983 at 32. To maintain her weight, Karen reportedly took extreme measures, including up to 90 laxatives a day and thyroid medications to speed up her metabolism
Drella's The Velvet Underground & Nico's bisexual crooner Lou Reed was BOTD in 1942 & died in 2013 at 71. As a teen Reed displayed “homosexual feelings,” alarming his parents, who forced him 2 undergo electroconvulsive therapy. He vividly described it in the song “Kill Your Sons”
Jennifer Jones was BOTD in 1919 & died in 2009 at 90. From her Oscar-winning debut in Henry King's "The Song of Bernadette" (1943) to playing Astrid Steele in Robert Thom's AIP camp cult classic "Angel, Angel, Down We Go" (1969) aka "Cult of the Damned," she gave it her all!
The great Joan Hackett was BOTD in 1934 & died in 1983 at 49. A pipe smoker, she died of lung cancer. She was married 2 actor Richard Mulligan from 1966 to 1973 whom she met on the set of Lumet's "The Group" (1966) & whose poster I referenced for my poster of "The Misandrists" (2017)
Raymond St. Jacques, African-American actor, director & producer whose career spanned 30 yrs + on stage, film & TV, was BOTD in 1930 & died of AIDS-related lymphoma in 1990 at 60. His non-legally adopted son, model Sterling St. Jacques, who was also his lover, also died of AIDS
Superlesbian Mercedes de Acosta, poet & novelist, was BOTD in 1892 & died in 1968 at 76. Her unclosetedness was rare & daring for her time. Although she didn't achieve artistic & professional distinction, she's known for her many lesbian affairs w/ the likes of Garbo & Dietrich
Supergay Lytton Strachey was BOTD in 1880 & died in 1932 at 51. He became infamous 4 his book "Eminent Victorians," a sequence of 4 biographica essays whose subjects, although “targets” might be more accurate, were Flo Nightingale, General Gordon, Thomas Arnold & Cardinal Manning
Frédéric Chopin, the possibly gay Polish composer & virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for solo piano, was BOTD in 1810 & died in 1849 at 39. His letters reveal he was pretty gay, or gay-adjacent, w/ an interest in cottaging (cruising public toilets)
Musician/guitarist Brian Jones was BOTD in 1942 & died in 1969 at 27. His death was the first of the 60s rock phenomenon of music artists dying at 27 (The 27 Club), followed within 2 years by the drug-related deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Alan Wilson & Janis Joplin
Leonard Bernstein was BOTD in 1918 & died in 1990 at 72. He composed the music for "West Side Story" while 3 fellow gay or bi Jews also collaborated on the Broadway musical & film, Stephen Sondheim & Arthur Laurents, lyrics & book, and Jerome Robbins, co-director & choreographer
Vincente Minnelli was BOTD in 1903 & died in 1986 at 83. Though he was married 4x to women (including Judy Garland), many close 2 him believed he was gay or bi. Biographer Emanuel Levy revealed that Minnelli lived as an openly gay man in NY art circles before moving to Hollywood
The 21st-Century Talkies: Talkhouse Film Contributors Share Their Top 10 Movies of the Millennium So Far
A selection of poll ballots from filmmakers, including Goran Stolevski, Laura Moss & Bruce LaBruce choosing their 21st century favorites @talkhouse.bsky.social
www.talkhouse.com/the-21st-cen...
Elizabeth Taylor was BOTD in 1932 & died in 2011 at 79. She's fab in "Boom!" (1968), Losey's cinematic adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore". I wrote about her for the @BFI Blu-ray release of Patroni Griffi's "The Driver's Seat" (1974)
HBD Joanne Woodward, BOTD in 1930, turning 96 today. Two of her best performances were directed by her husband Paul Newman in "Rachel Rachel" (1968) & "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" (1972). She's also great in Cates' "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" (1973)
Gorgeous Joan Bennett was BOTD in 1910 & died in 1990 at 80. On Dec 13, 1951, Bennett's husband, producer Walter Wanger, found her agent, Jennings Lang, w/ Bennett at the MCA agency parking lot & shot him in the groin & thigh. Wanger suspected Bennett was having an affair w/ Lang
"Trash! The Wildest Films You've Ever Seen? at the British Film Institute (BFI) including films by John Waters (Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos), Jack Smith (Normal Love), Paul Morrissey (Trash), Curt McDowell (Thundercrack!), and Bruce LaBruce (Super 8½)
www.bfi.org.uk/news/trash-w...
My @talkhouse.bsky.social fave theatrical releases of the millennium so far:
1. Inland Empire
2. Pulse
3. Under the Skin
4. Visitor Q
5. Tropical Malady
6. I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians
7. The Skin I Live In
8. Fat Girl
9. It Was Just An Accident
Due to popular underground demand, my publisher has released a second limited edition of "The Revolution Is My Boyfriend," now available! At 250 pages, it's truly a big thick handsome coffee table book chocked full of all things Bruce!
www.baronbooks.co.uk/product-page...
A second limited edition of my “Death Book” from Baron Books is still available, but you better hurry! Definitely a collector's item! Order here:
www.baronbooks.co.uk/product-page...
My movie "Super 8 1/2" coming to the BFI "Trash" series!
www.bfi.org.uk/news/trash-w...
Lesbian thespian Marjorie Main, one of the great Hollywood character actresses, known for her "Ma Kettle" roles, was BOTD in 1890 & died in 1975 at 85. Ms. Main, a staunch Republican, had a long term romantic relationship with Hollywood character actress Spring Byington
