November 14, 2013
This actress saw doors wide open for her when she first started acting. Everyone loved her. She was getting bigger and bigger parts and when she finally landed her big break the writers and producers loved her and wrote more lines for her and the world was her oyster. She was beautiful and vibrant and fans loved her. She was sexy and funny and a really good actress. Then one day our actress who was almost A list in her part of the television world on a network show was gone. Why? She came out. The producers freaked out. They thought fans would go running away from her and the show and they wanted no part of it. Worse was that our actress talked about it a lot. After she came out she wanted the world to know how she felt and became very active in equality causes. This was too much and her contract wasn't renewed.
No matter, because this other network loved her and scooped her up not knowing that she was a lesbian. Not knowing she had come out to the cast and crew. Not knowing how outspoken she was in her beliefs. That contract which looked so fat and juicy and filled with dollar signs was quickly bought out. Our actress has never worked again. Ever. Reason? Blackballed. It is one thing to be out but quiet another thing to be vocal about it. Oh sure, if you are a huge star you can say what you want and if you are pulling in the ratings there will be lip service but if you are just a cog in the machine you need to make sure you don't do anything to stop that machine. The word was whispered and producers were advised to not hire the actress.
Kristy McNichol
Beliefs? What beliefs? It's been reported and affirmed by her that she stopped working due to a diagnosis on bipolar affective disorder.
ReplyDeleteDidn't everyone who watched Family understand that the character was also likely lesbian? I did.
I don't buy this at all.
She was on Empty Nest till it went off the air in 1995.
ReplyDeletei loved "Family" but i NEVER considered Kristy McNichol 'sexy' in any part she ever played as you claim... she always played a tomboy type just discovering boys/&/or girls which were also very kool roles to my friends & me as therewere too few of 'em..we also just assumed she kinda preferred girls which was also totally kool. Too bad the kids who actually watched her shows(like us) didn't get a say..
ReplyDeleteA shame really but she seems to be happy & well adjusted & she's been w/the same partner for over 20 years.(which is a much better track record than most of those who blackballed her)..
Yeah, the "sexy, beautiful" descriptors wouldn't be associated in most folks' minds with McNichol. Not that she's unattractive, but she was & is firmly in the 'quirky' category as opposed to sex symbol.
ReplyDeleteI think this is absolute crap for several reasons.
Since she had like 20 roles in between Family and her Empty Nest series, including some big film parts, I don't see that she was 'black balled' or whatever
ReplyDeleteKristy was huge until she wasn't. This makes sense.
ReplyDeleteyeah @ etcettera & @ Kno, this BI flies in the face of the actual facts...total B.S. -----Why Enty would make up such a random BI is the real mystery.
ReplyDeleteI thought she was pretty hot in my youth. She did sexy & beautiful very well in Just the Way You Are with two men romancing her there. Maybe I didn't know any better.
ReplyDeleteActually she left the show in 1992 supposedly due to bipolar disorder. She came back for the finale. I can see this being a made-up reason. I'm not sure though which shows were the ones in the blind. She was in all episodes of Family, I think.
ReplyDelete-actually she left E.N. in 1992 after she was diagnosed with Bipolar Disease.She came back for the final episode in 1995 which was her final acting appearance.
ReplyDelete-She quit acting after 24 years.
her name was "Buddy" for chrissake in Family..
ReplyDeleteMaybe the rejection exacerbated her diagnosis. Back in the day this would be a deal breaker for "family values" viewing.
ReplyDelete( this is from her Wiki Page)
ReplyDeleteI think she was written out of Empty Nest, then it looks like she did some voices but then nothing. I actually have no problem believing this.
ReplyDeleteShe was in a whole bunch of movies around 1978-80--I was a young teen then and I remember. Then, suddenly, nothing.
ReplyDeleteWe thought of ourselves as more progressive in those days. Progressive wasn't a dirty word in the 70s because who wanted to be REgressive? Remember Soap? I was an adult at the time.
ReplyDelete"Family Values" came later - I blame Reagan. For literally everything.
All of her bios and all of her interviews repeatedly say she struggled with issues relating to her bipolar disorder and management thereof. She officially came out in 2012, so why stick to the bipolar story if it was a lie? Hey, let's call her!
ReplyDeleteWasn't she in a couple of Golden Girls?
ReplyDeleteIn 2001 she stated:
ReplyDelete"A lot of people have asked what I've been up to.I retired from my career after 24 years.My feeling was that it was time to play my biggest part--myself! I must say that it has been the best thing that has ever happened to me.So many fans are disappointed that I am not currently acting; however,some may not realize that the process that I'm in at this time is necessary and vital for my personal happiness and well-being."
--She did not publicly come out as gay until 2012...
