Gordon Thomson has been acting for a long time but is well-known for one soap opera. He once held a very saucy title and was once married. A few years ago, he made a shocking announcement that was well-received by fans. He spoke about his looks, an ailment he has, and more.
Gordon Thomson has lived an interesting and full life, filled with work, a public status he didn’t ask for, marriage, illness, and more. The following article looks at how having good looks affected the star who eventually came out as gay.
Gordon Thomson has worked in television, theater, and movies throughout his longstanding career. He is a Canadian who was born on March 2, 1945. The actor is well-known for starring as Adam Carrington in the 1980s series “Dynasty.”
He’s also featured in soap operas like “The Young and the Restless” and “Santa Barbara.” In 1971, he became the first male host of Polka Dot Door, a Canadian children’s show. Becoming a star was overnight for Thomson, who spent years training and doing theater work.
Some of the Shakespearean stages he’s graced include the Stratford Festival in Canada and productions by Orton, Turgenev, Coward, and Ibsen. He started his career on the stage in Toronto in productions of “The Hollywood Blues” at Old Angelo’s Theatre and “The Fantasticks” at The Colonnade Theatre.
Thomson appeared in “DeVanity” in 2013 and 2014, playing Preston Regis, a jewelry magnate. In 2006, he starred in two films, “Poseidon” and “Little Miss Sunshine,” and in “The Experience” in 2019. “Dynasty” won him a Soap Opera Digest Award nomination in 1986 for Outstanding Villain on a Prime Time Serial.
In 1988, he received another nomination for the same show and award for Outstanding Villain: Prime Time. That same year, the show got him nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries, or Motion Picture Made for Television.
The following year, he was nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role: Prime Time for the Soap Opera Digest Awards. In 1999, “Santa Barbara” got him a Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Super Couple: Daytime.
Fast-forward to 2014 and 2015, Thomson’s “DeVanity” received two Indie Series Award nominations for Best Guest Star – Drama and Best Supporting Actor – Drama. “Winterthorne,” which premiered in August 2015, got him an Indie Series Award for Best Supporting Actor – Drama.
In the past, the actor has shared what he thinks about his status as a sex symbol. The status wasn’t far off, as the star has also worked as a model in the past.
Gordon’s Take on Being a Sex Symbol and His past as a Model
On April 5, 2024, Thomson partook in a lengthy interview with Harvey Brownstone. The host noted how the actor is blessed with the “good looks of an extremely handsome leading man,” and that he was a sex symbol for years, especially while on “Dynasty.”
Brownstone asked him if there was a time in his career when he was typecast because of his looks. Without thinking about it, the star replied, “Oh yes, without question,” and revealed that it doesn’t help. He shared how such typecasting is the reason why many daytime dramas end.
Thomson noted how it isn’t only the actors who lost their jobs because of the stereotype but also the crew, writers, producers, and more. While laughing, he stated that daytime actors “by law have to be good-looking.”
In one interview, the actor revealed that when he was in his twenties, he appeared in “Godspell.” For six months, he earned $234 weekly, and because the money was little, he supplemented it by getting into catalog modeling.
He shared how the work wasn’t “glamorous” but served its role by helping him pay the bills instead of having to wait tables. Thomson revealed that to stay as a model, he had to be in good shape, and when he starred in “Ryan’s Hope,” his waist was 29 inches.
While starring in “Dynasty,” his waist remained at a perfect 32 inches. During a February 2024 interview, the 78-year-old star was asked if his good looks helped his career or tarnished it. Surprisingly, he said they didn’t help that much!
Gordon Thomson posing for “Dynasty” in 1983 | Source: Getty Images
His good looks put some people off as they thought that was all he had to offer and that he wasn’t a good actor. Sadly, a British gay director “took an appalling shine” to him when he lived with “a fabulous woman.” Having to accept advances from people like him became a condition of his employment.
Thomson refused the director’s advances, telling him that he wanted to keep his dignity. According to IMDb, the actor was once married for a long time.
The Actor’s Only Marriage and the Actress Who Wanted Him
According to actress Maureen Fitzgerald’s IMDb account, she was previously married to Thomson from 1967 until they divorced in 1982. She’s famous for starring in 1981’s “Heartaches” and 1982’s “Love.”
Thomson confirmed the marriage, saying in Toronto he had a common-law wife with whom he had a “legitimate” and “genuine relationship” that lasted for 15 years. Joking, he said she is why he doesn’t have money these days.
He noted how they’d loved each other but didn’t sign anything to solidify their relationship. After they divorced, he supported her “very handsomely,” adding, “But that wasn’t deductible, so it was all net dollars.”
He once confessed that the best relationship he ever had was with Fitzgerald when he was 21. The star recalled how she had the most generous spirit and they were wonderful as a couple and stayed friends until her demise.
In his interview, Brownstone said he got the impression that his “Dynasty” co-star, Joan Collins, had a crush on him, especially during the last seasons of the show. Thomson laughed and confessed that he shouldn’t say it, but towards the end of the last season, Collins approached him.
