Just recently learned that the late, great James Daly (father of Tyne and Tim), who starred in TZ's memorable "A Stop at Willoughby" was gay, and quite tormented about it, as he believed homosexuality was a mental illness. He even distanced himself from his children in the 1970s, as he didn't want to pass on his "mental illness" to his (adult) children. Very tragic. This is according to his son, "Wings" star Tim Daly.
shareI've always felt this inner torment gave his character in "A Stop at Willoughby" an intensely powerful & moving quality of despair, as well as the longing for the peaceful, untroubled life that he yearns for so urgently & eludes him.
shareGood point. Every actor brings something of themselves to a role, so Bart's pressure to "conform" and be "normal" was probably something Daly could relate to. Curiously, this episode could be made today with Bart married to an insensitive man, and it wouldn't hurt the story one bit.
shareExcellent point!
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I read the same, and although I don't necessarily doubt Daly's homosexuality, the rest of the story (like avoiding his kids lest he infect them) seems sketchy.
Anyway, us older folks remember years ago that those who were gay were usually tormented by it. People today who say it's a lifestyle choice that could be "cured" don't know what they're talking about. Other than the few truly mentally deranged folks who do anything to be contrary, the vast majority of gay people are born that way. Too bad those who were born gay and died years ago often never found peace.
I don't think Daly thought he was going to "infect" his adult kids, for heaven's sake. I believe Tim Daly meant his father thought his general mental illness might be passed along.
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Did you read the article? He believed his homosexuality was the result of mental illness which he feared he would pass on to his kids. "Infect" is a different word that expresses the same thing. Let's not nitpick semantics here.
There is NO evidence Daly thought he would "pass on" his homosexuality to his ADULT children. What I deduced from the article is that Daly was worried the behavior of his mental illness would affect them. Big difference, especially if Daly was genuinely suffering from mental illness, and that would include depression, which it sounds like he was indeed suffering from.
share That's one of my favorite episodes. James Daly, whatever his personal demons were, was quite good at portraying a tormented man. He was also in one of my favorite Star Trek episodes, "Requiem for Methuselah".
The character he portrays , Flint, is also different and tormented by it. He is immortal. He discovered the fact thousands of years ago when, "I was pierced in battle and did not die."
He had to pretend to age and then he would move on before his secret was discovered.
I wonder if the actor was drawn to roles where he had to play someone who felt or was different from those around him. In any case, he was a great actor.
He also was the on-camera spokesman for Camel cigarettes, which he did smoke. I'm sure this contributed greatly to his death from heart failure - at 59!
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