I recall T.C. Jones playing a crossdressing killer nurse on a 1965 episode of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour." There may have been even earlier trans characters on TV, but I don't recall any.
What was it about trans characters that caused the entertainment industry to put us all on the wrong side of the law? I met a number of trans and especially crossdressing ladies during that earlier timeframe and not a single one of them was doing crimes, much less being "killer nurses". Society really wanted to paint us as the worst of people.
I remember seeing female impersonators on TV back in the 1950s who were there for entertainment. I saw T,C, Jones on Steve Allen (the Tonight Show I think) doing impressions. Stana, you might know the name of a gorgeous pair of blonde female impersonators who were regular performers on The Dinah Shore Show. But all of sudden society decided we were bad guys! The Jewel Box Revue stopped touring and many famous clubs shut down, my beloved 82 Club, for instance. It seems RuPaul has been the person to pull us back out from the nation's closet. Now in shows and films we've become just characters instead of being cast as the bad guys. I've been around for a long time and, well, it's about damned time!
The 1969 British series "Journey to the Unknown" had this episode about a boy taught from a very young age he was a girl. If you want to consider Roberta a trans character it might be the first positive portrayal of a trans character https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=93NuNnBsB38 As for the "why so many criminal trans characters" my guess it was the old time attitude (reflected in obscenity law and the Hayes Code) that as long as you showed a "questionable" character meeting a bad end you would get a lot more latitude in showing usually forbidden behaviors. Of course it also gave LGBT people and other neglected groups strong feelings of self loathing and shame, but who cared what we thought?
Thanks for the link. I watched the "Journey to the Unknown" episode. Did you notice the "in color" message at the start? Hard to imagine these days that back then most of us still had black and white TVs. More than a little predictable, don't you think? And the attitude of men being dominant over women was displayed from the start with him walking into the house like he owned it. Must be those three magic pieces of anatomy. But it follows the code requirements that gays and (strongly suspected) lesbians must die. That was certainly true when I was in high school in the 1950s. One of our teachers told a gay boy he was bad and should kill himself. He gave it a try , but was unsuccessful. Consequences for the teacher? He was asked to resign. Off he went to teach somewhere else in the same school system.
Reed of course played possibly the first trans character on US tv in Medical Centre.
ReplyDeleteReed beat out Lori Shannon on "All In The Family" by a couple of weeks.
DeleteI recall T.C. Jones playing a crossdressing killer nurse on a 1965 episode of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour." There may have been even earlier trans characters on TV, but I don't recall any.
DeleteWhat was it about trans characters that caused the entertainment industry to put us all on the wrong side of the law? I met a number of trans and especially crossdressing ladies during that earlier timeframe and not a single one of them was doing crimes, much less being "killer nurses". Society really wanted to paint us as the worst of people.
DeleteI remember seeing female impersonators on TV back in the 1950s who were there for entertainment. I saw T,C, Jones on Steve Allen (the Tonight Show I think) doing impressions. Stana, you might know the name of a gorgeous pair of blonde female impersonators who were regular performers on The Dinah Shore Show. But all of sudden society decided we were bad guys! The Jewel Box Revue stopped touring and many famous clubs shut down, my beloved 82 Club, for instance. It seems RuPaul has been the person to pull us back out from the nation's closet. Now in shows and films we've become just characters instead of being cast as the bad guys. I've been around for a long time and, well, it's about damned time!
I love the gown! Can I try it on?
ReplyDeleteI wasn't watching much "All in the Family" in 1975 -- look what I missed!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_qsAGaKiCs -- Lori Shannon!
That was an awesome Archie and Edith. Thanks for sharing it with us.
DeleteAngel Amore
The 1969 British series "Journey to the Unknown" had this episode about a boy taught from a very young age he was a girl. If you want to consider Roberta a trans character it might be the first positive portrayal of a trans character
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=93NuNnBsB38
As for the "why so many criminal trans characters" my guess it was the old time attitude (reflected in obscenity law and the Hayes Code) that as long as you showed a "questionable" character meeting a bad end you would get a lot more latitude in showing usually forbidden behaviors. Of course it also gave LGBT people and other neglected groups strong feelings of self loathing and shame, but who cared what we thought?
Thanks for the link. I watched the "Journey to the Unknown" episode. Did you notice the "in color" message at the start? Hard to imagine these days that back then most of us still had black and white TVs. More than a little predictable, don't you think? And the attitude of men being dominant over women was displayed from the start with him walking into the house like he owned it. Must be those three magic pieces of anatomy. But it follows the code requirements that gays and (strongly suspected) lesbians must die. That was certainly true when I was in high school in the 1950s. One of our teachers told a gay boy he was bad and should kill himself. He gave it a try , but was unsuccessful. Consequences for the teacher? He was asked to resign. Off he went to teach somewhere else in the same school system.
ReplyDelete