--Make of this as you will....
yes.... and "Starsky & Hutch" and others..
ReplyDeleteI guess she put the "Bi" in bi polar
ReplyDeleteYeah, she was supposed to have drug issues also, most likely because she was self medicating being un diagnosed bi-polar. She's supposed to be an arts teacher at a high school in CA lives with her partner.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the people saying she wasn't sexy and beautiful. I thought she was both.
ReplyDeleteShe was pretty open about her psych problems, too. Just a very open and warm person all around. Sad that the people in charge in Hollywood were so sure the public would automatically freak out because she's a lesbian. I think with her personality she could have sold it. Obviously, there's a percentage of the population who are going to freak out over gayness. I posit that only some of those people are actually church religious - the rest are worshipping in the church of the status quo.
Great tits
ReplyDeleteThis is such a shame. I would guess her psychologic state may have to do with why she doesn't work currently. But she was so talented. An absolutely favorite of mine growing up and I was disappointed when she went off the radar.
ReplyDeleteAnd to know that it was because of this just makes me mad.[
Speaking as someone who has watched the terrible, terrible "Pirate Movie" solely to see Kristy MacNichol in a camisole, I can say she's sexy, or at least was for a long time. See also "Little Darlings."
ReplyDelete+1000 Drugs were cool before Nancy Reagan's "Just say no" campaign. (Hello? Anyone ever see Up In Smoke or Caddyshack?)
ReplyDeleteBurt was invisible.
Let's! And let's see if Jimmy's available, too! I always wanted them to be my friends.
ReplyDeleteAnd I went to see "Little Darlings" just to see her in a bikini (well, her and Tatum O'Neal). I always thought she was gorgeous. Still do actually.
ReplyDeleteShe was in the movie "Foxes" back in the 70's and all the girls in the movie were considered sexy at the time.
ReplyDeleteWe were just talking about Little Darlings the other day - can you believe there was a movie about teen girls competing to lose their virginity, one of them to a much older camp counselor? I was 11 and pretty sure I saw this in the theatre with my mother. Don't think that would fly nowadays.
ReplyDeleteThis is BS. I'm sure she was tired of working for so long. I loved her on Family.
ReplyDelete"Empty Nest" was a spin off of "Golden Girls", so her appearances were cross-pollination moves.
ReplyDeleteyeah, this doesn't sound right to me. She was a child actor, i remember her from way back. Way before Little Darlings. Apple's Way comes to mind, and I think there was a show called The Fitzpatricks. Anyway, if not these, she was in a ton of stuff.
ReplyDeleteBy the time she got to Empty Nest, it seemed like her career was already on a down swing. Just another child star that people lose interest in when they become an adult. That's my take at least.
"Little Darlings" turned out to be the first major Hollywood lesbian romp. Tatum's gone bi, MacNichol and Cynthia Nixon both out. Should google some more of the cast.
ReplyDeleteI remember back years ago one of the tabloids publishing Kristy's sexuality story long before it was a known fact. I also remember them saying she was giving up Hollywood, getting her beautician's license, and opening a salon with her lover.
yeah..that still makes sense....me being a young girl watching her in 'Family' (she was 13 yrs.old-17 yrs.old) --i thought of her more as a kool role model but not in any other way..(my brother probably thought differently hehheh)-i remember thinking that I wish that I was as good an athlete as her..so she was many things to many people depending on who & how old we were...the common denominator i think is the fact that we all liked her &/or at least remember her so she made an impression on us & was memorable.(which is a pretty kool thing in itself ...and rare).
ReplyDeleteReagan got me hooked on Jelly Bellies...i refused all substitutes after having them & they were the most expensive by far...of course.
ReplyDeleteseriously?? omg..never saw it but I mix it up with 'Bad News Bears'..so mb that's why i always think of Kristy as a tomboy..
ReplyDeleteBuddy was a total tomboy. Her sister, Nancy, was the hot one. Coincidentally, Nancy was played by Meredith Baxter Birney. I sense another blind item!
ReplyDeleteyup, i agree... remember "Bridget Loves Bernie" ?
ReplyDeleteKristy McNichol "beautiful" or "sexy"? Naw... Enty's describing someone else.
ReplyDeleteI could see this happening, even in the 90s. Sure, it was a time of starting to live up to the talk of acceptance but many were too scared to allow stars to be vocal. Look.how big of a deal was made when Ellen came out on her sitcom. If every star who came out got that kind of attention, some producers personal beliefs, or phobias, could get in the way.
ReplyDelete(I think.@Epsilon has a point. That was my 1st thought that the bipolar disorder could be exacerbated by this rejection. She may not have wanted to deal with the feelings or memories of trying to express freely (with prompt shutdown) when asked about it all later on, in public forums.
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