He recalled how she confessed to having “feelings” for him that were “far from maternal.” His response to her hitting on him was to laugh! The actor found it complimentary to have Collins crushing on him because she was and is “stunningly beautiful” and still looks “[expletive] good.”
Gordon Thomson and Joan Collins on an episode of “Dynasty” in an undated image | Source: Getty Images
The celebrity was touched to be lumped in with “astonishing men” like Warren Beatty that wanted to marry the actress. But he wasn’t going to come out as gay to Collins at that point as it was when AIDS was doing the rounds. He knew coming out wasn’t a smart move.
Only a few people linked to “Dynasty” knew his true sexuality because tabloids ruled the news back then. Sadly, someone he was seeing long before “Dynasty” actually blackmailed Thomson over his true sexuality. All it took to end his career back then was for someone to leak the news to a tabloid. He did come out eventually.
Gordon’s Coming Out Story
Brownstone noted how Thomson was actually outed by an “unscrupulous [Daily Beast] interviewer,” but wanted to know if the actor would have come out on his own eventually. The star admitted that he’s asked himself that same question, and the truth was he didn’t know.
The celebrity hoped he would’ve had the guts and wished he knew what he would’ve done. But since coming out, Tosca Musk, Elon’s sister, has a company that produces love stories and has shown interest in his availability, yet they didn’t pursue him.
Thomson thought that was an example of how homophobia affected hiring, but he clarified that he wanted to continue working. He also revealed that the interviewer who outed him asked him out on a date after the interview.
The actor officially came out in the September 2017 “Daily Beast” interview with Tim Teeman. It was a big deal for Thomson as he knew that if he’d come out long before it would’ve been “professional suicide” for him.
On “Dynasty,” the character of Steven Carrington, played by Al Corley and later Jack Coleman, was gay one minute and straight the next for nine years. When asked what he thought about the character, Thomson said he didn’t approve of it, using colorful words.
The star, who once played Steven’s homophobic brother, Adam Carrington, explained that the character pivoted so much because the AIDS crisis at the time put pressure on the network. Corley even resigned because he felt he wasn’t allowed to play the character honestly.
The younger actor said when he played Steven and met his boyfriend, they were only allowed to shake hands. Thomson felt having “gay marriage” today makes a huge difference. But, he felt “Dynasty” opened a can of worms and couldn’t be true to the character’s role and that was a “big shame.”
When asked if he ever wanted to tell the series producers and writers that being gay isn’t how they portrayed Steven, Thomson said no because he wasn’t out at the time. He even noted that people like Rock Hudson only came out when he got sick with AIDS, and that’s because he was living in a different time.
Hudson, who starred in “Dynasty,” died from complications due to AIDS. His kiss with Linda Evans’ character, Krystle Carrington, became notorious due to the 1980s AIDS panic. On coming out, Thomson said Richard Chamberlain had the right attitude to it.
He felt there was no need to come out if one looked like a leading man. Half the audience was women, and most of them were straight, and they were who he was playing to. He believed he was “a source fantasy” for the female viewers.
The actor thought openly gay celebrities like Derek Jacobi and Ian McKellen were wonderful as people. But he didn’t think viewers imagined sleeping with either of them. Speaking of his sexuality, Thomson said it wasn’t something he announced.
He assumes people know, but at his older age, he’s fine with it. Yet, he doesn’t go out of his way to flaunt it, and he thinks that’s just a generational thing. The actor figures he is as “homophobic as any gay man alive because of my background.”
Growing up, being homosexual was a crime before being classified as a mental illness. When he was 23 or 24, Canada’s prime minister had it stop being a crime, but only when he was almost 30 did it stop being classified as a mental illness in the US.
Gordon Thomson at the Los Angeles premiere of “Love, Gilda” on September 13, 2018, in Hollywood, California | Source: Getty Images
Besides all the laws against it, there was also shame that came and still comes with being gay. The celebrity also suffered from a lack of self-esteem, and these feelings are only now starting to leave him. He agreed that it was an “awfully long time” for him to feel bad about himself.
Thomson revealed that it took until he was 12 or 13 for him to develop “any sexual sense.” In his older years, his elder brother told him he wondered “What is this stuff” when he had his first wet dream because nobody ever explained it.
The star hopes parenting has gotten better since. He’s had a partner before, but his lack of self-esteem meant the relationship couldn’t flourish. When asked if he was exposed to other gay people in Hollywood, the actor shared that there weren’t that many in the beginning.
But, when he started working on “Santa Barbara,” things got “much looser,” yet, he couldn’t have gone to the gym today because there is no privacy. At one point, he and Coleman went bar hopping on Sunset Boulevard.
The irony about the two stars was how Thomson is gay but was playing a homophobe, while Coleman acted as a man who longed to be in love with another man. John Forsythe, who played Blake Carrington, set the professional tone on “Dynasty.”
Thomson recalled how the cast didn’t socialize much and he was shy because of his sexuality, which they didn’t know about. Social media users who read about the celebrity coming out had positive reactions.
