Date: 5th July 2001

Gay Sex Slur Offends Surviving Oliver


Richard Olivier has spoken out against long running rumours concerning his great father LAURENCE OLIVIER's sexuality.

As Olivier's widow, JOAN PLOWRIGHT, prepares to publish her
memoirs in the autumn (01), Richard, 40, has decided to tell the
truth about his father's feelings.

He says that the stories about Olivier's affair with Hollywood
legend Danny Kaye were untrue, but that Laurence, who died on 11 July 1989, did come close to having a gay relationship.

"I do know which man he came close with. It is no-one that has
been mentioned,"
adds Richard, a theatre director and author. "But I have been sworn to secrecy by my dad's oldest friends because there are still family members who might be upset."

Names that have been mooted include RICHARD BURTON, Douglas Fairbanks, Jnr and NOEL COWARD. The Danny Kaye claims were made in a biography by Donald Spoto, who had angered Richard.

"I was furious because, if it was true, Dad would have told me." It was claimed in a book by a gay author who had already done an expose of Tennesse Williams...it annoyed me because Spoto put the story in and the family was helpless because anything we said would just fuel the publicity."

Spoto also wrote a biography of MARILYN MONROE in which he libelled author Anthony Summers who won a court case against him.
(ACW/WNTEX/PDD)

Source: WENN