Gay fave Kathy Griffin has been keeping busy with part-time gigs on Celebrity Mole and as guest co-host of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show. But now NBC is looking for a serious commitment from the viciously funny redhead. Griffin is making a pilot for the network in the vein of Larry David’s award-winning Curb Your Enthusiasm, in which she’ll play herself and interact with actors portraying people from her real life. I talked to Kathy after one of her Hollywood stand-up performances, where she dished on everyone from Ryan Seacrest to Barbara Walters. Would the avowed fag hag consider putting homos in her pilot? ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘How could I do an episode about [beauty] pageants without my gays?’ The pilot shoots in April, and, if picked up, the series would start in the fall.
I Honestly Love Hugh
Awesome Aussie X-Men star Hugh Jackman is heading to Broadway to portray queer pop star and fellow Australian Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz. Allen (aka the first Mr. Liza Minnelli) was literally ‘a friend of Dorothy’— mama Judy introduced him to daughter Liza at a New York disco, and the pair married in 1967. After the marriage petered out, Allen developed a cabaret act and went on to write such memorable tunes as Olivia Newton-John’s ‘I Honestly Love You’ and to collaborate with Burt Bacharach on the Oscar-winning ‘Arthur’s Theme: The Best That You Can Do.’ He died of AIDS-related causes in 1992. Is Hugh the hunk concerned about portraying a homo? Boy from Oz producer Ben Gannon told an Australian magazine that ‘Hugh is very secure in himself. And roles like this don’t come along often, whether they’re gay or straight.’
Who Let the Doc Out?
Sexy senior Richard Chamberlain, who first set hearts a-flutter as Dr. Kildare in the eponymous ’60s series, has decided to come clean about his homosexuality. Chamberlain is writing a memoir titled Toward Love, which will be published by HarperCollins this spring. In it, the Thorn Birds star will reportedly reveal his struggle to reconcile his sexuality with his public persona. The 67-year-old Chamberlain resides in Hawaii with his manager-slash-lover Martin Rabbett, with whom he’s been happily coupled since 1987. Rabbett served as the executive producer for the 1999 miniseries Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke, in which Chamberlain portrayed the heiress’ gay butler who was suspected of orchestrating her death.
Going to the Chapel … Again
Cable network Bravo has said ‘I do’ to a second season of its groundbreaking documentary series Gay Weddings, which aired last fall. Once again the series will profile four gay and lesbian couples who are planning their own personal wedding ceremonies. I spoke to the show’s co-executive producer Kirk Marcolina as he desperately searched for four new couples who will be tying the knot between March and June. ‘The biggest change this season is that each episode will be one-hour long instead of a half-hour,’ Kirk told me. ‘There will also be a wedding in each show this year, giving the viewers more time to enjoy the big day.’ Bravo will walk Gay Weddings 2 down the aisle in summer 2003. Betrothed gay couples interested in being on the series can e-mail wedding@evolutionusa.com.