How Did People React to Gordon Coming Out as Gay?
At the time that Thomson came out, Attitude Magazine covered the story and posted an X link to it. People who replied to the post were quite supportive of the actor. One person wrote, “Better late than never.” Someone else said, “We all knew that he was gay.”
Reading a different X post about the same news, a netizen supported the star by saying, “Bravo, Gordon. I hope you feel free.” After “Dynasty” ended, the actor started building a social life for himself.
Gordon’s Outlook on Socializing and Dating
When “Dynasty” concluded and Thomson started working on “Santa Barbara,” he began having a social life. That’s when he got involved with his long-term partner. Now he has good friends who support him and being gay isn’t an issue.
When asked if he’d like to have a partner, the celebrity said “no.” Four or five years ago, before the 2017 interview, he met an attractive man at a birthday party, and the stranger’s first words to the actor were, “You look absolutely wonderful.”
It was the best pickup line he’d ever heard, and he thanked the kind man. The pair were meant to have lunch a week later, but Thomson got lost going to their meeting spot because he has no sense of direction and no car GPS.
When he discovered a phone in a store, he realized he didn’t have his date’s contact information. He eventually found the restaurant and apologized for being ten minutes late. Then he realized that he didn’t want them to have another date.
The star emailed the man and told him the reason he struggled to find him on their date was because he wasn’t ready to date and probably will never be. Thomson said he’s turned into a recluse and prefers it that way.
Gordon Thomson at the “Wrap Party for Nineth Season of Dynasty” on December 15, 1988, in Hollywood, California | Source: Getty Images
One of the reasons for his stance is that he enjoys his own company. He had a dog in 2017 but said if it dies, he isn’t getting any more pets. The actor explained that he isn’t unkind but doesn’t have the energy to take his clothes off in front of someone.
Even doing it for his doctor is something he’ll do if it’s an absolute must. When asked in 2024 if he’s ever had true love, Thomson said he doesn’t think so. His lack of self-esteem made him put up with the wrong things because he didn’t believe he was worth it.
The shift in his outlook happened around 13 years ago when it finally clicked that the man he was dating was selfish and “not worth what I’d invested in him.” In his interview with Brownstone, the star touched on his feelings about “Dynasty’s” reboot.
What Is Gordon’s Thoughts on the “Dynasty” Reboot?
Thomson was asked what he thought about “Dynasty’s” 2017 reboot, and his answer was “crap!” He confessed that he hadn’t seen much of it but felt he saw enough. When The New York Times wrote about the reboot, it quoted the actor calling it “an abomination.”
The star said he didn’t know what they were thinking when doing the reboot and thought the producer, Aaron Spelling, would be rolling in his grave. Thomson felt the show didn’t meet production standards and the writing, casting, and acting (except one performance) failed to impress.
The celebrity agrees that each generation deserves to have its own “Dynasty,” but all the standards have to be met. When he met Linda Gray at a web soap opera screening, he told her they had the best photographer and director, and she agreed.
Gray confessed that she and the “Dallas” crew were jealous of that, while Thomson also felt that the “Dynasty” team had the best scripts. His team was jealous of “Dallas’s” scripts, and the writing helped them last three or four years longer than “Dynasty.”
He called the reboot’s writing “execrable” and felt everyone was too young. In the past, Thomson has also opened up about having diabetes, aging, and acting.
Gordon’s Views on Acting, His Diabetes Diagnosis, and Aging
Thomson wasn’t aware of how famous he was until he went to Norway in 1984. When he walked out on the stage, he was greeted by 10,000 screaming fans! He said for a moment he felt the way Mick Jagger probably feels all the time.
That was the first time he was introduced to the power of Spelling’s show. He said he was happy being his age in 2017. When he went to Norway, he had been working as an actor for 16 years and knew his job. To this day, it serves as his only source of comfort, safety, and pleasure.
Speaking about his career, he said he loves what he does, and no matter where he is, as long as he is acting, he’s happy. Sadly, the star isn’t a fan of aging because it constantly reminds him how desirable and attractive he was due to “Dynasty” fans expressing their nostalgia.
He complained about his fans asking him to autograph a picture of himself at age 40. Thomson wanted them to see him as he is now, not how he was then because he felt haunted by his old looks. He didn’t think he could make peace with aging because it is around all the time.
Although he’s not young and as handsome as he was before, he still feels he doesn’t look bad. He noted how John James now has thinner hair than before he was the best-looking man on television. The actor laughed when he recalled an interview with an Australian.
The interviewer noted how different Thomson looked compared to when he was 40. The star joked that with a bottle of dye and a hairdresser, he could do it again! Sadly, in 2021, he discovered that he has diabetes, and it was simple to adapt to the disease.
Being someone who doesn’t have a sweet tooth, he doesn’t find it difficult, but he still made some changes. The biggest thing he had to adapt to was to stay far away from all-purpose white flour, which included pasta. Instead, he eats chickpea flour pasta, which he says “is very good for you.”
